Recent inheritance...

thebeatles · Apr 1, 2011

My best friends father gave me some of his old darkroom "goodies"! They have been sitting in his basement for quite some time, so I am not sure if the chemicals and things are expired/good...then again, I'm not sure about anything when it comes to darkroom equipment (complete "noob"). This was conveniently timed, considering I want to learn how to develop c-41. So can anyone give me any advice on what to do with this stuff? I know that the steel containers are developing tanks, the gray plastic thingy is a bulk film loader, the photo paper is probably useless to me, unless I plan on constructing a darkroom, and the literature seems way outdated. What I'm not sure of is whether or not those chemicals would be of any use to me. I took a closer shot of the chemical containers so you can read the labels (somewhat). Thanks in advance for any tips!

BTW, sorry if this is posted in the wrong section...

fschifano · Apr 2, 2011

Obviously, The tanks and reels are goo, provided they've not been damaged. A damaged reel will be difficult if not impossible to load properly, so that's easy enough to verify with a scrap roll of film. As long as the lids fit properly on the tanks, they're good too. Acetic acid does not go bad, and it's primary use in the darkroom is as a stop bath. I don't know what the concentration of the stuff you have there is, so I can't tell you how much to dilute it. If it's 28%, a serviceable stop bath can be made from it by diluting 1 part acid to 31 or 32 parts water. It's not critical. The yellow stop bath is good too, just dilute it per directions and use it. The yellow dye is an indicator that will turn blue when the bath is exhausted.

The Dyene bottles are spotting dye. As long as they're not dried out, you can use them too.

Rick A · Apr 2, 2011

The photo paper can be used for "lumen" prints, or some use them th temper their lith solutions, so dont toss them out. If you dont plan on using them at all, I'll buy them from you. I see a bulk loader, a great way to save money on film, don't see a processing tank only reels, hope its a complete set. As for the chems, the acid stop bath should be just fine, any other chems may be suspect, may or may not work.

Oops, I can see the tanks, just needed to put my glasses on(duh)

SuzanneR · Apr 2, 2011

Cool... and I see the processing tanks, they look good to go, but as mentioned, you'll need to test the reels to be sure they aren't out of alignment. The dyene spotter can be used even if it's dried up... just add a few drops of water!! Nice few things to inherit!!

Dan Henderson · Apr 2, 2011

As Rick mentioned, there are people here who can make use of outdated papers, so if you don't want it, offer it for sale. Too bad the Oriental and Sterling papers in particular were not frozen. They are likely papers that are highly treasured by some printers.

bdial · Apr 2, 2011

You can test the paper for fogging by cutting a sheet in half, develop and fix one half, and only fix the other, then wash and dry both.
After drying compare the halves, if they match, there is no fogging. Otherwise, the developed one will be darker than the fixed one by some degree.
You can add a restrainer (usually Benzotriazole) to the developer to reduce the fogging, but if you're just starting out you may want to keep things simple and just use it for experimentation.

Jeff Kubach · Apr 2, 2011

If you test the B&W paper and it doesn't come out good, at least you didn't lose anything but your time.

Jeff

Buje · Apr 2, 2011

The glass bottles seem to hold Chromium Intensifier, not acetic acid. Be careful.

Paul

papagene · Apr 2, 2011

By the look of the boxes, the paper doesn't look too old. If they were stored in a cool dry place they may be just fine to work with. This past year I used the last of some Oriental paper that I bought in the mid-90s that I kept in my basement darkroom. It was still as good as when I first opened the box.
Good luck and have fun!!

MattKing · Apr 2, 2011

This does all appear to be oriented toward black and white, so if your goal is to develop colour only some of this is likely to be applicable.

guitstik · Apr 3, 2011

As Rick said, old fogged film can be used for lumen prints (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
These are a few examples of what I have done and I am sure that you can find others that have practiced this art.

You stated that you want to learn how to process C-41, have you developed any other film yet?

Mark Fisher · Apr 3, 2011

Old paper often liths nice....If you don't want it, let me know!

thebeatles · Apr 3, 2011

Thanks for the info everyone! Sorry it took me so long to reply, I have been extremely busy! I am not looking to sell anything, as this was an inheritance, and I feel as though it would be wrong of me to do so. Yes, I did want to develop c-41, but being the indecisive person I am, I decided I want to start with B&W (I have never developed before). I figured that I would just flush (is this safe to do so?) the chemicals. I want to start fresh and am honestly a bit frightened by them for some reason. The reels look useful, though they look a bit wide? Will they work with 35mm or are they for 120 only? Sorry if these questions seem ridiculous, I am completely new to this side of film (previously just a shooter). I looked up some recommended chemicals and such to purchase (to get started with b&w) and came up with this list on bhphoto:
wetting agent
fixer
developer
change bag
measuring cup

Is this a good place to start?
Should I start a new thread to ask these sorts of questions?

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2011

Stay here and ask.

funnel
film clips [for hanging the film to dry]
nylon line to hang the film clips and film on

Steve

Rick A · Apr 3, 2011

Ask all the questions you want. We're here to answer them, and help you. We all want you to be confident in what you are doing.

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2011

A set of sponges and towels that are only used for the darkroom.

Steve

thebeatles · Apr 3, 2011

Thanks for the additional recommendations! Question: do I really need to purchase stop bath and a wetting agent? Would a healthy dose of water and agitation suffice?

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2011

thebeatles said:
Thanks for the additional recommendations! Question: do I really need to purchase stop bath and a wetting agent? Would a healthy dose of water and agitation suffice?

Yes, yes, no, no.

Both are cheap and last a long time.

Learn the method. Perfect the method. Get it right first. Then screw around if you want.

The other way around is not so good.

Steve

thebeatles · Apr 3, 2011

Ah, I see. I think I am going to go ahead and order today. I'm going to go with the Ilford chemicals (good idea?) I heard agfa rodinal is good for a developer, but I can't seem to find any online?

Black Dog · Apr 3, 2011

I've used Record Rapid that was more than 20 years old ansd still produced great prints-it's just like laying down fine wine!

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2011

I have found that I consistently get great results with Kodak XTOL full strength replenished. Look at http://www.kodak.com/global/en/prof...wFilmProcessing/selecting.jhtml?pq-path=14053 to see published results. It is also inexpensive and FreeStyle, an APUG sponsor, ships it.

Steve

2F/2F · Apr 3, 2011

Buje said:
The glass bottles seem to hold Chromium Intensifier, not acetic acid. Be careful.

Paul

Ditto. Just what I was going to point out. Best to drop that off at a hazardous waste disposal facility if you have no use for it. (Make sure you relabel it so the contents of the bottles are more clear. You have one bottle of part A and one bottle of part B there.) Even if you do have a use for it, I don't know how well chromium intensifier lasts in bottles.

The stop bath and the dyes should still be fine. That is enough stop bath concentrate to last you about 10 years, if you don't chuck your stop after each session.

Be very careful with the stop if you decide to marry the two bottles to save space. The concentrate is very harsh. You don't want any of it getting on any part of your body. (Working solution stings if you have any open wounds on your hands, but it is nowhere near as nasty as the concentrate, which will kill/numb your skin pretty quickly.) Put on a pair of glasses and dish gloves.

John Koehrer · Apr 3, 2011

+1 on the ind. stop. It doesn't go bad unless you're using it. The indicator tells you when it's old & tired.

thebeatles · Apr 3, 2011

Thanks again for the info folks, I really appreciate it! I'm glad I joined this forum, I will have to support with a subscription.

Sirius Glass · Apr 3, 2011

John Koehrer said:
+1 on the ind. stop. It doesn't go bad unless you're using it. The indicator tells you when it's old & tired.

When you think the stopbath with indicator is about to go bad, dump it in the toilet, then dump the developer. The stopbath will then indicate that the toilet bowl should not be used to stop film development!

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