Darkroom Luxuries

dkonigs said:

And yet there are plenty of places where you get shouted down for daring to suggest an analytical approach to darkroom work. I'm just grateful this thread isn't one of them.

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I'm not sure that I've seen a lot of that sort of "shouting down".
What I have seen a fair amount though is people who quite rightly point out that it is difficult to fully automate the sort of darkroom work that leads to high quality work.
I'm also more comfortable with darkroom analyzers being used by those who have enough experience to judge how much they can contribute.
My use is limited to an Ilford EM-10 - which of course functions more as a comparator than an analyzer.

Sirius Glass said:

The single most expensive thing in a darkroom is having the space for it.

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Absolutely agreed. That's why it took so long for me to have the "aha!" moment and set one up. Its a lot easier to find a space suitable for simple inversion film processing (and even that can sometimes be a challenge) than somewhere you can actually feel comfortable with the full enlarger+trays+sink setup.

My luxuries - the versalab parallel. I wouldn't print without it, 20x24 lith prints, wide open, sharp corner to corner.

The ZeroStat gun is great. The big Edmunds 6x loupe, which has an opening for brushes or tools. I can paint the grain back in when spotting or retouching.

I have a #000 paintbrush, the bristles have sort of curved over time. It's the most fabulous spotting brush I've ever owned and I'll be bereft when it wears out. I'm the guy at the art store, checking brush tips with my loupe to find the perfect one.

The Micromega see-into-the-corners focuser is killer, and I have three of those Salton HotRay tempered glass buffet warmers for lith printing and heating emulsion (they're also great for holiday dinners, doing what they were designed for) - my wife came home from an estate sale with a 20x24 monster, she was like "you use these things, don't you??" I have an awesome Mrs.

mgb74 said:

Most items in the darkroom are necessities, but there are a couple that I view as luxuries. My two candidates are:

Thomas Sodium Vapor Safelight
Magnetic mixer

What's your luxury item?

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My Sonos radio system

I guess I have to add the ZeroStat gun to a want list, though a twin pack, darkroom, camera bag seems ideal.

Above all TIME, and some extra money for paper...

A luxury for both the darkroom and Photrio is free but not easily found - a sense of humour

pentaxuser

A Jobo expert 3010 drum perhaps counts as aluxury but it made my darkroom life much easier. The same can be said for the RH Stopclock 500.

I guess I'll allow for the Besler PMII analyzer, old school for many, but in the early/mid 1980's I had one which together with a 23CII or III, and Dichroic colour-head, gave SPECULATOR results in Cibachrome of Classical and Modern dancers under stage lighting, including colour gels.

It was also quick to get close to a 'normal' b&w print exposure, which save a lot of time.

That's why a few years back I specifically hunted down this 'old' tech, for my current darkroom.

While many of us are guilty of holding on to this arguably dated analog concept of photography, I may be more of an anachronism than most. My darkroom is circa 1946 (D-II enlarger, Time-o-lite P-49 timer, Kodak Ektar lenses, etc.). While newer technology does give some flexibility and expanded capability, I enjoy the simplicity and escape from the digital world in a darkroom built before the transistor. I might not be able to compete with some of the great output of other forum members due to its limitations but I am getting consistent results pleasing to me with a darkroom that's twice as old as I am.

My luxury is finding the next piece of vintage equipment in pristine, working condition that I can actually put to use.

And maybe a radio - but it has to have tubes. You guys with your discussion on flat-screen TV afterglow...I'll have to figure out how to shield the tube glow.

C-130 Nav said:

You guys with your discussion on flat-screen TV afterglow...I'll have to figure out how to shield the tube glow.

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At least your tubes will promptly stop glowing, within seconds of powering down the radio.

Easy enough to mount the radio in a light-trapped cabinet that allows cooling air to circulate, but blocks the glow inside -- and just bypass the bulb in the dial lamp (probably an't just remove it, since it's often in series with the tube filaments). I recommend a Hallicrafters S-120 that's had the "hot chassis" corrected. Mine, with a very modest antenna, will receive shortwave from places like China, Italy, and South Aftrica (I'm in North Carolina), and also does a fine job with local AM stations (after dark, it would probably pick up ones like KGO in San Francisco, three thousand miles away). No FM, but with the "BFO" turned on and adjusted, and careful tuning, I can also listen to hams on Single Sideband on 80 meter band (or 40, or 20, maybe even 10 with a better antenna).

Donald Qualls said:

At least your tubes will promptly stop glowing, within seconds of powering down the radio.

Easy enough to mount the radio in a light-trapped cabinet that allows cooling air to circulate, but blocks the glow inside -- and just bypass the bulb in the dial lamp (probably an't just remove it, since it's often in series with the tube filaments). I recommend a Hallicrafters S-120 that's had the "hot chassis" corrected. Mine, with a very modest antenna, will receive shortwave from places like China, Italy, and South Aftrica (I'm in North Carolina), and also does a fine job with local AM stations (after dark, it would probably pick up ones like KGO in San Francisco, three thousand miles away). No FM, but with the "BFO" turned on and adjusted, and careful tuning, I can also listen to hams on Single Sideband on 80 meter band (or 40, or 20, maybe even 10 with a better antenna).

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With risk of taking this waaaay off topic, I formerly used my BC-348 (an Army Air Corps B-17 radio receiver which you could turn off the dial lights and is light-tight) until something internal failed. I need to replace all the resistors and capacitors and re-tune it. But that challenge is a discussion for another forum...

Donald, is it just me, or do tube SW/AM radios pickup better than transistor sets? I used to be able to get WCAU in Philadelphia on my grandmother's tube radio down here in NE Alabama. I'd have kept it, but replacement tubes(entire set) would have been over $200!

Fujicaman1957 said:

Donald, is it just me, or do tube SW/AM radios pickup better than transistor sets? I used to be able to get WCAU in Philadelphia on my grandmother's tube radio down here in NE Alabama. I'd have kept it, but replacement tubes(entire set) would have been over $200!

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We are now coming out of the low part of the 11 year Sun Spot cycle. The greatest recent high was in the IGY 1957, it has nothing to do with vacuum tubes or transistors.

Old tubes are out there, and if you personally go hunting up old tube electronics in "Penny Savers", small flee markets and church sales, you can likely find what you need.

Years ago I was no able to load up a tall boy radio all tube type, from the street, and the trash collector's truck was a scant dozen houses away, so I careful ly yanked a small number of tubes, for photo props, etc and several years latter salvaged a half dozen from an artist made floral center piece, for a Holiday Art League Gathering.

The artist that made these decorations, also took natural floral elements flowers, etc, and reeds gathered recently collected which were topped with old tubes (all good, IIRC) and brightly coloured aluminium tinsel wound down each reed.

This and the Radio are completely unexpected finds, as well as a 1960's Sear's guitar tube amp, and I'm sure some good hours hunting up what you want will give joy and finds for your project.

By the way, my Father's family loved the good quality electronics of the 50's & 60's, and I remember one large range frequency scale brown Baklite Radio in my Grandmother's upper rooms, that got short wave and AM radio, very clear, robust sounding and a clarity of signal I would no experience again until these latter years of streaming of media has produced.

I love good, clear music and radio, but I would love to have kept this radio and a 1960's RCA HiFi portable, heavy turn table record player, which used tubes to, of my Father's, which disappeared when I joined the army at 17.

Also, do no forget old TVs used tubes as well, so hunt up some old time repair shops as well, especially in small towns.

The fine focus adjustment knob on my LPL 4500II enlarger. Smooth as silk...

Dale