What stop watch are you using?

about to extinct

D
about to extinct

  • 2
  • 0
  • 95
Fantasyland!

D
Fantasyland!

  • 9
  • 2
  • 132
perfect cirkel

D
perfect cirkel

  • 2
  • 1
  • 130

Recent Classifieds

Forum statistics

Threads
198,750
Messages
2,780,367
Members
99,697
Latest member
Fedia
Recent bookmarks
6

Andrew O'Neill

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
11,957
Location
Coquitlam,BC Canada
Format
Multi Format
Yes, counting metronome beats...if there are many... one can lose count, especially me as my mind will start to drift thinking about stuff...so to keep track of minutes, I have at times scratched marks in the ground indicating minutes...If exposures are longer than 5 minutes, I'll use the stopwatch mode. When I've forgotten my stopwatch at home, my phone's timer will suffice. I love my little phone, as I can take a shot of the scene, make notes, and have film data stored in it (filter factors, reciprocity, etc). Beats fumbling around with paper...which I have with me just incase the phone goes kaput.
 

tomkatf

Subscriber
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
289
Location
San Diego
Format
Medium Format
My Omega Speedmaster
Yup, Seamaster too!

seamaster1w.jpg
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2002
Messages
3,587
Location
Eugene, Oregon
Format
4x5 Format
Processing film: Zone VI compensating developing timer
Exposing paper in the darkroom: Metronome function of my GraLab 450 timers
Processing photo paper in the darkroom: Zone VI compensating developing timer
For long exposures of film in the field (which is what I think this thread is about): For exposures up to a minute or so, I just count in my head. I get a nice march tempo going (120bpm like Sousa marches) and count measures (I'm a trained musician, so counting measures is second nature now). I can count up to five minutes or even longer if needed, but when the exposures get up into the many minutes category, I'll use the countdown timer function on my phone because it sounds an alarm when time is up. That way I can do other things during the exposure time. Example: when photographing in slot canyons, my exposures were often in the 20-40 minute range (even longer at times). I'd set up, begin the exposure and then go scouting for other image possibilities until the timer went off. Then I'd return to the camera, end the exposure (the few seconds of walking back to the camera is negligible with a long exposure), end the exposure and carry my camera to the location I chose while the exposure was being made.

Best,

Doremus
 

eli griggs

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
3,846
Location
NC
Format
Multi Format
My cellphone or a chronograph Seiko or an old Timex, with either digital or analog dial.

Generally, I find a watch is nice but the choices of phones or, perhaps an Apple Watch serve well and are almost always available (if you, in fact, actually have an Apple Watch).
 

snusmumriken

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 22, 2021
Messages
2,484
Location
Salisbury, UK
Format
35mm
My enlarger timer is a Soviet-era clockwork device, bought in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s to get rid of the money foreign visitors were obliged to exchange (I left the rest for the hotel staff). To time chemical processes, I use a mechanical Smiths clock from the 1950s. Neither seems likely to fail any time soon. I like the sound of clockwork.
IMG_0432sm.JPEG
IMG_0433sm.JPEG
 

Sirius Glass

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
50,357
Location
Southern California
Format
Multi Format
One, one thousand
Two, one thousand
Three, one thousand
...
By the way, given the sub-forum this is in, I think the question relates to camera work, not darkroom work.
Although the picture in my mind of a large format photographer starting up a metronome to time their shot seems quintessentially "Ansel Adams-ish" :D

I assumed from the start that the OP was talking about timed exposures in the field and not darkroom work.
 

warden

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
3,033
Location
Philadelphia
Format
Medium Format
I'm with the mechanical timer crowd, for in-the-field and darkroom. I use a wristwatch with a bi-directional rotating timer bezel and it suits me. But my dad has a vintage stopwatch from his youth that I keep meaning to "borrow". :smile:
 

Sirius Glass

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
50,357
Location
Southern California
Format
Multi Format
Same here but I say pieces of cheese.

What type? Hard cheeses or soft cheeses? Domestic, French, Italian, Greek, ... please a little help here.
 

Mick Fagan

Subscriber
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
4,421
Location
Melbourne Au
Format
Multi Format
I have a quite old Seiko stopwatch I bought from a school fete, it turns out it was one of a few brought back from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Seiko were the official timers for those Olympic games and I believe that somewhere Seiko were selling their stopwatches for people to sit in the grandstands and do their own timing.
 

PerTulip

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2017
Messages
226
Location
Vienna
Format
Medium Format
... I use a wristwatch with a bi-directional rotating timer bezel and it suits me. ..

I have an automatic wristwatch with bi-directional bezel and stopwatch feature. Nice to work with. If I am not wearing it, I just use the smartphone.
 

bags27

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
576
Location
USA
Format
Medium Format
Can an iphone stopwatch count backwards? I need to set a watch to the final time and work backwards, otherwise I might forget the duration.
 

bdial

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 2, 2005
Messages
7,464
Location
North East U.S.
Format
Multi Format
@snusmumriken, I love the look of those clockwork Smiths timers.

As for what I use, for exposures I usually count in my head using the "1001..." method. If I think of it, and have it with me, I might use my phone.
In the darkroom, for processing I have a large Gralab, and a Time-O-Lite in different areas, plus a StopClock pro for the enlarger.
 

loccdor

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 12, 2024
Messages
1,503
Location
USA
Format
Multi Format

RalphLambrecht

Subscriber
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
14,646
Location
K,Germany
Format
Medium Format
I am wondering what people are using for a stop watch for exposure or anything else.

I have looked into Minerva and Aristo Apollo.

Thoughts? Examples or links would be helpful too.

Thanks!

I didn't want to depend on yet another battery and consequently searched high and low for a mechanical stopwatch; ended up with a Hanhart; paid a lot, but had it already for 30 years and it's still going strong
 

Sanug

Subscriber
Joined
Sep 27, 2023
Messages
260
Location
Duesseldorf
Format
35mm Pan
In my analogue darkroom I like to use for the paper development time an analogue stop watch. Unfortunately, this beautiful big Kienzle I bought from ebay is defective and I did not find a shop to fix it.

IMG_20240607_151917822.jpg


But I bought a small stop watch from former GDR which is working fine.

IMG_20240607_151054691.jpg
 

eli griggs

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
3,846
Location
NC
Format
Multi Format
Lol
I use a darkroom timer for darkroom exposures and processing times. For camera exposures above 1s, I use a mechanical stop watch from hahnhart because, I want to be battery independent for that.

My cellphone or a chronograph Seiko or an old Timex, with either digital or analog dial.

Generally, I find a watch is nice but the choices of phones or, perhaps an Apple Watch serve well and are almost always available (if you, in fact, actually have an Apple Watch).

I should also add that I have a number of old black faced darkroom timers and the smaller Time o'Lights, plus a digital enlarger timer.

I also have a multi unit Time 'o Light that has at least five units built and an analog power reostate (?) for, in my case, lowering or raising the speed of my home built magnetic mixer or could be used for light level control.

It was made by a photographer who had a well known portrait studio in Charlotte, NC at our Cotswall shopping center and I got it from his daughter who also sold me my Letiz Valloy II and Omega E enlarger, etc.

Because it's so heavy, I've not tried to sell it, ship it, so it continues to occupy space in my darkroom closet.
 
Last edited:

bernard_L

Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2008
Messages
2,031
Format
Multi Format
Film processing: Heuer stopwatch pictured below.
Paper processing: pair of Ikea kitchen timers-beepers dev + fix
Enlarger: Seiko electronic metronome
Camera exposure beyond 1s: count in my head, helped by prior training with the metronome.
IMG_2798.JPG
 
Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here.

PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:



Ilford ADOX Freestyle Photographic Stearman Press Weldon Color Lab Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Top Bottom