I still like messing around with film, but I've sort of given up on darkroom work for the time being. It's a bit difficult, smelly and antisocial ! Also I can make digital prints that are 95% as good as the silver prints I was making the hard way. Still, I like to take and process photographs on film as it has its unique character and I love messing with old cameras. I could still load up a film tank in a changing bag, but that's a real faff and it's all too easy to get it wrong doing everything by feel.
However there is an alternative ! From the 1930's to the 1970's AGFA in Germany produced a series of daylight loading processing tanks called "Rondinax" that were available for both 35mm and 120 size films. I first got the 35mm version as part of an auction lot, tried it and loved it. So I went looking for the 120 version to complement it and bought that also. They were expensive new (about £6 in the 1960's) and still command a good price, but they are unique and there aren't any real alternatives. The ones I have are fully functional despite their age and work faultlessly. They regularly come up on eBay should you want one ...
The unit amounts a Bakelite light-tight box with a film spiral and a means of loading the film onto it without opening the lid. The 35mm and 120 versions work rather differently but they both work very well and I have had lots of success using them. Another feature is the relatively small usage of chemicals : the 120 version for example uses only 150ml of developer solution, making it very economical to use. The film is pulled into the spiral by a rubber strip with a clip on the end, that is attached to the film. Rotating the spiral draws the film in from the centre to the outside.
One problem with the system is that it requires you to turn a knob to rotate the spool. Not so hard ? Well, after turning it for 10 minutes your hand does tend to get tired. And if you have half a dozen films to process, it gets very tired indeed. So being a bit of an electron-pusher I built a rig to rotate the knob by a motor, and as a bonus it also times the process. This allows me to walk away while it's processing and it beeps to let me know when it's finished.
I recently processed a film shot in a 1931 Box Brownie (see other posts) and as a result I got some striping - I think this is due to lack of care on my part as I was distracted by a phone call just as I poured the developer in ! A small amount of craft is still required to process film !
There is a website for everything these days, so it won't surprise you that there's one for the Rondinax : https://rondinax.wordpress.com/
Rick Crowther