Timers

RonaldD · Apr 22, 2012

Are there any timers that work as well or nearly as well
as those Grablab?
I checked them at Henry's and they range from 200 to 300 dollar plus.
Too much for me when I am just being initiated in finishing negatives
Ronald

tkamiya · Apr 22, 2012

Roland, please see your PM.

Mahler_one · Apr 22, 2012

On that auction site you can find excellent used and new Gralab timers for a fraction of the price that you quote. Obviously used are quite a bit less money, and are usually perfectly fine. Check the feed back of the seller, and note if the item is eligible for buyers protection. Thus, you have some protection that the timer will be as advertised. As noted, there are other timers. Indeed, some use an egg timer.....

Perhaps someone here will offer to sell you one?

Leigh B · Apr 22, 2012

I prefer the Time-O-Lite for routine enlarger control. It's much smaller than the Gralab, and I prefer it's control arrangement.

Buy a used one. Time doesn't degrade with age.

- Leigh

MattKing · Apr 23, 2012

What are you timing?

If it is process control, a few inexpensive kitchen timers work well.

And consider posting a "Want to Buy" ad locally for a Gralab mechanical timer. Even in small communities there seems to be a lot of used ones out there (they are pretty rugged, and people used them for a lot of different things.

If you are looking for a timer for an enlarger, I'd suggest looking for a used digital timer. They can be had reasonably. In the meantime, you can use a switch plus a metronome or a clock with a second hand - just aim for longer exposures.

Mike Wilde · Apr 23, 2012

Come to the phsc spring camera gear swap in about a month.

I will have two of three gralab 300 timers to sell, and some other timers as well, I seem to recall from the boxes packed in the garage attic since Christmas.

You won't be paying $200-300.

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 24, 2012

Mike Wilde said:
You won't be paying $200-300.

Though if you were going to drop $200-300 there are much better timers to spend your money on than a GraLab.

Moopheus · Apr 24, 2012

Nicholas Lindan said:
Though if you were going to drop $200-300 there are much better timers to spend your money on than a GraLab.

Indeed. Good working Gralab 300s are so plentiful used it's amazing they can still sell new ones. There's no reason to spend more than $20-30 on one. Then save up for a nice F-stop timer.

RonaldD · Apr 24, 2012

What is an F stop timer?
I do know what they are on a camera but timer..
Ronald

MattKing · Apr 24, 2012

RonaldD said:
What is an F stop timer?
I do know what they are on a camera but timer..
Ronald

See the link in Nicholas' post above to his website and his excellent f-stop timers (inter alia)

Mahler_one · Apr 24, 2012

I agree with Nicholas...and few timers are better than the Darkroom Automation F Stop Timer. I have had the timer for quite a while, and the timer is perfect for enlarging and contact printing. Moreover, the service from Nick cannot be surpassed.

However....for film and the Jobo, the Gralab....obviously others are fine as well.

agnosticnikon · Apr 24, 2012

I'm with Leigh on the Time-o-Lite timers. I always used Gralab until I used a friends darkroom when I was moving, twenty years ago. He had Time-o-Lite timers, and I ended up switching to them for enlarging. After the exposure, the timer automatically resets, so you always know your starting exposure, and can easily adjust up or down from there. I prefer the "Professional", or "Master" models, as they are metal and better built. I now use my Gralab as a developing timer. But hey, any timer will actually work. But $200-$300, really? Seems unnecessary to me.

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 25, 2012

In the darkroom I teach at we are equipped with the ol' time-o-lites, they are simple and easy to use, but the timing over short periods such as 1-2 seconds can vary a bit. there is also a lack timing anything under a second.

At home, I started out with the gralab 300, way too big but a fun thing to use. Again the accuracy wasnt the best over short spans. I have upgraded and have been using a gralab 451 for awhile now. It is a nice small timer, not much bigger than the time-o-lites, I have it mounted on the wall next to my enlarger, it allows for 1/10 second increments, very visible red leds, metronome, countdown timer, and foot switch. It is a very good timer in a compact package.

I would like a Fstop timer, but the prices are a killer. Then again its not to hard to do the math in the head anyway.

You can always do it counting as well and flicking the enlarger on and off too. My dad did this for contact printing when he was growing up.

Nicholas Lindan · Apr 25, 2012

Newt_on_Swings said:
... I would like an Fstop timer, but the prices are a killer. ...

When compared to other digital timers:

$279.99 Omega ET500
$259.99 Beseler Digi-Timer
$239.99 GraLab 450
$369.95 GraLab 555

$259.00 for a Darkroom Automation f-Stop timer would seem to be a screaming bargain.

Unlike the others, though, DA timers almost never turn up on ebay - so you are sorta stuck with having to buy a new one.

bdial · Apr 25, 2012

I did the f-Stop printing "do the math in my head" thing for a long, long time with about every sort of timer known.

Got an f-Stop timer last year, well worth the investment.

Moopheus · Apr 25, 2012

Nicholas Lindan said:
Unlike the others, though, DA timers almost never turn up on ebay - so you are sorta stuck with having to buy a new one.

I just lucked into an RH Designs Analyzer on ebay, I think it was like the second one I've seen listed. So, no, people don't seem to give them up once they have them.

Newt_on_Swings · Apr 26, 2012

Nicholas Lindan said:
When compared to other digital timers:

$279.99 Omega ET500
$259.99 Beseler Digi-Timer
$239.99 GraLab 450
$369.95 GraLab 555

$259.00 for a Darkroom Automation f-Stop timer would seem to be a screaming bargain.

Unlike the others, though, DA timers almost never turn up on ebay - so you are sorta stuck with having to buy a new one.

I got lucky on my gralab 451, $35-40 I think shipped, plus a $6 guitar footswitch and $2 1/4" to 3.5mm converter plug. New timers are just not in my budget range, you must live within your means ya know lol.

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