Want to Buy Thermometer wanted for film development

[jshaw35]

Looking to buy a good thermometer, new or gently used. Can be digital or analog.

 

[fotch]

Where are your located? Looking for inexpensive or high precision, or ?

 

[jshaw35]

Where are your located? Looking for inexpensive or high precision, or ?

I am in Vancouver BC Canada. It does not have to be anything fancy, but accuracy would be a plus. Within one degree + or - is good enough, 1/10 of a degree resolution is not necessary.

 

[Bob-D659]

Taylor Digital Instant Read Thermometer 9842-44 from London Drugs, $13.

 

[clayne]

I find the EK (Kodak) mercury models to be a standby in my darkroom. Full analog and fast reacting.

 

[illumiquest]

I've always had good luck with standard digital food thermometers available at any big grocery store.

 

[markbarendt]

Unless you buy a calibrated thermometer matching the thermometers that Kodak, Fuji, and Ilford use the odds of getting the same reading as they would is small.

Luckily that isn't as big a problem as you might imagine. What it means is that you may not get exactly the same result as a high dollar lab using strict processing protocols.

What is truly important with a thermometer is repeatability/reliability. This is easy for most thermometers, even cheap ones like these.

http://freestylephoto.biz/381-Paterson-12-inch-Color-Thermometer

http://freestylephoto.biz/62010-LegacyPro-6-inch-Glass-Thermometer

 

[J Rollinger]

I would recommend a Kodak Process Thermometer Type 3. You can find them on Ebay but some sellers ask $100,i waited and got mine for $20.

 

[Kevin Kehler]

I went to the local universities' chemistry supply store, where they sell goggles, lab coats, etc. and picked up 3 thermometers for under $15; all of them read identically and are alcohol based, not mercury. Like Mark says, accuracy to a 1-2 degrees is less important than consistency as it needs to read the same, again and again.

You assume the newly purchased thermometer is correct because it cost a lot but your negatives are consistently thin. Now, it could be your light meter is off but you don't think so. Add time to the developing cycle. If your highlights in the negatives are dense, reduce time from the developing cycle. After X-amount of time, you discover the thermometer is incorrect by 2 degrees but your amended developing times are producing good negatives. DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING! You have calibrated your development times to your personal process and it works. As long as you are getting good negatives on a consistent basis, it does not matter what the thermometer reads. It is important to note that the development times at a particular temperature published by manufacturers are always recommended time, not hard rules. My development process with your negatives will probably not work and vice versa.

 

[michaelbsc]

If your thermometer overlaps 0 - 100 C then adequate calibration is easy. Just boil distilled water for 100, if you live at altitude correct for altitude.


For 0 make a crushed ice slurry. The deviation from exact will not be measurable on a darkroom thermometer.

If yours is + or - then add or subtract.

 

[jshaw35]

Taylor Digital Instant Read Thermometer 9842-44 from London Drugs, $13.

Thanks. I'll take a look at London Drugs.

 

[jshaw35]

Thanks for all the great tips from everyone, I did not consider all the factors involved other than accuracy.

 

[fotch]

I think color is more demanding the black & white. Good Luck

 

[MattKing]

My Paterson 12 inch color themometer matches my Kodak Process thermometer exactly, and I use it more often than the Kodak one.

Similar situation for me - I use an inexpensive digital kitchen thermometer that I regularly check against my Kodak Process thermometer.

I like the kitchen thermometers with a probe on the end of a cord.

I saw one for $12.00 at Superstore yesterday.

 

[clayne]

BTW: Found the following article "interesting":

Dead Link Removed

So let me get this straight:

1. Potentially broken mercury thermometers are being placed on the same level as coal-fired power plants as far as sources of mercury?
2. All recycled mercury is then used for the manufacture of new CFL bulbs?
3. Said CFL bulbs are then sent right back out to uneducated consumers who will most likely throw *more* of these away in the trash compared to thermometers?

Typical Nanny nonsense.