Self-Developing Cassette for 4x5 Sheet Film Manual

Self-Developing Cassette Manual for 4x5 Sheet Film

Key Takeaways:

• Practice loading the cassette in daylight to master the process.
• Ensure the film slides in smoothly to avoid skewing.
• Always agitate liquids gently and evenly during development, stop, and fixing.
• Use exactly 100ml of each liquid: developer, stop bath, and fixer.
• Keep the cassette lightproof by closing the slides after each step.
• The included abbreviated manual matches the film size to aid practice.

Loading the Cassette (in the Darkbag/Changebag):

1. Place the cassette and the closed film box inside a darkbag/changebag.
2. Open Slide No. 1.
3. Open the small flap.
4. Slide the film into the cassette, ensuring it is loaded straight. You can feel if the film slides smoothly—if there’s any resistance, the film is skewed. Gently wiggle it until it moves freely.
5. Once the film is properly loaded, close the flap and slide No. 1 back to lock the cassette. The cassette is now lightproof and ready for use.

Taking a Photo:

1. As with a standard cassette, compose your image on the ground glass.
2. Place the cassette behind the ground glass.
3. Close the shutter.
4. Open Slide No. 1.
5. Make your exposure.
6. Close Slide No. 1 again to prevent any light exposure.

Developing the Image:

1. Place the cassette in a developing tray.
2. Open Slide No. 2 to allow the film to fall into the tray.
3. Pour 100ml of developer into the tray. Gently agitate the tray evenly and constantly throughout the development.
4. After development, pour the developer out.
5. Pour 100ml of stop bath into the cassette and agitate gently, evenly, and constantly throughout the stop.
6. Pour the stop bath out, then pour 100ml of fixer into the cassette. Again, agitate gently and evenly throughout the fixing.
7. After fixing, remove the cassette from the tray, pour out the fixer, and proceed with washing the image.

Additional Tips:

• We recommend practicing loading the cassette in daylight to familiarize yourself with the process.
• An abbreviated manual is included in the package with the film size for practice loading.

 

Cleaning the cassette:

After using the cassette, cleaning and drying it is essential to prevent chemical contamination or wet surfaces that may cause malfunctions and ruin your photos.

Cleaning Steps:

1. Ensure the cassette is empty – remove any remaining film.
2. Pull the darkslides halfway out of the cassette.
3. Press the side clips and use them to hold the darkslides.
4. Carefully remove the center section from the cassette.
5. Clean and dry all components before reassembling in reverse order.