Budget for darkroom

[superia400_junkie]

I'll be shooting alot of sports this fall. I really have no desire

to shoot digital at this point, because I want a D2X which I cant

justify the cost in camera, memory, computer upgrade etc... so I

just bought the next best thing... a mint F5.

 

Also, I've scored some huge hauls of cheap Fuji 400/800 Superia film

at an average cost of around 50 cents a roll. Normally I take my

film to Walmart and have it developed to a CD for about $5 a roll.

 

Just curious as to the cost of setting up a darkroom for color. I'm

about to do some remodeling of my house and toying with building a

SMALL darkroom in my garage with the idea of mainly taking the negs

and scanning them with a Coolscan or the like.

 

I'm starting a B+W development class next week and have a Brother in

law whose company has a bunch of used/abandoned darkroom equipment I

could get cheaply.

[leo_griffiths]

If you are only developing, and not printing, you don't need a darkroom at all. All you need is a changing bag, to load the film into the development tank, everything else is done in the light. For C41 or E6 it is usual to use something like a Jobo processor, to ensure that temperature and agitation are exact.

 

Unlike developing traditional B+W films, which gives you the opportunity to adjust all the variables which affect the process, C41 processing at home is pretty much a replication of the lab process, so if all you want is to scan tne negs it is easier (and possibly cheaper) to have your films commercially developed, just don't have them printed or scanned.

[mattalofs]

My walmart, walgreens or local lab will all develop and sleave negs for $2.50. I scan them at home. Makes color pretty afordable.

[neal_wydra1]

Dear Junkie,

 

I find printing color (enlargements, not stacks of 4x6s<g>) fairly cheap and easy. There are room temperature RA-4 tray processing products available and if the enlarger you are going to get for b&w has at least a filter drawer (a dichroic head is handier) you are in business. Developing color is much more of a pain so I leave that to Qualex (for 35mm) and do the scanning and enlargements myself.

 

Find out what the local Walmart will cost for just the development.

[loreneidahl]

Budget - from about $50 to whatever you got.

 

You can sink as much as you want into a darkroom. I know I am currently building one for my Medium Format, Large Format and BW stuff.

 

Although I shoot about 3000 digital pictures a week. The darkroom work is where I cut my photographic teeth 20 years ago.

 

Yeah you can go to Walmart - or buy a good digital printer and scanner ( I have). They work and give you good results. However - printing you own stuff requires a little more photgraphic effort than pixel pushing.

 

It seems that a darkroom allow to to create more than alter.

 

DISCALIMER: I shoot 3000-4000 digital iamges a week and use Photoshop to process the best ones.

 

A 10x10 space with water and drainage and external air venting would give you enough space for a sink and counter for your enlarger.

 

Make sure your sink is large enough to handle the size of enlargement trays you wish to use.

 

Make sure that you have enough head room for your enlarger. The 4x5 ones require some serious counter space and head room.

 

If you want to dry mount - you'll need extra space for the mounting equipment. If you wnat to do framing , extra space is required.

 

Enlargers can be bought cheaply $100-$500.

Safe-Light - $20-40

timer $30-50

 

Basic kits to develop your own film for BW can be had new at B&H on their web site - or buy used aprox $100. Color stuff is more.

 

Color devloping is not hard - just different than BW. You need absoulte dark instead of "safe-light" dark. You also need to control temp more and be more carefull about timings. But big deal.

 

I am currently redoing my basement for a darkroom - about 20 x 20 space. Only one part of it will acutally be light tight though.

 

Get a good book on film development. it helps.

[vikireedphotography]

Hi. I'm moving to film, specifically medium format vintage camera work likely using 120/220 film rolls. Mainly B&W but also color.

I'm scouring ebay and I'm wondering what basics I need to look for in a decent used enlarger.

I've read it's smarter to get a color enlarger. I'd be doing contact printing. The area where I'll work was used as a darkroom by the previous owner but it has no sink and only a single vent in the ceiling that i'm not sure even hooks up to the newer HVAC. But basically i was wondering what do i need to look for in a good used color enlarger for the purpose of medium and large format printing? I don't care if it's 30 years old, as long as it works.

[Bill Bowes]

Hello. As most can read, the inputs above have been hammered by time. Wal Mart & others no longer process C-41 and the few pro labs around will put you into the $5-10 per roll. 220 film? 2nd mortage the house for that! If you want to use film in any format I suggest this hybrid system. Film camera(s), b/w or color film, home develop the b/w, farm out the color, scan your negatives, learn how to use the modern, high quality digital printers with the non OEM, archival carbon inks for b/w & top-end color inks. Papers now are just as varied as back in the day of wet printing. All this is compact & can sit on a desk in an air conditioned room.

I've had wet darkrooms for almost 50 years, but have no desire to rebuild one after a house fire. My work is primarily b/w (with vintage cameras), with home developing. Scanning is with two Epson flat bed's. This years "bucket" list is a high end Epson printer & the ink sets. . .Even 74 yo's learn new stuff ! Have a go at it. Bill

[Jochen_S]

But basically i was wondering what do i need to look for in a good used color enlarger for the purpose of medium and large format printing?

What is large format printing in your lingo? - If you have 13x18cm negs you need an enlarger that takes those.

If you want to print big from MF you shouldn't cheap out on your enlarging lens. - Look up what you'll get. 3 elements by a less known brand (PZO, Meopta) are the not so great choice. - Get a decent EL Nikkor or some of the better Schneider or Rodenstock lenses. <- I leave it up to debate if "Apo-" in their names is a must have.

If you are looking for color enlargers: Make sure to get them as complete as possible; mixing chambers for smaller formats included, all negative carriers for every format you might ever intend to shoot...

Think twice before you buy a color head. - If you love contrasty B&W you might be better of with a condenser head and you 'll surely work more conveniently with a dedicated multigrade head than with dialing in and compensating yellow and magenta filters that maybe don't make the entire contrast range of your paper accessible.

Brands models: In general heavy and solid is desirable and nasty to ship. Beseler seem popular. Leitz Focomat II? <- that one is only 35mm to 6x9 though! Durst Laborator up to 13x18cm. I'd avoid Liesegang or Dunco and didn't like Phillips.

I think one can get away with the heavier PZOs & Meoptas or Omegas or mid range Dursts. Make sure to get all condensers for variable format B&W enlargers.

 

A sink in the darkroom isn't essential; you can store your prints in a tray with water drain it into a bucket and wash them in your bathtub. No darkness needed for that.

Personally I see little appeal in color printing at home. - It will mean lots of waste sheets, which are each more expensive than a print from a lab. Most people ended investing in back then expensive color analyzers but I think those still needded to get calibrated to your film and paper and fishy chemicals, so they were no cure all. - YMMV.

[conrad_hoffman]

Though I love B&W wet process, color and digital were made for each other. Digital has raised the bar so far that you could waste both your fortune and the rest of your days and not get as good a result. I can see merit in scanning color film, especially for larger formats, but maintaining and getting good results from a color printing darkroom is for people with way too much time and money on their hands.

[bethe_fisher]

'm scouring ebay and I'm wondering what basics I need to look for in a decent used enlarger.

It sorta depends on which country you're in. In the US, Beselers are fairly plentiful, but Durst are more common in Europe. Depending on where you are, you might have better luck on Craigslist than eBay because shipping an enlarger is a royal pain in addition to being expensive.

A color head can be used for both color and B&W and some say they have better contrast control in B&W with one. I only have condenser heads for both my Beselers and they've been great for me. I have no plans to print my own color.

If you do want to do 4x5, then a Beseler 45MX or version thereof will handle it and everything smaller.