Film processing timer?

ulysses19 · May 25, 2007

Can anyone suggest an inexpensive timer for sheet film processing in darkness? The room I have available for processing has no electrical power to the outlets when the overhead/safe lights are turned off so I can't use the plug in timers which have a luminous face. So I am hoping that someone could suggest a little battery powered clock or timer with a luminous dial that I could put on the floor or under the sink. Even an inexpensive wristwatch would be fine. Thanks.

mjs · May 25, 2007

Small electronic kitchen timer? Travel alarm clock? Just about any sort of small, electronic clock should have either a stopwatch function or countdown clock with buzzer. Metronome set to one beat per second and count the seconds (much easier to use than it sounds but I never learned to listen to music while timing. Some people say that they can but I never managed it without losing count.) I've seen electronic stop-watches at discount stores for US$5 or so. I used one for a while; the battery lasted for more than a year.

mjs

mjs · May 25, 2007

Another suggestion: your local hardware store sells fixtures which screw into a standard light bulb socket and contain one or two electrical outlets, plus another light bulb socket and a chain to turn the bulb on and off. Then you could have power and light under separate controls.

mjs

DannL · May 25, 2007

You might also use a battery backup (UPS) from a computer. (charged). Then you could use an AC powered timer. But, the constant beeping might drive you completely nuts over time. Hmmm! That might be a good thing.

Neal · May 25, 2007

Dear ulysses19,

Obtain a Timex Ironman 100 lap watch. It's not "cheap" at $70 but it's useful for all sorts of things. The timer can be set with multiple intervals to get you all the way through the fix. I use mine for RA-4 printing as well as for all sorts of other timing needs. Very durable as well. I purchased mine over 12 years ago and have worn it almost every day since.

Neal Wydra

Shmoo · May 26, 2007

If there's a Williams-Sonoma store near you, they sell (in the store, not in their catalog or online) a kitchen timer that is battery operated and can time 3 different things...about $18.

Snapshot · May 26, 2007

I purchased a multi-purpose timer with a large LCD as well as beeping alarm. It can track 3 separate timings and serves as a clock when not use. This cost me under $15 from The Source (Radio Shack in the US).

Sean · May 26, 2007

I installed an audible stopwatch on my mac and set it to make chimes/voice announcements at certain times, I then let this run while I recorded it into mp3 format. I then simply play the mp3 back in the darkroom. My setup is usually something like..

-mp3 starts saying 3 minutes to dev time
-2minutes
-1minute
-start dev
-beeps every 15seconds and minute notifications along the way

Once setup it works great..

Kevin Caulfield · May 26, 2007

Talking timer. It's the duck's guts.

Kevin Caulfield · May 26, 2007

By the way, I think talking timers are tricky to find in the USA, but here in Australia they are about $20 AUD.

GeorgesGiralt · May 26, 2007

Hi !
I had the same problem. I wanted speaking timers to be free in the dark when processing my sheet film.
I go to the charity supporting blind people and they sold me really cheap timers talking in the dark. I made a donation for helping them, too. The only thing you'll have to do is to put some bright in the dark paint on the start and stop buttons.
I use 3 of them, each set for dev. stop and fix times. In the dark I start the DEV one when I move the sheets from pre-wet to dev, and when it says "10 seconds remaining" I start putting sheets into the stop. Once done, I start the STOP one ..... And you're done. I've them for more than 3 year with the same batteries into them.
LAst but not least they have a clock mode and in the total dark, when you press any button it spells out the actual time.
It's made in China, inexpensive (I think it was about 8 Euro a piece) and cool, really cool !

Film processing timer?

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