I’d like to consider myself a pretty chill person. I don’t get frazzled very easily, try to avoid negativity, and generally don’t hate on stuff.
But that was all before I used the Yankee Clipper development tank.
This thing just pisses me off.
About the Tank
The Yankee Clipper II is a daylight developing tank and adjustable reel system that accepts one roll of 35mm, 120, or 16mm film (as well as a few other varied sizes). My experience and point of view will be based solely on its use for 110 film (16mm) as I have a Patterson tank that I use when developing 35mm or 120.
Let’s see, where should I begin?
The cheap build quality? The difficulty loading film onto the reel? The painfully long amount of time it takes to pour out your chemicals? Oh, wait, I know! What about the included stir-stick that’s supposed to rotate the reel inside that tank but binds on the lid rendering it completely useless? That might be a good place to start.
There are a host of other problems with this tank, too. The reel is designed to be adjustable to accept different-sized films, but it’s held together by a clip that is very difficult to remove once it’s set for the smallest 16mm option.
Also, this daylight tank is not so daylight. I haven’t experienced this personally, but I’ve read several reviewers on B&H and Amazon who have used the tank complain about having had issues with light leaking in. Most likely this is more of a possibility If you’re developing larger formats like 120 that will be closer to the top lid.
Another Option
After several frustrating rolls, I went back online to try and find a solution. My ideal wish would be if there were a Patterson tank that accepted 16mm film, but I think I found the next best thing; a 3D-printed reel for my Patterson tanks! I came across these print plans which are completely free to print and use under CC.
I know there are other options like stainless steel reels or modifying the plastic Patterson reels, but this keeps my 35mm/ 120 reels intact and requires no constant eBay stalking for older discontinued tanks.
So, do these 3D-printed Patterson reels work? Yes.
Can I happily throw this Yankee tank in the trash? Also yes!
Conclusion
I’ll make this short and sweet.
This is probably pretty obvious, but I don’t recommend the Yankee Clipper develop tank. It’s a piece of cheaply made plastic with a bunk design. The end.