Still have the darkroom?

[matt_needham]

<p>I still have it, but I last worked in it 2 years ago. I'm supposed to be getting it cleaned up so the family can use the space, but I haven't found the time. :) I've given away all my paper, film, and chems, but I hung on to the gear in case my digital fever passed, and I wanted to go back to film. In the last few months I've come to the conclusion that my digital fever is not going to pass, and that maybe I didn't like film and the darkroom as much as I once thought, so now I just need to find a good home for my enlargers and such.</p>

<p>If you are in the vicinity of NE Kansas (I won't ship anything), and want a great deal on several enlargers and all the equipment neccessary to process and print BW 35mm, 120, and 4x5 shoot me an email. </p>

[larrydressler]

<p>You'll be sorry.... I did that in 2002. full film now not a digital camera I own.. except for the keychain that has had a dead battery and the missing disk for it.... I may wait untill a full frame Digital comes out that I can afford in Nikon or Pentax mount to use all the great lenses I own. then again I may just keep shooting Tri-X all my life.</p>

[beepy]

<p>You asked your question in:</p>

<blockquote>Community > Forums > B&W Photo - Film & Processing > Darkrooms</blockquote>

<p>of whether people still used a darkroom?<br>

Is that not like asking Democrats how many are registered as Republicans?</p>

[reichard]

<p>I (still?) use my darkroom. I bought a Nikon D300 a bit ago and don't use it so much. Prefer to use my Mamiya 645 for just about everything. Lately have only been developing 120 B&W, but I also devleop my brother's 35mm B&W from his Zorki collection and 120 from his Speed Graphic. I have done 20+ rolls of C41 color medium-format this summer but didn't buy new chemistry yet :^)</p>

 

[bob_sunley]

<p>Closer to asking if everyone on Photo.net is interested in photography. :)</p>

 

[sathyanand_mohan]

<p>still have? never had, until now, when i'm beginning to set up one. B/W on film at least is a class apart from digital. think i've caught the 'film bug' too.</p>

[rdavila]

<p>Still have it, but haven't used in almost 4 years now, after my purchase of a DSLR, relocating to a different country (and continent) and the fact I don't have the space anymore. I just got from Santa a second hand RB67 for which I was planning to send the negatives to a pro-lab for development and scanning, however am considering more and more to actually try to find the space somewhere to set up the darkroom again.......will see =;)</p>

[robert gordon]

<p>Still use my wet darkroom every month or so for a long weekend of printing. Enjoy the experience and love silver prints. Nonetheless with a Nikon D 300 using RAW files, an Epson R 2400 with K3 inks, and Harmon FB glossy I can/do produce prints that evenexperienced connoisseurs mistake for silver prints.</p>

[jack_welsh]

<p>Do all my own film developing. Don't have an enlarger right now. Don't really need one, since all the photo printing I do is the old contact printing processes. But, I do want to get an enlarger some day.</p>

[oistrakh]

<p>Frank, if you don't use P&S cameras for your film work, I wouldn't bother buying any kind of P&S digital camera. I doubt you will enjoy the experience, even for very casual pictures. I have tried every type of P&S digital because the convenience factor is always so enticing, and I always end up giving the camera away as a present or selling it. I simply don't feel engaged using those types of cameras. Now I only use my cellphone's camera for silly one-off pictures, and a dinky P&S camera for posting pictures on eBay.</p>

<p>Having said that, I haven't bought a DSLR either, I still shoot film exclusively. I just find digital very unsatisfying, because until you actually print something out, your photograph doesn't really exist. It's on a memory card somewhere, and the only way to view it is via some other device that prevents you from physically touching your actual photography. With film, the picture is always in your hand, you're constantly working directly with your photographs. It simply feels more real to me. So while I agree that the wet darkroom takes up inordinate amounts of time and space compared to digital, the entire process is far more satisfying to me.</p>

[jimgreer]

<p>Absolutely still have the darkroom. Analog consistently produces a more wonderfully organic result than digital in many forms of media. Put your vinyl copy of Led Zepplin 1 on a great turntable and give a listen. Now load the same CD and give a listen. No comparison. Same goes for film. Many of my friends boast about the image clarity that they obtain with their D SLRs. To be fair, digital techonology has come a very long way and produces some impressive results. However, a 20x24 enlargement from Ilford Pan F Plus (35mm) made using my Omega B-22 and the wet process has more life and vitality than enlargements made from digital. The digital images are beautiful and precise; everything is perfect! But next to a genuine film print they look artificial and tend to lose their "soul." Digital cannot come close to replacing the true artistic touch that a photographer brings to the darkroom. You simply cannot truly replicate the Selinium Toning process and all of its variables with Photoshop-not to mention the long list of standard and alternative processes. The images may look similar on a website. But at 20x24 matted and hanging in a well lit gallery film is the clearly superior media. Ilford has made a commitment with Harman Technologies to keep its full aray of film products alive for "years to come." I am not planning to buy digital any time soon. I love waving my hands around over prints and tilting trays and watching my images appear in the developer. The process is wonderful and magic!</p>

[Stephen_Prunier]

<p>I do all my own film developing. B&W and E-6 I then scan, print or upload to my site. When I need it to be the best print quality I use a local lab. I'm holding out as long as I can when it comes to buying a DSLR. Unless it becomes the "only" method for submiting images I will use film and my current methods. If I have to make the switch at least my lenses will work now.</p>

[railphotog]

<p>No darkroom work for me, after 30 or so years of it! Gave all of my gear away to a camera club a while ago, hope they can find use for it. I still have my darkroom, but no developing gear in it. I store my unused camera stuff, slides, projectors, camera bags, and junque there. Use the sink as a utility one as our basement doesn't have one. I got my first digital camera as something interesting, all 1.3MP of it. As I moved up the chain of better cameras, my film ones fell into unuse. Sold them all, kept the better lenses for use with my Canon digitals.<br>

Don't miss the darkroom use at all.</p>

<p> </p>

[conrad_hoffman]

<p>Wow, the majority of people here are obviously having a ball in the darkroom, and it gives me some hope. I did post here quite intentionally. I still read the film and printing forums with interest, even though it's been a couple years since I've loaded a tank or turned on a safelight. FWIW, I'm equally comfortable with film and digital, (turntables and audio digitization as well). I've been doing digital image processing for many more years than digital photography, so I tend to be faster at it than most. I can't imagine going into the darkroom for only an hour- two or three is more like it to accomplish anything useful. It would be great if a customer wanted b&w film images, but quick turn color digital files are what they pay for in my world. I've done my own wet process color and can't say that holds any appeal at all, and it would just have to be scanned anyway. IMO, wet process b&w will remain a hobby/art endeavor for me, if I can ever get back to it.</p>

[james_wheeler1]

<p>When we built our present house ten years ago, the darkroom, sewing room, home theater, etc. were included in the design. All are still in use. The darkroom has four enlargers, seven-foot sink, etc. A copy of the "Darkroom Cookbook" and a supply of ingredients keep us in developer, etc. Negatives ranging from 16-mm to 4x5 are routinely printed during sessions that are quite enjoyable. Two freezers hold a lifetime supply of film and paper. <br>

The only problem, we bought three too many enlargers for our purposes. If anyone in the Salt Lake City area is interested in them, they can go out the door for the price of picking them up. No lenses, carriers, etc. would be included.<br>

Digital cameras, Photoshop, ink jet printers are in our computer room and are fine for snapshots. Serious work still involves film.</p>

[dan_n1]

<p>Black and White: shoot film / I develop and print in my darkroom<br>

Color: shoot film / commercial lab process film / I scan, post process and burn CD, send to lab for light jet print</p>

[mark f]

<p>Taking a break right now from printing in the darkroom. I tried the digital thing, but I was never happy with the results or the process. I am a dedicated BW film guy from 35 to 4x5. The only thing I use digital for is alternative process printing where I want a digital negative.</p>

[jamie_robertson2]

<p>I grew up with film and always said I would never go digital. Now I would never go back to film. Apart from the enjoyment of using film and the quaintness of it all, I see no advantages and plenty of disadvantages of film.</p>

<p>I run a UK mail order company selling photographic accessories and we still sell lots of film equipment so there's plenty of life left in film yet.</p>

<p>The only thing I hate about digital is that it costs so much to get a significant upgrade (new DSLR body). In the old days you just picked up the latest batch of Fujifilm to get better quality images.</p>

[frank.schifano]

<p>Yes, and I don't think I'll be giving it up any time soon. I'm considering the purchase of a Canon G10, Which will be my first digital camera, but not for the reasons you might think. I've gotten myself a set of studio strobes and have been teaching myself different lighting techniques. I like the instant feedback I'm getting from Polaroid and Fuji instant film, but paying $1/frame for that is putting a damper on things. The G10 allows full manual exposure and can be adapted to fire an off camera flash. The initial investment of a bit over $400 is high, but payback won't be long in coming when you consider the money not spent for film. I don't need photoshop, my old version on Paint Shop Pro will do just fine.</p>

[rustys pics]

<p>I do still have a wet darkroom in the basement. And with all the raid we've had in Missouri this year it's very wet! I wish I had more time to work in there. It's set up for B&W with an Omega D2 that can go up to 4x5. I love the red safelight, radio, bubbling water and the like. Sitting on your butt at a computer terminal pushing pixels is a poor substitute for me. I do plenty of digital processing for commercial work, but there is something romantic and visceral about toiling in the dark over trays, peering at a projected image, making all of the magical gestures of dodging and burning to emerge with single lustrous photograph. </p>

[janet cull]

<p>I still work exclusively in my darkroom.<br>

I bought myself a little p&s digital camera for Christmas last year - or was it the year before? It's always with my daughter. I have no interest in it. I'm a b&w film in the darkroom person.</p>

[stephen_asprey2]

<p>Still in my darkroom...just bought a Leitz enlarger on ebay...amazing. I do black and white available light...buildings, landscapes, people.</p>

[alexander_ghaffari]

<p>I am still making my color darkroom. I cannot wait for it to be completed.</p>

[silverscape]

<p>"STILL" have a darkroom?...shoot, I just <em>started</em> a darkroom not that long ago and I love it. Everything I do with B&W is the chemical process...I develop my own B&W film and prints with an enlarger. If I didn't, then I wouldn't even be on Photo.net. The whole reason why I even came to this website was because I like using vintage film cameras.<br>

I do shoot color, but I don't know how to develop color film. So I take that to a lab to get developed. Maybe eventually I'll learn how to develop color film too.<br /><br />Also, I do have a digital camera but I hardly use it anymore. I've grown up with technology and comptuers have been around my entire life. And the internet has been around for most of my life. I just prefer to use film. It's a lot more fun. I'm around computers 24-7, so frankly digital is BORING to me. Give me a roll of Kodak Plus-X anyday.</p>

[maris_rusis]

<p>My brand new air-conditioned darkroom was built recently. It cost $5000 but is worth every cent because I'm fated to spend hundreds of creative hours in there.<br>

The main film format is 8x10 with occasional forays into the small stuff, 4x5 and 120 roll-film. What about digital? Not an atom of it! Even the back of my photographer's card reads "Guaranteed no digital or your money back."</p>