Absolute darkroom beginner

[Xmas]

I have a changing bag and it worked well after a lot of practice.

I thought the room had to be 100% light free. I developed in the kitchen, maybe not do this again!

I think I am super allergic to these chemicals. I noticed my mood deteriorating as well when I am around it, maybe this is concidence but I know this is really harmful and hence the reasoning for ventilation. There is no way I want to try developing under the stairs with 3 trays of chemicals!

Well now you have opened my eyes... I'll try and think where I can enlarge (although doesn't it really need to be dust free and free of vibration?)

Well I could enlarge under the stairs and carry the paper up to the bathroom which needs blacked out (What about electricity, how can you see?) Unless I can wire a safelight into the main light.

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/groups/filmphotographypodcast/discuss/72157634950242236/

if you need to dev by inspection plug 2nd safelight into shaver socket

give away any developer containing metol and buy set of micro scales with 0.01 gm resolution and use more benign chemicals unlikely to be the acid fix we soak our French fries in acetic acid hmmmm.

 

[Black Dog]

Citric acid is more benign and not so smelly...

 

[Noble]

And... I wonder about a good quality scanner. I know the Epson V500, V600, V700 are all good although a bit expensive for the time being. Are the mini ones complete garbage or should I just save for an Epson?

At a minimum get a V500. I got one on sale for about $130. They are good for internet posting and just previewing your negatives. You will make mistakes in developing when you first start and it is a lot better to look at a scanned set of negatives and pick out the winners than waste materials in the darkroom. B&W scanning is easier than color. Color is difficult to do particularly for C-41 because it is difficult for a newbie to get the colors right.

I don't print anything without a scan first. I've found all sorts of flaws that saved me hassle in the dark room.

 

[rubyfalls]

I got a V600 for $150 - just keep an eye on them. Right now is a good time to get a nice deal. Like others, I use mine primarily for review and sharing.


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[nocturnal]

Thanks everyone,

I am really enjoying this forum and spending little time on another 'gadget' forum now, although they were very helpful when I was a newbie to the Pentax system.

Right a couple of things:

I intend to fix these again in an ice cream carton or something. They look bloody sharp and I estimated the flash exposure to a good degree. I was using a Metz AF-1 50 on a Pentax ME Super. I have legacy flashes but wanted to use the Metz for the ceiling bounce and Rembrant lighting effect etc. so it was a decent experiment. Another good thing is that this is my 2nd ME Super which worked perfectly with no light leaks. The first one I bought had leaks and would need a service, I absolutely love the Pentax ME Supers as they are so simple without all the DSLR crap!

I'm thinking of building a collapsible shelf for my enlarger onto a solid exterior wall in my bedroom. This will be easy to black out and it nearly is already as I have black out blinds although I can make it fully light proof which I want for sleeping anyway. I am like the paper itself LOL and hence my nickname!

I can also blackout the bathroom (for paper dunking) with a sheet of plywood or MDF which I can set in and take out. Both rooms need the windows above doors blocked also. The problem is where to plug the safelight in the bathroom. I am definitely not installing electric in there! Maybe I could wire it into the light somehow. Don't worry I can do electrics! There is no shaver socket and I think it is against the regulations here as I have never seen them in any house here.

I managed to 'scan' them with my regular flatbed and invert them. So I made a pseudo contact print. I just did these in the acetate holding files. As you all know dust is an almighty problem and maybe a bedroom is not great for enlarging due to carpet/fabrics etc. The bathroom has less airborne dust and I think if you run water it helps. In a local guitar factory they have a waterfall in the special spray room to help eliminate dust.

Yes I know scanners are banned although I'm only using it to inspect the negatives and as I sent them around the internet to my friends they thought it was so 'artistic' to see the strips of film. They though they were great but I explained that I should be able to make fine art prints from them and then they will understand why I go to the bother of using film!

I read somewhere that flatbeds are not the best. I seen a review of the Plustek dedicated 35mm ones and the resolution it pulled from the negatives was mighty.

Another reason I want this (and should please you folk) is to show how film completely out resolves any digital imaging device and to sicken the pixel peepers! Although then again why should I as they are gadgetographers and not photographers!

I finally won by auction a set of Ilford Multigrade filters and the previous owner trimmed them to 75mm which is exactly the size I need for my filter tray (receive them soon).

I am looking at the Scheider Kreuzach Componon-S 50mm f/2.8 and hopefully I'll buy it. I think it has M39 Leica thread which should fit my enlarger which came with a cloudy Rodenstock Trinar 3 element lens.

Then just a matter getting the room or rooms ready.

I can't wait to do my first print!

The film development was excruciating at first but it is great to be able to do this!

Nosferatu

 

[mr rusty]

If you have no power for a safelight, use a battery powered one. A good option is a red cycle light. It should be safe straight off - do a safelight test just to check.

 

[nocturnal]

I've got about 4 rear cycle lights and a red mode on a Petzl hiking headlight.

As you say Rusty test them first!

Good thinking!

 

[rubyfalls]

The Plustek is nice, I borrowed one a while back. I use the v600 because I shoot mostly 120.

And good luck making your darkroom - you can make just about anything work and it sounds like you have both ideas and skills. My darkroom has a water leak in the ceiling. I just work around it. As for electric, until I put an outlet in, I ran an extension cord under the door -- I have floor to ceiling black-out curtains between my workspace and the door, and just tucked a black towel over the small crack where the cord came in. Not pretty, but it worked.


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[nocturnal]

Thanks for the flattery rubyfalls only joking!

Well I just bought an aparently mint Schneider Companon-S 50mm f2.8 enlarger lens and I'm almost ready to go.

I just have to get some fresh paper developer and hopefully the 1996 photographic paper is OK but I'll know when I try it/test it.

I was thinking of trying a powder developer like Kodak Dektol or should I stick to Ilford?

I'd like something that will keep a good while and not 3 months after opening as I may not get much printing done in the near future.

 

[polyglot]

If you want the long-term keeping, Multigrade will be a better option. It keeps for a few years as concentrate and will last for a session once diluted.

Dektol will keep forever as powder, but once you mix it up to a stock solution, it is meant to last only a couple months. You then dilute the stock to get the working solution, which lasts a session or so. However, I suspect that by keeping the stock solution in a mylar bag-in-box, you might make it last a year or more.

 

[nocturnal]

Schneider Componon does not fit enlarger

I received my Componon in great nick...

However despite it having 37mm thread like the one that does fit, the threads on the Componon are recessed back from the surface and can't grip the female enlarger threads.

Even if I push it in place, a 2nd problem pops up... The Componon inner element protrudes through the enlarger and stops the shutter working as it is where the shutter is.

So I figured I need a shallow 37mm extension type tube. I only need about 5-6mm for the extension tube to screw in then the Componon can screw into it.

I am looking on the internet to see if there is anything out there that can make this work without having to go to a custom machine shop (and this isn't feasible anyway just to get this enlarger going).

Thanks

 

[mr rusty]

I have a feeling that Philips enlarger is a bit of an unusual and difficult beast.

Why not start again with something a bit more "normal".

Bargains about e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Darkroom-...raphy_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item27dbcce8e6

but I guess this will be gone soon!

 

[nocturnal]

£5 !!!!!!!!!!!!

I would need to get on a plane to collect it.

I have found a few 37mm adpaters which may work if I can get a comprehensive spec and technical drawing for it.

I'm not beat yet and I'm not even going to try and find another enlarger that comes by post. None are available here for collection and never are.

 

[nocturnal]

I think I'm sorted if I can find this on the other side of Planet Earth

http://www.discountcameras.com.au/view_product/42030?brand=true&per_page=40&return_id=1081

 

[rubyfalls]

Could it be that you need a different mount? I'm not familiar with your enlarger, but mine (Durst m600) requires different mounts/lens boards/whatever one calls them for different length lenses.


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[mr rusty]

I would need to get on a plane to collect it.

Ha! for some reason I thought you were UK!!

 

[nocturnal]

No rubyfalls ,

It doesn't have an interchangeable mount. It is 37mm Leica thread and the enlarger design has a shutter which flicks over (and back) the hole where the lens screws in. This shutter is flush with the board and the Componon sticks up through it and hits the shutter. I just need to drop it down a bit with the [h=2]Ranox RA3737 F37-M37 Adapter Ring[/h]
as I posted above. I just need to find one. I am 99% sure this will work according to my scientific training LOL

I think the enlarger will be quite good when I get it working then I'll sell it when I build an Ansel style darkroom and have a house to accommodate it!

 

[nocturnal]

Ruby, I missed your previous post, I am over in Belfast (The land of zero 2nd hand enlargers on Ebay anyway!)

Another thought is to buy a 37mm filter and simlpy take the glass out. A 37mm filter ring with 4-5mm of depth should do, I imagine the thread pitch is the same OR IS IT?

EDIT: Judging side by side the thread pitch isn't the same so the above will not work and the filter ring threads wouldn't reach the female threads inside the mount.

 

[rubyfalls]

Yikes. I admire your fortitude. My attempt to "fix" my enlarger problem (jammed board clip) resulted in a shower of teeny springs and ball bearings. Happily, I eventually got it fixed and (more or less) put back together and now it works wonderfully. But still...


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[nocturnal]

Upon further reading and the Scheider leaflet in the box: M39 with 1/26" thread.

 

[polyglot]

39mm 1/26" is LTM (Leica thread mount). Much more likely/common than 37mm.

You'll probably find the lens board (with the thread in it) is removable; the intention is that you can quick-change your lenses without need to unscrew them. If so, you might be better off making a new lensboard with the appropriate thread in it, or just a hole that allows you to put an LTM nut on the back. You can also make the board a bit recessed to prevent the shutter-interference problem. I'd be horribly surprised if there aren't existing lensboards on the market for that enlarger and the standard LTM mount.

 

[nocturnal]

Without the aid of a photograph I'll describe:

This is made from reinforced plastic, a moulded unit where one can definitely not change the 'lensboard' which has the Rodenstock plastic thread (LTM 1/26" as polyglot says). The bellows are attached to this unit and if I could just find a simple LTM 1/26" M39 coupler I'd be happy. The elctronic shutter mechanism is also an integral part of this so I'm sure you understand making a board is not an option.

I found an extension tube in California, many miles away!

Maybe I could glue a MDF board to the underside and screw in a female LTM mount? All this is going to take ages but I am fed up trawling Ebay (ever get sick of it?) Even if I found another enlarger this could be frought with problems also. You mean an LTM locking nut? I'd prefer an LTM female socket if there is such a thing.

I may try and get it to work as what else am I going to do with it!

One day I'd like to have a serious setup in a dedicated room then that makes the photography all the more fun!

Oh dear dear I am desperate to see what i photographed on Saturday. I was trying to really put the theory into practice with Ilford Delta 100, red filter 25 and a Y2K. All taken in a beautiful forest and river here. I also experimented with my new 200mm prime with the filters on it.

I have a Calumet shop 2 miles away, maybe I should have a yarn but they never seem interested in helping unless you are spending 1000's. Whatever happened to those local shops where the man knew everything and had exactly what you needed? Ah online shopping is to blame!

 

[nocturnal]

A picture says a 1000 words so:

Here are 4 photos on the 'lensboard' on a Paterson PCS 1000 Enlarger

Note the washer that fell out of somewhere

 

[polyglot]

OK. If you can't get a cheap extension tube, a simple option would be to screw a thin sheet of plastic to the underside of the lensboard and then glue the appropriate mount into that sheet. If your lens has a nut on it, glue the nut onto the back of the plastic sheet and then you can just screw the lens in.

You need to be careful enlarging 35mm since the lens-to-film distance isn't very large so you don't want to extend the lens too far downwards otherwise you may lose the ability to make very large prints.

I think it would be easier/cheaper to find a more common and (probably) more sturdy enlarger than this one. Something with a tungsten+dichroic head, made of metal and with standard lens mounts will serve you better in the long term.

 

[nocturnal]

Thanks polyglot,

I seen this 6mm LTM extension tube on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LTM-fit-L...y_VintagePhotoAccessories&hash=item35ce474648

However it is not cheap!

Yes I was aware of the lens-to-film distance and the 6mm tube above would hardly affect this much and the rear Componon-S element recesses back around the same amount. However this is not proven to avoid the shutter and I may be left with more expensive stuff I don't need!

The Componon-S does screw in (just!) and it stays there, the problem is the rear element protruding into the shutter.

Another enlarger? I have seen an available (yes this seller uses a postal service! Whey Hey!) Philips PCS2000 tri one enlarger with 'anti newton glass' on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Philips-P...raphy_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item4acc2be4fb

I'm not sure the Componon screws into this. Nor do the Ilford Multigrade Filters fit to it but I don't think it needs it for monochrome.

The seller seems to know his stuff so maybe I should ask him.

Opinions on this enlarger?

I suppose I could sell this one and the multigrade filters I bought. There were quite a few bids on both items so they must be in demand and I have cleaned the enlarger up.

Cheers