Just bought a changing bag...

cmogi10

cmogi10

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My school has a very very nice darkroom about two blocks away from my house which I used to do all my processing and printing in but I decided to invest in a changing bag so I wouldn't have to haul my chemicals back and forth and really only use the darkroom for printing.

Wow!
Life is so much easier now, there is really no excuse not to develop at home when you can just get a changing bag. You don't even have to light proof a room!
Anyway, I'm watching the timer count down on the wash of my last two rolls of Tri X so I should probably get on that.

Cheers!
 
A changing bag has another twofold use as well. You can take it with you within your camera bag as an emergency device in case of trouble with your camera, and well acomodated it will pad the basis of your bag.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
Using a changing bag as additional padding is a great idea and I wish I had thought of this awhile back.

I had the strap go on my everyday bag a few weeks ago and the lens popped (thankfully cleanly) out of the Diana I had in there, as well as the glass crack in one of my renewed Weston V meters, when the !&#^ thing hit the floor.

It would also be great for changing film/paper negatives in a pinhole camera.

Thanks Ruben!

Eli
 
eli griggs said:
Using a changing bag as additional padding is a great idea and I wish I had thought of this awhile back.

Eli
Click to expand...

Well, if the bag is made from any plastic like fabric, at hot summers you can wrapp within it a bottle of cola, a sandwich all the year round, or just make fun with occasional kids.

Cheers,
Ruben
 
I love my changing bag. I do most of my processing first thing in the morning. The night before though I will plop myself on the couch in front of the TV and load my reels and tanks in the changing bag. Very nice little lazy time activity.
 
I have a little semi light proof enclosure in my shack made from old curtains etc which is no use during the day but at night is dark enough for loading film. I was going to use my change bag the other day but I can't get my head around them and find movement very restrictive. Why can't someone design one with a light collapsable internal frame, like a tent, that gives you some space to maneouver. When it's thirty degrees plus ... my hands sweat profusely the instant I put them in the bag and the feeling of the bag clinging to me is a problem.

Or am I just being difficult? :p
 
Keith, you hit on the main and possibly only drawback of changing bags: they do collect moisture from your skin and the build up of humidity can make loading film reels impossible. Best to use change bags when it's (and you're) not hot.
 
I've been loading daylight tanks in a large changing bag for nine years now and wouldn't go back to sitting on the floor in the closet for ANYTHING! Keith, I wonder if what you need is just a larger bag. The one I use for a "darkroom" is twice the size of the one in my camera bag.
Vic
 
Vics said:
I've been loading daylight tanks in a large changing bag for nine years now and wouldn't go back to sitting on the floor in the closet for ANYTHING! Keith, I wonder if what you need is just a larger bag. The one I use for a "darkroom" is twice the size of the one in my camera bag.
Vic
Click to expand...

You're probably right Vic ... part of my problem is lack of familiarity with what I'm doing ... as I load more reels and get more confident hopefully the change bag will seem less daunting! :)
 
Keith said:
I have a little semi light proof enclosure in my shack made from old curtains etc which is no use during the day but at night is dark enough for loading film. I was going to use my change bag the other day but I can't get my head around them and find movement very restrictive. Why can't someone design one with a light collapsable internal frame, like a tent, that gives you some space to maneouver. When it's thirty degrees plus ... my hands sweat profusely the instant I put them in the bag and the feeling of the bag clinging to me is a problem.

Or am I just being difficult? :p
Click to expand...

tent

http://www.vistek.ca/details/details.aspx?WebCode=141316&CategoryID=ProPhotoDarkroom
 
Keith,

Photoflex makes the tent style of changing bag you mentioned...I have one and it works great...keeps the bag off your hands and it's very roomy inside...
I got it for loading 4x5 film holders...

Sorry, I lied, my wife bought it for me...

I do own the normal flat changing bag and carry it in my 4x5 kit bag...

Just saw the link...my bag is older and a bit different than that one but the same idea...
ebay has them too...
 
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I recently replaced my old nylon-exterior bag with a bigger, all-cotton one and find the new one is much more comfortable. They are very useful things, and still cheap, especially off the auction site (never did find one in a local shop when I needed to replace the old one).

I use the dev-tank to hold open a bit of a space to allow comfortable film-loading, but the bag has to be big enough. It would also be simple to make a fold-flat corrugated-cardboard frame as a bag support.

The residual dampness (eeuucchh) is removed at the same time that the bag is cleaned of little bits of film etc. by having it inside-out for a while in a dust free place.
 
congratulations. i just finish developing my neopan 400 in my office. changing bag and my chemicals are easy to bring around for quick developing. just ensure that you have good water source. again congratulations......
 
I guess it's a lot more fun with a large bag! I've got a tiny one, barely big enough for my tank and hands, and it's pretty constricting.

(Un)Luckily for me, I forgot it at school this weekend, when I went home. I mixed my chemicals only to realize I'd forgotten the bag. So, not wanting to waste them, I hastily sealed the bathroom and did it in the shower. The amount of space I had to work with and mobility of my arms felt so good, i may need to try and set up a dark room.
 
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