To Darkroom Or Not To Darkroom, That Is The Question.....

Lopaka · Jun 18, 2006

Go ahead and build the darkroom - enjoy while you can. My first darkroom was basement space in my parents' house (I was 15) for printing only. The first time I got my 4x5 negs back from the lab with permanent spots that didn't belong there, I decided it was time to start processing my own film. I had a small light proof space under the steps for loading film holders - it bacame the film processing darkroom. I may still have some irregularities on my noggin from that experience. I don't think you'll ever regret having made the space.

Don't let the 'doom and gloom' folks scare you out of it. As for me, if I'm the last film photographer in the USA, I'll apply for a job at Greenfield Village (Dearborn, MI). When Henry Ford was building this exhibit village in the 1920's he discovered one of the last practicing tintypists had given up his work some years earlier and was working in one of the Ford plants. Ford built a tintype studio in the village and put him to work there. He worked there until his death in the 1940's making many thousands of tintypes - famous people came from all over the world to have a tintype made. So whether as museum pieces or general practice, I still think there is a future for film photography!

Bob

srs5694 · Jun 18, 2006

Lopaka said:
Don't let the 'doom and gloom' folks scare you out of it.

Another way to look at it: If you buy used equipment today, you'll get it for a fraction of what it cost when it was new. A few months ago, I bought a Philips PCS130 with PCS150 light source for $74 ($50 plus $24 shipping). This enlarger cost about $1,000 new in the 1980s. Thus, the original owner paid about $50 per year for the enlarger, ignoring interest and inflation. At that rate, I only need to keep it in operation for a year and a half for it to cost the same on an annual basis. Somehow I doubt if photographic paper will become unavailable so rapidly as to make that impossible.

If, OTOH, the doom-and-gloomers are wrong, the cost will drop even more, on an annual basis, making the purchase of (used) darkroom equipment today a phenomenal bargain. For instance, if I get ten years out of my enlarger, that'll be just $7.40 per year.

mtbbrian · Jun 18, 2006

srs5694 said:
Another way to look at it: If you buy used equipment today, you'll get it for a fraction of what it cost when it was new. A few months ago, I bought a Philips PCS130 with PCS150 light source for $74 ($50 plus $24 shipping). This enlarger cost about $1,000 new in the 1980s. Thus, the original owner paid about $50 per year for the enlarger, ignoring interest and inflation. At that rate, I only need to keep it in operation for a year and a half for it to cost the same on an annual basis. Somehow I doubt if photographic paper will become unavailable so rapidly as to make that impossible.

If, OTOH, the doom-and-gloomers are wrong, the cost will drop even more, on an annual basis, making the purchase of (used) darkroom equipment today a phenomenal bargain. For instance, if I get ten years out of my enlarger, that'll be just $7.40 per year.

I like how you think!
Brian

dancqu · Jun 19, 2006

david b said:
Go for the biggest sink you can ...

I'll never understand the fascination many have for big
sinks. I'll take a good counter any day; more versatile
and no problem to construct. Sinks are for water and
washing up. Dan

donbga · Jun 19, 2006

dancqu said:
I'll never understand the fascination many have for big
sinks. I'll take a good counter any day; more versatile
and no problem to construct. Sinks are for water and
washing up. Dan

Sinks are for keeping the dry side dry.

Roger Hicks · Jun 19, 2006

Dear Dan,

A big sink IS a form of counter -- in which you can stand trays, dev bottles, tanks... My current darkroom is the first I have ever had with a big sink and if I ever move and have to build another (which I hope I won't) it will have a big sink.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

dancqu · Jun 19, 2006

[QUOTES=Roger Hicks]
"Dear Dan, a big sink IS a form of counter --"

That's stretching it some. A counter has two while a
sink has three dimensions. If a sink is a counter then
it is one which is depressed and walled all about.
Who would want such a thing?

"in which you can stand trays, dev bottles, tanks..."

Trays, bottles, tanks ..., stand as well ON and need
not be stood IN. I shelve trays and cupboard some
items leaving counter space for other matters.

To each their own. As a requisite for respectable
and realistic processing no body reading this thread
should be left thinking a few or several feet of sink
necessary. Or, for that matter, an unquestionably
desirable darkroom feature. Dan

Bob F. · Jun 19, 2006

dancqu said:
I'll never understand the fascination many have for big
sinks. I'll take a good counter any day; more versatile
and no problem to construct. Sinks are for water and
washing up. Dan

I sort of agree with this. I use a 7 foot x 28" wide and 6" deep sink, but it's a pain to wash up in because water splashes everywhere.

On the other hand, a flat counter top will not handle accidental spills, so I suspect a good compromise would be a flat counter top with a 1" lip all around to catch the spills combined with one of those deep laundry sinks you get in the US (hard to find over here) to do the washing up. Such a counter would be easy to DIY and you could have it draining directly in to the laundry sink with that end of the counter minus the 1" lip.

Maybe in my next darkroom....

BTW, I don't understand the original question... "not have a darkroom"???... Nope sorry, can't get my head around that one... I fed the question in to my PC and it blue-screened with a "divide by infinity, Redo from Start, Out of Cheese" error.... (no prizes for identifying the literary theft )

Cheers, Bob.

Black Dog · Jun 20, 2006

Just think how much digi gear can cost and how quickly it becomes obsolete...just seize the day (or should that be the dark)

kjsphoto · Jun 20, 2006

Let say you move and you have to rent a hosue can you put a darkroom in? Can anyone answer this one? Can you add to the structure or put on dummy walls? Run water etc... Do you have to run it by the landlord?

If anyone has any advice on a darkroom in a rented house, I really would like to know what you do for a darkroom.

Thanks,

kev

rbarker · Jun 20, 2006

Kevin - much can be done without actually making permanent changes - as long as you don't spill chemicals on the carpet, of course.

srs5694 · Jun 20, 2006

kjsphoto said:
Let say you move and you have to rent a hosue can you put a darkroom in? Can anyone answer this one? Can you add to the structure or put on dummy walls? Run water etc... Do you have to run it by the landlord?

If anyone has any advice on a darkroom in a rented house, I really would like to know what you do for a darkroom.

Certainly you shouldn't go putting up or taking down permanent walls, modifying plumbing, etc., without your landlord's permission. Your lease might provide some guidelines about how far you can go -- for instance, whether or not you can paint a room yourself.

That said, you should certainly be able to "black out" existing windows with slide-in boards, curtains, etc.; use existing plumbing; put up temporary partitions; etc.

If in doubt, ask your landlord.

dancqu · Jun 20, 2006

Bob F. said:
I sort of agree with this. I use a 7 foot x 28" wide and
6" deep sink, but it's a pain to wash up in because
water splashes everywhere.

On the other hand, a flat counter top will not handle
accidental spills ... I suspect a good compromise
would be a flat counter top with a 1" lip all
around to catch the spills ...

Water splashes everywhere. BIG sink or not so big
that is something with which to contend. How about
lower water pressure and/or a good flex hose rinser?

To catch the spills? Spills have never been my problem.
While in the service I was stationed a year each at three
bases. I worked at all flat counters, with end sinks, and
had no problems. Have had none the last few years.
Perhaps I've more sticky fingers than most. I don't
recall ever having spilled anything.

There will be no provision for spills with the new counter
I've in mind to build. It will incorporate a sink and be a
seamless masterpiece. Counter with imbedded sink will
measure 22x58 inches; sink, maybe 14x21. Dan

Bob F. · Jun 20, 2006

dancqu said:
Water splashes everywhere. BIG sink or not so big
that is something with which to contend. How about
lower water pressure and/or a good flex hose rinser?

To catch the spills? Spills have never been my problem.
While in the service I was stationed a year each at three
bases. I worked at all flat counters, with end sinks, and
had no problems. Have had none the last few years.
Perhaps I've more sticky fingers than most. I don't
recall ever having spilled anything.

There will be no provision for spills with the new counter
I've in mind to build. It will incorporate a sink and be a
seamless masterpiece. Counter with imbedded sink will
measure 22x58 inches; sink, maybe 14x21. Dan

I spill stuff all the time. Maybe if I didn't have those 6" walls to the sink, I'd be more careful...

Markok765 · Jun 20, 2006

Make a poll about this

To Darkroom Or Not To Darkroom, That Is The Question.....

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