Have you ever been in the middle of nowhere and you really needed to develop a single roll of film? And you had all the chemicals and tools you needed except you forgot your changing bag? Well, fear not! The Lomo Daylight Developing Tank 35mm is here to save the day! Hit the jump for more info!
Lomo Daylight Developing Tank 35mm In Action
The new Lomo Daylight Developing Tank is an all-in-one system that includes a film retreiver, film rewinding crank and built in film cutter to take the fuss out of loading film onto reels for processing. Just clip your film cartridge into the special insert and turn the cank to wind your film onto the developing reel inside the tank in full daylight. Remove the special insert then add chemicals and you’re off to the races!
As you can see the new system is much quicker than someone with no experience loading film in a changing bag who moves than molasses in January. So there’s that.
The Lomo Daylight Developing Tank Has A Singular Problem
This highly specialized piece of equipment is very much in keeping with the kinds of products that Lomo has developed in the past. I applaude the engineering and problem solving needed to create this highly specialized product. But there’s one problem…
It only does one roll at a time.
It just doesn’t make any sense to process a single roll of film. Anyone who shoots film knows that there’s usually a shelf of film waiting to be developed. The bare minimum to set up the chemicals and engage in the process of developing is 2 rolls of film. More like 3-4 if you have a big enough developing tank.
But I guess if I was in the middle of nowhere. And if I absolutely had to develop a single roll of film. And I had all the chemicals. The developer, the stop bath and fixer plus rinsing agent. I even had the Massive Dev Chart app on my phone so I could time the process. I had negative sleeves for storage and a pair of scissors for cutting the negs. If I had everything EXCEPT a changing bag this could come in handy.
But really? Is that a thing?
The Last Word
Listen, I don’t want to come off as a “Negative Nancy” and I really dig the highly specialized products that companies like Lomo produce. But this really seems to be a brilliantly engineered solution to a problem that nobody has.
I bet this is going to hit the sweet spot for a bunch of folks that are just getting into processing their own film and who might be intimidated by typical tanks and reels. But that fact that it’s limited to one roll at a time makes it a no-go for me.
The Lomo Daylight Developing Tank is currently available for pre-order at:
Lomo Daylight Developing Tank On Lomography.com
What’s your take on Lomo’s daylight developing tank? Is it too gimmicky? Or do you think some folks might find it useful? Post your ideas in the comments below and keep the conversation going!