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Anyone have one of these Dark boxes?

CropDusterMan

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Feb 7, 2014
Messages
711
Location
Southern Cal
Format
35mm RF
I used to use these in the lab a lot, always loved them. Not a fan of dark bags and
my old Harrison Dark tent suffered the weird sticky decomposition after several years.
Funny, it almost looks like a cooler on its side. Would like to find one, only ones I've
seen on Ebay are in Europe.
J
 
In Jr. High School, the print shop had a box with arms. (You could easily make something like that from an old changing bag and a box).
 
These are very commonly used at minilabs. Check Ebay and used equipment dealers. I had one but I gave it away. Our local real camera shop closed this spring these went with the film processor. They used for putting 120 into the little plastic cassette for the C41 machine. Quite small.
 
Another to search for is the Fuji FDB12. I bought one on ebay about 8 years ago for around $50.00, including shipping. The prices they're asking now are ridiculous, but keep looking for someone selling at a realistic price.
 
You'll eventually get that "sticky" problem on "film boxes" too. It's due to the polyurethane fabric coatings which breaks down over time, especially if the product is tightly rolled up or stored in a hot environment. Such items, including camping tents and not just film tents, need to be stored loosely when not in use. A far bigger potential problem on new items made in China is the excessive use of pthalate plasticizers on vinyl, which can give you quite a skin rash. Those kinds of items need to be wiped down with alcohol when new, and left to air out from anywhere from several weeks to several months before use. For example, there's been almost an epidemic of mysterious wrist rashes in this area from "smart" exercise watches and their vinyl wrist bands, and everyone is apparently too stupid to figure out the obvious. Maybe they should loan the dermatologist one of those half-baked devices to wear for a week! Similarly with hiking poles - the good Austrian ones like Leki have real rubber or cork handles, while the Chinese knock-offs have vinyl grips swimming in noxious plasticizer.
 
I loved the Harrison...I had the big one and used it for 8x10 etc...it's toast now. I never understood why they used and continue to use this silvery polyurethane.
I'm sure there are other options. Tempted to just get another...even if it only lasts a few years.
 
I also use the "Changing Room" and it does everything I need from 4x5 to 35mm. I can bulk load an entire roll during a half hour sitcom. Load 12 4x5 sheets into a Jobo tank for processing. Even load a Graphmatic holder without issue.
 
Someone has a Crown brand box on Ebay today.
 

I've got one very similar to this:

 
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