Advice on my darkroom dilemma (hybrid?)

msbarnes

msbarnes

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I'm moving to NYC (yay!) and so I no longer have the luxury of using my university darkroom. I want to continue using film and I want to have prints. The way I see it, I have three options:

1. Build my own darkroom: I don't doubt that the equipment and chemistry is cheap but this seems very not practical because I will most likely have roomates and not my own bathroom.
2. Public darkroom: This seems like a decent option. Anyone have experience with these guys? http://www.bushwickcommunitydarkroom.com/ My issue is that I'm not thrilled with the idea of paying per hour. There is an unlimited option for $75/month with a 1-year commitment but that sounds a little steep for a hobbyist.
3. Go hybrid (scan/print): I like wet prints but digital prints is more convinient. There is that initial investment of a decent scanner/printer but I'm more worried about the quality of the output than the cost at this point.

So my questions are:
-Does anyone realistically wet print in a tiny, shared apartment?
-Does anyone have experience with the Bushwick community darkroom?
-Is anyone completely happy with the output of a digital/hybrid print over a wet print? More importantly, does anyone have any samples in the NYC area? I think it would be best for my own eyes to judge.
-Lastly, any suggestions for a good printer? I don't desire to print larger than 8x10 and B&W is my priority. I'm well aware of the scanner options, but printers are never discussed for some reason. Perhaps they don't really matter?
 
I'd say the hybrid option is a no-brainer for you at this stage. I still enjoy the luxury of my own dedicated darkroom, and print at 8x10, but I can see the day will come when I abandon wet printing completely.

I now make no more than one or two dozen (digital-source) prints a year. Rather than buying a printer, I'd look carefully into printing services that can deliver decent prints from your digital files. I can get quite passable prints from a local office supply business who have decent printers and staff willing to listen to what I want. For anything special (papers) I'd probably go to a B&W specialist.
 
I have very much the same, small space, instead of giving the d/r up, i got my enlarger and a nova tank, the tank save's on space.

The enlarger if it's only doing up 10x8, would this not be easy to move when not in use
 
For me, going hybrid is the obvious way, but there is a non indifferent initial investment to be made. The main thing, is to get the best scanner you can afford, I would say at least Nikon CS 9000, so that you are covered in both 35mm and MF. An alternative would be to stop shooting 35mm and get an Epson V700, but it is a compromise. As output, if you use the last generation Epson printer like R3880 and print on something like Ilford gold fiber silk, you will not miss darkroom prints, if not for the smallest sizes. In fact, if I ever go back to darkroom printing, it will only be to do contact prints from 5x7 or 8x10.
 
I live in a typical 25sqm student apartment and have a 3sqm bathroom. When I want to do some wet prints - what I do about two to three times a week - I put my Focomat on the toilet lid, two trays (24x30cm) go into the shower tub. Then I put a lid on the tray with the fixer and put the stop bath on top of it. Now I can easily expose the paper, develop and stop it. When the paper is in the stop bath, I put another lid on the tray with the developer and put the stop bath tray on top of it.
When are the trays are only half full you can easily move them around without risking spills.
 
Thanks for the advice. Right now I'm split between option 1 and 3; that is, building my darkroom and adopting a hybrid workflow. Well, the latter option certainly sounds easier but the first option seems a bit more feasible than what I had imagined.

I'm not happy with my 35mm scans and so I was going to upgrade my scanner or just stick to 120 regardless. The cost of a printer doesn't seem to be THAT bad, as the the Epson R3880 is less than $1k. It mostly comes down to the workflow and if I want to make the efforts to continue wet printing. It sounds like the finished product won't necessarily be inferior with decent scanning technique and equipment.
 
Set up, tear down darkrooms are a pain. I worked on a living room floor in a student apartment and in mom`s laundry room.

Ink dries requiring cleaning cycles that use LOTS of ink. Calibration tools and profile tools are expensive to do right.

Buy a quality monitor you can calibrate , send files out to be printed. Someday you will have a proper printing space.
 
Hybrid workflow with something like the Epson printer, but supplement it with occasional darkroom rental. That way you can get away with a lesser scanner for most of the time, but when you get a real good negative that deserves special treatment wet print it. Or see if there is somewhere you can rent time on a high quality scanner for those same negatives.
 
What is the dilemma?
I do both : I scan and print digital for quick results or for clients who do not see the differ ence. When i only want the best i happily improvise in my bathroom, get my enlarger out.
It takes a lot of time to wetprint. I do not even start unless i can spend at least 10 hours printing. On the other hand do not know a better way to spend a bad weather day😉
For results: a digital print can look beautifull but can not compete with a fiber print and is worth all the hasle.
 
doolittle said:
Hybrid workflow with something like the Epson printer, but supplement it with occasional darkroom rental. That way you can get away with a lesser scanner for most of the time, but when you get a real good negative that deserves special treatment wet print it. Or see if there is somewhere you can rent time on a high quality scanner for those same negatives.
Click to expand...
I shoot Tri-X, develop it in the laundry room, scan for web, post on my flickr, and when I want a real good print, I'll hire someone to do it for me. After forty years in the darkroom, I never got to be a very good printer.
 
I just talked to my cousin in NYC and he has the Epson r3880 printer 🙂 so testing it out shouldn't be that big of a deal and I can probably mooch off of him and buy him ink.
 
I'm seconding (fourth-ing? fifth-ing?) the scanning option. If you have the budget, go with a negative scanner and pass on a printer. I don't miss wet printing, but that's a personal preference since I've neither been particularly skilled at nor enjoyed it. And that was after several years with access to collegiate darkrooms. I tried doing the bathroom and closet setup, and it just becomes infuriating.

As for printers--personally, I'd skip it. It's a whole new printing skill set to learn on top of digital workflow. As mentioned before, they clog. They go through an astronomical amount of ink. Yes, instant proofs are great, but I send mine to Walgreens for quick 5x7s. If you're in NYC, you'll have no trouble finding a competent printer.
 
Takkun said:
I'm seconding (fourth-ing? fifth-ing?) the scanning option. If you have the budget, go with a negative scanner and pass on a printer. I don't miss wet printing, but that's a personal preference since I've neither been particularly skilled at nor enjoyed it. And that was after several years with access to collegiate darkrooms. I tried doing the bathroom and closet setup, and it just becomes infuriating.

As for printers--personally, I'd skip it. It's a whole new printing skill set to learn on top of digital workflow. As mentioned before, they clog. They go through an astronomical amount of ink. Yes, instant proofs are great, but I send mine to Walgreens for quick 5x7s. If you're in NYC, you'll have no trouble finding a competent printer.
Click to expand...

I'm leaning toward the scanner option. I think I'll get the best scanner that I can afford first, and rent at a public darkroom and/or send it out my raw files when necessary.
 
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