Explore the JOBO 2500 and 2800 drum systems, engineered for top-tier film and print processing. The 2500 series is ideal for professionals working with roll films and large formats up to 4×5 inches, while the 2800 series is perfect for daylight print processing. Both systems offer outstanding flexibility, modularity, and reliability, making them essential tools for high-quality, consistent results.
Brief Description of the Drum Systems
The development of films or paper requires a manual or an automatic processor (e.g., my DIY FPP-3 or one of the commercially available alternatives such as CPE-2, ATL-3, etc.) and a number of drums to meet the various requirements. There are several alternatives (e.g. Paterson, Jobo, etc.).
In this short post only the JOBO drums are described, because in my opinion they are the best option for rotary development due to their flexibility, modularity and excellent reliability.
During the pas decades Jobo developed several series of drums. The 1500 film series were mostly for hobbyists aiming to develop 110, 135, 120 or 220 film rolls either with inversion (hand) rotation or automatic processors. The 2500 series were designed for meeting professional requirements and allowing roll film and large formats up to 4″x5″. These drums were not designed for traditional inversion. The 2800 print series, on the other hand, was designed for processing prints at daylight regardless you have a Jobo processor or not. Finally, the 3000 expert drum series were made for processing sheet film (4×5″ or larger ) with the highest quality possible.
All Jobo drum numbers share the same endings: 0, 1, 3, depending on whether they have have no magnet, a magnet or a cogwheel. The magnet attachment (1) or the cog gear (3) allow the 2500/2800 drums to be used with automatic magnet-drive or lift-processors. The cog gear is designed for autolabs or processors (e.g. CPA-2 CPP-2) equipped with a lift devise.
In my case, the series 2500/2800 with a magnet attachment are the most suitable for the FPP-3 processor (see the FPP-3 blog). Please note that the 2800 series drums are unfortunately no longer manufactured. These drums, however, can be found in the second-hand marked. In some cases, with a bit of luck, one can find new-old stuff.
Since the 2800 series is not produced anymore, and the 2500 has been renamed (now called multitanks) finding information about the filling capacities of the various drums has become complicated and sometimes confusing. This is specially the case if one intends to use a print drum for developing film. I have used print drums (2800 series) with the 2509n reel and the results were excellent. It is important, however to use the right amount of chemistry. Fortunately I found several sources and a esencial book written by John Tinsley entitled The Rotary Processor Manual (unfortunately no longer available) that allowed me to summarize the following tables for the uses I intend to have.
It should be noted that the chemistry qualities are aimed for one-shoot, thus, no reclaim is needed. Furthermore, the limitations mentioned in the online manuals I found in JOBO-USA that apply for processors CPE-2, CPE-2 Plus, CPA-2, CPP-2 ATL 1,2, 2-Plus do not apply for the FPP-3 because the torque of the motor is not a limitation in my case.
Information on how to use a print drum to develop film was found in the Large Format Photography Forum.
I hope this information will be useful for other photographers looking for information about this JOBO system.