Paterson
Paterson Photographic Equipment is a British company historically located in Tipton, West Midlands.
Paterson has produced high quality Darkroom equipment for many decades, such as Development tanks, trays, thermometers, etc It also distributed photographic chemicals, film and paper, and as of 2020 it distributes BENRO tripods and studio lighting.
The "Paterson" system tank, made of plastic with adjustable plastic spirals is a mainstay among amateur and small-scale processors. The tank is made of Polystyrene, with a light-proof lid and a central tubular where the spirals are placed, and can be used to agitate by rotation. Chemicals are poured through the lid, and the tank is agitated either by inversion or by rotating the spirals with the central tube and a spindle. The spirals need to be dry and clean for easy loading, moisture will make the film gelatin stick.
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| Pages from Paterson System 4 developing tank instruction booklet; 1970s? image by Voxphoto (Image rights) |
Paterson chemicals were developed by Geoffrey Crawley, and are known by the FX- prefix. These developers were efficient and loved by amateurs such as Acutol (FX-14), high accutance FX-1, fine grained FX-39 and the Vitamin C based FX-55. These developers continue to be made and sold by ADOX.
