Clueless : Making contact prints for dummies

[buze]

I shoot to scan; however I find that having a small size positive could be handy, especialy for filing (making notes etc).

I have no darkroom equipment, save the one I use for developping film,
so I'm looking into a "McGuyver" way of making contact prints (135, 120 and 4x5).
What do I need:
+ Paper; 8x10 ? bigger ? Any grain/type/brand in particular ?
+ Piece of glass to keep the film flat; any glass ? antireflective ? Coated?
+ Light source; desk lamp ? How do you decide exposure time; guesswork ?
+ Darkroom safe lignt : red filter on the desklamp ?
+ 3 trays for procedding; can I use the same stop/fix bath as for film ? What about developer; anything "special" ?

Sorry for the really clueless approach...Note that I don't plan to do enlargements, just "snapshots"

 

[Nick Zentena]

8x10 paper will basicaly do you. Just place the film in it's plastic negative holder on the paper with the glass on top. You're just making basic proofs so this should be good enough for non-critcal use.

You don't need much light. 15 watts should be fine. Less wouldn't hurt. Something you can move further/closer would be a bonus.

Time you'll soon enough figure out a time that works for your paper. Then just use that for all negatives. It won't be perfect for each one.

Safelight? Some thing like the 5x7 safelights that plug into the wall outlet would be nice. They aren't that expensive. Easy to setup and take down. The more basic choice is the red bulbs. But they tend to be expensive for what they are. Soon enough you'll have spent enough money for a 5x7 housing.

I'd have a second bottle of fixer for the paper. Can be the same type of stuff but wouldn't want to mix it with the film fixer. Developer look for one of the liquid paper developers. If you can find Agfa Multicontrast it would be a good simple cheap choice.

 

[Bob F.]

+ Paper; 8x10 ? bigger ? Any grain/type/brand in particular ?

8x10 will do to contact a roll of 35mm or 120 (just). Ilford Multigrade IV Resin Coated (usually abbreviated to MGIV-RC) in glossy or pearl finish. The 8x10" x 100 sheet packs are usually sold at a discount because of the popularity of the size.

+ Piece of glass to keep the film flat; any glass ? antireflective ? Coated?

Any, but the thicker the better for the weight - it's probably not worth your while getting a special contact printing frame.

+ Light source; desk lamp ? How do you decide exposure time; guesswork ?

15W bare bulb suspended 3 feet above the paper will do. Test strips are used to ascertain the exposure time.

+ Darkroom safe lignt : red filter on the desklamp ?

Various options: a red LED bicycle rear lamp will do (preferably not a flashing only type!).

+ 3 trays for procedding; can I use the same stop/fix bath as for film ? What about developer; anything "special" ?

Can use same stop + fix but I would suggest using odourless/low odour versions as I assume you will be using a temporary darkroom (bathroom etc) as the trays have a large surface area so will pong the place out without proper ventilation. Fotospeed & Tetenal do both and Ilford Ilfostop is also no-odour (but not their fixer). Paper developer is needed and I would suggest Ilford Multigrade to keep life simple (a liquid - just dilute with water to use).

Specials: tongs to keep your fingers out of the chemicals. A thermometer (but you should already have one of those).

How are you washing? Another tray is probably the simplest - RC paper does not need more than a few minutes wash. For drying the prints you need either a line + clothes pegs or screens or something like the Paterson RC drying rack.

Somewhere on the Ilford site (www.ilfordphoto.com) there is a section for beginners - the stuff about the actual enlarging you can skim over but all the rest still applies.

One problem is that you can not use contrast filters with just a bare bulb so you will be stuck with printing on grade 2 which is the default without filters. It may be worthwhile getting a cheap enlarger + lens on the auction site and use that as a light source - you can sometimes get entire darkrooms for well under 50 quid.... (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Darkroom-comp...8QQihZ018QQcategoryZ29993QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Meopta-Axomat...3QQihZ011QQcategoryZ29987QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)



Have fun, Bob.

 

[jim appleyard]

Try to find a cheap, repeatable darkroom timer that you will plug your light source into. This will be a major convenience, otherwise you'll be counting the seconds of your exposure in your head or by the second hand on the clock; not very accurate.

Once you find your time, just leave the darkroom time at it and you're all set.

 

[eli griggs]

On several occasions, when I needed quick contact sheets and was away from my darkroom, I simply closed myself in a closeted washer/dryer space, so crowded I could not take even a half step back, with an overhead bare bulb and three small trays of chemicals.

A piece of glass from a picture frame with paper taped edges for negative safety and a suitably sized book were my 'frame'.

I didn't have or need a safelight, and after one or two tries at "one-one thousand, two-one thousand...", I had a good feel for how long to pull-on/pull-off the light.

I won't claim they were as 'dialed in' as what I had from an enlarger, but they certainly did the job were good enough to accurately judge what I had on film.

Cheers