Darkroom (Grow) Tent

[pinzone]

I'm currently rebuilding a darkroom from scratch having gone a good decade without. I have a low ceiling cellar that is pretty dusty, slightly damp, difficult to control temperature, poor air circulation and in many ways just not ideal but it does have the option that I could install a sink and plumb some water. And it's safely out of the way of little people. Even so, it's a bit of a make do type situation. Alternatively I could move to top floor of house. They'll be no running water in the allocated room but I could control temperature, good air flow and it is much cleaner (and I can stand upright!) but it would be impossible to black out the room so that option would require a tent. Darkroom tents hit the £500+ range but I just saw this, it even has room for an extractor/fan. Small space too but I could site it on the top floor. Just wondering if any mad people here have ever tried using one of these or heard of anyone else doing so. I mean would they work? It looks as if it would! Anyway here's a link to the type of thing I'm thinking of:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110586547853&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

[jp498]

That looks pretty nice. I haven't use one as I'm not into gardening or marijuana cultivation.

I just got one of these for a portable outdoor wintertime shelter for optical fusion splicing, and it's really quite light tight as well. It could pass for a temporary darkroom if you add ventilation, or could also function as a portable darkroom for wetplate too.

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[pinzone]

Now I have options. Dope Tent or Killzone Igloo. Life is so difficult!

 

[fschifano]

That thing is pretty small for a darkroom. You won't be able to turn around without bumping into yourself.

 

[Rick A]

Heavy gauge black plastic of various widths may be purchased from nearly any building supply and can be stapled or taped to anything to fabricate a darkroom. Buy a few 2x3's , plastic and make your own.

 

[fschifano]

Heavy gauge black plastic of various widths may be purchased from nearly any building supply and can be stapled or taped to anything to fabricate a darkroom. Buy a few 2x3's , plastic and make your own.

6 mil. black plastic sheeting is sold in rolls at places like Home Depot. The stuff is completely opaque, and doesn't cost a fortune. I used it to fabricate a drape over my darkroom door which would otherwise leak light like a sieve. No reason you can't use it to cover any windows you might have in the upstairs space. Beats the heck out of trying to work in a dank, damp, and dusty cellar with no headroom.

 

[Contrastique]

Hi, I actually use a growtent as my portable darkroom when I make collodion plates outside. They are quite perfect! They are light-tight, have room for fans, mine also has ventilation holes and things where you can attach a red LED to as a safe-light. I bought mine from this company:
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Here's a shot of mine:


The only thing that's tricky is that the zipper is being handled from the outside, not in. This means you can't close it all the way down but if you sew some black cloth at the bottom part where you can't manage to fully zip it you should be more than fine.

I recently saw an ad for a darkroom tent for children to play in. Maybe you can find something like that, it has zippers from the inside...

 

[Martin Aislabie]

You could make your own wooden box frame and cover it with Blackout Cloth (http://www.silverprint.co.uk/ProductByGroup.asp?PrGrp=1090)

That way you can get a "darkroom" which fits your needs and the available space

Alternatively, 6mm plywood is very light tight and very robust/permanent. A double layer of Silverprint Blackout Material as a hanging drape makes a really good door.

The problem with non photographic darkrooms is they may not be dark enough to meet your needs

Its amazing how basic some peoples darkrooms are - yet they produce fabulous work

A bit of lateral thinking and a bit of DIY can yeild a perfectly adaquate darkroom

Martin