WoW! such nice images of functioning darkrooms, mine has come to a stand still. Just isn't room in my 10x12 darkroom to work, too much gear has take up residency in it. Any of you have this problem? Some gear just follows me home like a lost hungry puppy, but then there is that gear listed on Craigslist, that is just too cool to see remain listed with no takers, Well yup! I bought it... couldn't see it go to the dump etc. So now I have 2 4x5 Bessler enlargers, two Omega 6x7 condenser enlargers, an Omega 6x7 dicro and a Bessler 6x9 Dichro, 3 color analyzers, a Jobo printer with everything, and well on it goes.... Problem is I only want to do B&W so need to lighten up. http://analogphotorefuge.weebly.com/

Actually it's a relief to know that I am not alone cursed with the same obsessive compulsion to rescue and re-furbish any and all photographic equipment. Over the years I have accumulated the following enlargers; 1- Dejur, 2- Federals, 1- Honeywell Nikor condenser, 1- Honeywell Nikor Dichroic, 1- Omega DII Chromega Dichroic, 4- Omega D5 XL Super Chromega Dichroic, 1- Omega D2 Variable Condenser, 1-Omega D2 XL Variable Condenser, 1-Omega C760 Dichroic Modular. You are not alone.

Good morning;

Oh, boy. Is it time for us to be truly honest? Well, OK. Here goes:

Hello, my name is Ralph, and I am a cameraholic.

Hi, Ralph.

Yes, it is true. At first when people learned about what I had (at that time), I was told; "Oh. You must be a collector." But I would deny that, saying; "Oh, no. I am just a very well equipped photographer." Then I had to agree that, with all of the things that I had accumulated, yes, the label "collector" really did apply to me. But I did not stop there. Yes, I had finally replaced almost all the stuff that just "disappeared" in the early days of the divorce activity (I did learn later about some of the really nice yard sales that took place at the house that I could not go to any more), but I did not stop at that point. There were so many nice cameras that were becoming available as the digital wave began to wash over America, and they were so cheap. No, I could not resist. Now I have at least one Minolta 35mm film camera body in every major or significant or popular model that Minolta (earlier Chiyoda Kogaku K. K.) produced. And the lenses. Yes, there is at least one sample in 23 of the Minolta ROKKOR manually focusing lens focal lengths out of the 26 focal lengths that they ever produced for them. And there are the accessories, such as the early bulb flash guns and the electronic flash units. And then there are the "other brands," but I can claim that I have not been as indiscreet with them as I have been with Minolta, and that includes Nikon, Canon, Yashica, argus, Kodak, FED, Kiev, Zorki, Zenit, and others. And finally we need to do something with the film that we get out of them, right? So there are the Nikor stainless steel film developing tanks; the JOBO, Unicolor, Beseler drum film processors; the Durst 606, M-600, M-601, M-607, and M-700 enlargers; the volume of enlarger lenses; the Gralab, EPOI Printrol, GE, Bogen, et cetera, enlarger timers; and so many other things. Yes, there is another level of gathering cameras and things that they do not talk about very often, and that is the point past being merely a collector, and it becomes an addiction.

The only good thing I can now say in my defense is that I have been cutting back. Yes, I really have. I have not ordered anything from KEH in months now. No longer are there two to five boxes per month in transit from Atlanta, Georgia. I really am getting better. But in good faith, I must also admit that now I have just about everything that I ever really wanted in camera equipment, and there is not very much else to buy. The cats are going to the vet much more regularly now. WC is really looking healthy now, and even the vet techs there have been pointing out the differences in how he looks today. And I have been able to respond and actually do something when the Number One Son has asked for assistance. Life is different now. I cannot yet say that it is really all that better, but it is different. Yes, there are still things in boxes in the back bedroom, but they have been inventoried and cataloged. Yes, I must admit that the inventory list is now over one hundred pages in length. Still, I am doing better. Yes, I am still attending meetings here in the rooms of CA, and I am sure that without you guys and the regular meetings to support me, I really would slip back into my old ways and fall off the wagon again. Thanks.

Now I need to get another cup of coffee.

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Hi Ralph, well I have been on a camera binge for the past few years also, and I was getting a little anxious about it.

Last October I was diagnosed with Parkinson s disease and I was happy about that as I thought that I may have MS.

It seems that one of the many side effects that you can have from PD is a compulsive disorder, this has made my wife a lot more understanding.

I am now in the process of selling off a lot of the cameras that I have bought over the past few years, and I now have plans to make a darkroom in my garage, at present I have bought three enlargers and plan to collect another one next week, it seems that my compulsive behavior isn't quite gone.

At least I will have a darkroom to play in some time this year.

Dai.

I also need a cup of coffee...