Develop all your film at home, with ease and consistency
Load the developing tank, pour in your chemistry, and AGO takes it from there, agitating your film, adjusting the timing as the chemistry cools, and beeping when it is time to pour the next one in.
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If you already develop your film at home, you know the two main problems
The first is that it gets tedious. You agitate every 30 to 60 seconds for anywhere between ten and forty-five minutes, and the whole of it wants your attention: keeping the agitation even, keeping the temperature from moving, watching the clock. It is exactly the sort of work you could hand to AGO.
The second is consistency, or the lack of it. The same film, the same chemistry and the same hands give you different negatives roll after roll, because the agitation wanders and the temperature is never quite the same twice. It is no wonder people have been putting off developing colour at home for so long.
Colour chemistry runs at one exact temperature
That is why people are anxious about developing colour at home. C-41 wants 38 °C from the first second to the last, and it starts falling the moment it meets a cooler tank in a cooler room. So it has meant a sous vide, a thermometer and a timer you cannot look away from.
Active Time Compensation is how AGO answers that. A sensor reads the developer temperature inside the tank. As the temperature falls, AGO lengthens the step to match, so the film gets the development it was supposed to get.
One machine does every process and every format
AGO is your smart lab assistant. It runs the whole process from start to finish, agitates your film as needed, and alerts you when it is time to pour in the next chemical.
Film processes
Paper processes
Every format that fits a Paterson tank
From 110 and 35mm up to 8×10, on the tanks you already own.
Large format10 mm grid
Roll and cine film10 mm grid
What developing with AGO actually looks like
AGO does not heat your chemistry. You bring it up to the starting temperature the way you always have, with a sous vide in a water bath or with boiler-heated water in your sink.
Load the reel, drop it in the tank and fit the AGO funnel. Put the tank on AGO, pour in the developer and press start. AGO rotates the reel inside the tank, agitates your film at the speed you set and monitors the chemistry temperature to keep the development right. When a step nears its finish, AGO beeps to tell you to pour in the next chemical.
A sous vide and AGO work well together. The sous vide gets you to temperature, AGO handles the fall.
What you get for it
Every roll comes out the same
AGO runs the process the same way every time. The same rotation, the same intervals, the same correction as the chemistry cools. Hand agitation is loose by nature and it wanders from roll to roll without you noticing.
You do not need to stand at the sink
The batch goes on while you do something else, and a smart alarm lets you know when it is time to end one step and start the next. That is twenty to forty minutes of your attention back on every batch. Read a book instead.
AGO uses less chemistry
The tank lies on its side and the reel turns through a shallow pool of developer at the bottom, so the film is carried through the chemistry rather than submerged in it. That is what rotary processing means, and it is why AGO needs a fraction of the liquid a hand tank does.
Eight rolls of 35mm, in one run
A single 1-litre kit fills AGO for all eight rolls. By inversion the same eight need 2,320 ml, so you mix two and a half litres or split the batch into four runs. On one or two rolls the saving is smaller, 14 to 40%.
A month of film in a single run
AGO works with every Paterson Super System 4 tank, so the batch size is whatever tank you put on it. The Multi-Reel 8 takes eight rolls of 35mm, or five rolls of 120, in one go. A trip's worth of film goes through in one session instead of five evenings, and every roll in it gets exactly the same treatment. Colour that used to mean a week or two of waiting on a lab is done the evening you finish shooting.
See how AGO works
Start with the film you shoot
Pick the process you develop most and we will take you through it.
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Developing black and white with AGO
Consistent agitation and a temperature you do not have to watch. Your own intervals for semi-stand and stand.
Read the black and white guide
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Developing C-41 colour at home
38°C is the whole difficulty. AGO measures the developer and changes the time as it cools.
Read the colour guide
AGO or by hand
| Feature | AGO | By hand and colour goes to the lab |
|---|---|---|
| Agitation | Rotary by default, or vertical. You set the speed and the interval and AGO holds it for the whole step. | Inversions every 30 to 60 seconds, by hand, the whole way through. |
| Temperature | A sensor in the chemistry reads the developer and lengthens the step as it cools. | You watch a thermometer and correct by hand, or you live with the drift. |
| Colour at 38 °C | Warm the chemistry once and press start. | A sous vide, a thermometer and constant attention, or you send it to a lab and wait. |
| Your attention | Until the alarm. Twenty to forty minutes back on every batch. | The whole run, standing at the sink. |
| Chemistry per run | 350 ml for two rolls of 35mm in a Paterson 2-reel tank, and 950 ml for eight in the largest. | 580 ml for the same two rolls, and 2,320 ml for eight. |
| Capacity | Pairs with every Paterson Super System 4 tank, from one roll up to eight of 35mm or five of 120 in a single run. | Whatever the tank holds, one run at a time. |
| Formats | 110, 35mm, 120, 4×5, 5×7, 9×12 cm, 8×10 and Super 8. | Roll film easily. Sheet film in trays. |
| Prints | RA-4 and black and white, up to 30×40 cm, in the tank. | Trays. |
| Programs | The manufacturer's datasheet is already built in, for C-41, E-6, ECN-2, black and white and RA-4. New programs arrive over WiFi, free, and you can write your own. | You read the datasheet and work the times out yourself. |
| On the shelf | 556 g. The size of one more camera. | A tank, a thermometer and a bucket. |
Modern film development starts here
We ship worldwide with duties and import taxes paid before it leaves, so there is nothing to pay when it arrives. Two-year warranty, 30 days to send it back.
AGO is a compact film processor for photographers who want precision without the hassle. B&W, C-41, E-6, ECN-2, and RA-4. Works with all Paterson tanks, from 35mm to 8x10. Uses up to 60% less chemistry.
Active Time Compensation
AGO monitors your chemistry temperature throughout the entire process and automatically adjusts development time if it shifts. No stress, no guesswork. Perfectly developed film, every time.
Frequently asked questions
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AGO supports every major film and print process — B&W, C-41 (colour negative), E-6 (slide/reversal), ECN-2 (cinema film), and RA-4 (photographic paper).
It comes with built-in programs for all major photo chemistries, so you can get started straight out of the box. -
AGO handles virtually every format — 110, 35mm (135), all 120 medium format sizes (6×4.5, 6×6, 6×7, 6×9), and large format sheets including 4×5, 5×7, and 8×10 inches. For prints, AGO supports RA-4 paper development up to 12×16 inches (30×40 cm), covering common sizes like 5×7 (13×18 cm) and 8×10 (20×25 cm).
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Yes. AGO works with Paterson Super System 4 tanks. You will need the modified funnel that comes included with every AGO — and if you ever need a spare or an extra, you can pick one up here.
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Yes. AGO connects to your phone or laptop via WiFi, giving you a browser-based interface where you can build custom programs for any process or chemistry.
You can tweak step times, agitation settings, and temperature compensation — then save and reuse them whenever you need.
Watch video
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AGO works with Paterson Super System 4 tanks, so you can develop anywhere from 1 up to 8 rolls of 35mm at once. For 120 medium format, the tanks hold 1, 2, 3, 5, or 8 rolls depending on the tank size.
Whether you're processing a single roll or batching a full week's worth of shooting in one session, AGO scales to fit your workflow. -
AGO doesn't heat your chemicals — you just need to get them to the right temperature before you start. That's it. Once you pour them in, AGO takes care of the rest.
Its built-in sensor monitors your chemicals throughout the entire process and automatically adjusts development time for each step as temperatures naturally drift. No stress, no guesswork, no ruined negatives — just great results every time.
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Yes. AGO supports RA-4 processing, so you can develop colour darkroom prints alongside your film. Depending on the print size you're working with, you'll need the matching reel:
5×7 prints — use the 5×7 and Paper 5 reel combo
Up to 8×10 prints — use the Paper 5 reel
Up to 12×16 inches (30×40 cm) — use the Paper 8 reel
One machine, every process.
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Yes. AGO receives over-the-air firmware updates via WiFi, which means new chemistry profiles and improvements are added over time. Your AGO gets better the longer you own it.