16 years in limbo

alan c. davis · Sep 17, 2006

Hi, all greetings from downunder. I'm new to this forum so this is something of a maiden post. After a 16 year hiatus I'm resurrecting my darkroom. I shifted house in 1990 and for a number of reasons never got a darkroom up and running in my new abode. Anyway as they say better late than never. Last weekend I did a refresher course and am keen to get into it again. All my darkroom gear has been held in suspended animation since then. This includes film in a bulk loader still wrapped in black plastic and stored away in the fridge.
Also wrapped in black plastic and stored away is a packet of 8x10 photographic paper. Any idea what results I might expect if I use the 16 year old film and paper. Of course I could just dump the whole lot and start from new but I'm curious what the results might be. Any hints?

Roger Hicks · Sep 17, 2006

Good on you!

Film will probably be a bit foggy (fridge storage will have helped) but still usable: expose generously and don't under-develop.

Paper should be OK but a few test prints will soon show you.

Wecome back!

Cheers,

R (www.rogerandfrances.com -- take a look at the Photo School if you need more refreshers/reminders, especially the 'Hints and Tips' module)

Dave Miller · Sep 17, 2006

Welcome back from the wilderness Alan. If I were you I think I might just invest in a pack of fresh paper, for comparision purposes; it will get used quickly enough.

alan c. davis · Sep 17, 2006

Hi, Roger thanks for your reply. Actually I'm something of a fan of yours as when I bought my first rangefinder camera 3 years ago I bought your book Rangefinder. This has become something of a bible to me not just for the information it contains but for the enthusiasm it engenders for rangefinder photography. So greetings and hope this finds you and Frances well. Of course being a South Australian a glass of red will more than likely acompany me will sitting at the computer desk.

Roger Hicks · Sep 17, 2006

Dear Alan,

Thanks for the kind words. South Australian reds are hard to find here, and expensive when you do, but I'll raise a glass of Chilean red (or possibly French fizz) to you later.

Which RF camera did you buy?

Cheers,

R.

alan c. davis · Sep 17, 2006

Roger, purely on a whim I bought a Konica Hexar RF kit which included the 28 50 and 90 mm lens. My intention was to go back to where photography had begun for me 30 years ago that is one body and a 50 lens. How ever at the time my local shop had the 3 lens kit at a runout special price. To be quite honest if you had asked me at the time what a rangefinder was I probably couldn't have given a credible answer. Thus is ignorance. Now it is probably my great regret in photography that I didn't discover rangefinders 30 years ago. Of course wisdom is wasted on the old. I would love to buy a Leica of some sort and realistically am at that stage in life where I could afford it. But surely somethings in life must remain in the 'if I win X lotto' box.

Roger Hicks · Sep 17, 2006

Dear Alan,

Nice outfit! But I think that one day, you'll persuade yourself you need a Leica...

Cheers,

R.

john_s · Sep 17, 2006

alan c. davis said:
......... Any idea what results I might expect if I use the 16 year old film and paper. Of course I could just dump the whole lot and start from new but I'm curious what the results might be. Any hints?

If the paper is RC (resin coated, sometimes called PE) it's unlikely to be useable. Old fibre paper can be surprisingly good. If you don't get good results fairly quickly, don't bother persevering though: your time is too valuable. Substandard materials make problem solving much more, well, problematic.

alan c. davis · Sep 17, 2006

This afternoon I had a mate over who is aware of my enthusiam for photography and my keeness to resurrect a darkroom. So I dug an album of negatives out with attached contact sheets and discovered a roll of film I'd taken at the Bi centenniel black tie dinner that had followed the test match between Oz and you Poms in 1988. At the time everyone who was anyone in cricket was there including Sir Don, your Sir Colin, Keith Miller,Mr Boycott and so on. Host was Michael Parkinson. I,ve allways been reluctant to poke my camera in other people faces but on a night like this fortunately I threw caution to the wind and have 36 shots of cricketers who have been my idols for 50 odd years. Needless to say they'll be on the short list for printing.

Wade D · Sep 17, 2006

With outdated film and paper I have had good results using potassium bromide added to the developer. A half dozen crystals desolved in warm water then added to the developer reduces the age fog considerably. Great to hear your getting in the darkroom again.

Carol · Sep 17, 2006

alan c. davis said:
This afternoon I had a mate over who is aware of my enthusiam for photography and my keeness to resurrect a darkroom. So I dug an album of negatives out with attached contact sheets and discovered a roll of film I'd taken at the Bi centenniel black tie dinner that had followed the test match between Oz and you Poms in 1988. At the time everyone who was anyone in cricket was there including Sir Don, your Sir Colin, Keith Miller,Mr Boycott and so on. Host was Michael Parkinson. I,ve allways been reluctant to poke my camera in other people faces but on a night like this fortunately I threw caution to the wind and have 36 shots of cricketers who have been my idols for 50 odd years. Needless to say they'll be on the short list for printing.

Hello Alan and welcome to Apug. What a wonderful find those negs are, it sounds like a who's who of cricket. I bet you can't wait to print them. I hope you put some in the gallery so the rest of us can see them.
PS I had a Coonawarra Red today. Very nice.

jstraw · Sep 17, 2006

I "shifted house" (I love learning colloquialisms from other English speaking realms!) in 1996 and am now in the same situation. It's really exciting to be planning my darkroom build. I work at a university and can attend one course per term for free and I'm taking their basic B&W course as my refresher. It's way too elementary but it's serving its purpose and the instructor has things to say about aesthetics that won't hurt me. I may not have my build complete till January so I plan to begin doing some Polaroid emulsion lifts in the mean time.

MenacingTourist · Sep 17, 2006

The more Alans the better. Welcome

Alan.

Flotsam · Sep 17, 2006

You found the right place.

After a similar hiatus, I also resurrected my darkroom only to find that the local photo stores that once had extensive shelf-space devoted to darkroom supplies now had only a small pegboard with a few paltry darkroom items... if I was lucky.
APUG was instrumental in learning what materials and solutions were still available, what new items had been introduced or come into favor over the past several years and the best sources to find and purchase them.

Simon R Galley · Sep 18, 2006

Dear Alan,

Welcome back to the darkroom....I have today once again requested the ILFORD Photo flag be raised up the pole....and whilst not wishing to 'risk' future sales of my companies product I rather enjoyed the Ashes series last summer....if it helps I have a MULTIGRADE printing manual I can send you, which may help you save a few sheets , just pm me your address.

Regards

Simon ILFORD photo / HARMAN technology Limited

Kevin Caulfield · Sep 18, 2006

Welcome, Alan, from Melbourne. Which part of South Oz are you in?

Tony Egan · Sep 18, 2006

Alan, Welcome from Sydney. Quite a few enthusiastics OZ APUGers here and if you succumb to addiction and become a daily fourm checker you will become familiar with them soon enough! I had a similar experience resurrecting the darkroom after about 12 years of raising 3 kids about 10 years ago. (Actually, my wife did the raising and I spent all my time at work......) anyway, it also coincided with a home renovation which created a semi-permanent dark room. It's a great feeling seeing that print emerge again after a long break.

p.s. i wouldn't waste time with outdated paper if you can't get a satisfying black after a few sheets. as others have said, false economy in the long run.

patricia de roeck · Sep 19, 2006

Hi Alan and welcome - its good to see another Aussie's joined the fray - just lately I keep coming across returnees to the darkroom and we all seem to have inherited old materials one way or another. I was given a whole stack of paper of various sizes and uknown age so I promptly sealed it and froze the lot - I took the view that because I'm having to re-learn everything again I'd be better off doing it with fresh materials - that way I just eliminate one more variable in the "things that can and do, go wrong" department and save a bit of angst and time. Some of the paper is vintage Kentmere and Oriental which I'm hoping has aged as well your S.A. reds and would like to do it justice when I have more printing knowledge under my belt. Hope you have as much fun as I did setting up the darkroom. Patricia.

Samuel B · Sep 19, 2006

Hi Alan, and welcome from Melbourne. I am also in the process of setting up a darkroom / (laundry), which I have had intentions of doing for the last 10 years. I recently tried some 10 year old Oriental Seagull VC RC B&W paper, and it was useless! The film may be O.K though, I have got a bulk roll of old T-Max I am going to try out....

Black Dog · Sep 20, 2006

Another returnee!I've not done any printing for 3 years or so but I'm still dying for an angry fix (LOL)-at least my darkroom's nearly finished so not long to go now

BTW, agree with previous recommendations re. potassium bromide in the developer for old paper.

16 years in limbo

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency