I need moral support and hints to set up a darkroom!

[pesphoto]

I dont think I will EVER be able to live in an apartment or future house without my darkrrom. Cant wait to buy a house so I can build a permanent darkroom.

 

[Solinar]

Solinar, I'll be moving to Austin soon and I'd love to get together with you and talk shop. Other than Camera Co-Op (like it okay), and Precision (don't like), are there other local places to hunt down darkroom gear? Also, are there affordable community darkrooms?

Frankly, the Camera Coop is the last store in Austin with a full range of chemistry and papers. They took a hit a couple years ago and had to move to a new location because their rent nearly tripled at the old location. It's a small store, but they still manage to carry a full range of Ilford and Patterson chemistry.

Precision has for the most part shifted over to digital capture and electronic printing. They have some darkroom chemistry and paper, but the pickings are slim. For some reason, their purchaser doesn't seem too big on Ilford. Unlike the Camera Co-Op, the majority of the staff are not darkroom enthusiasts and therefore either not very helpful or woefully under informed with regards to advanced printing.

Darkroom gear is best found at yard sales and through displaying you work. I took the plunge and put together my own guerilla darkroom after the public darkroom space that I occasionally used closed down in 2002. I'd be surprised, if you can find a public darkroom these days.

 

[aterlecki]

I found three quite similar cheap deals on enlargers, including timers, focuscope etc:
1. LPL Color Enlager C7700 with Rodenstock 50/4
2. Durst Modular 70 with El Nikkor 50/2.8 and El Nikkor 75/4
3. Durst M805 with Rodenstock Omegaron 50/3,5

Are all these good alternatives? As I want to be able to print from my Iskra as well as from my Leica, I will need to buy new linses for offer 1+3. I don't need really big prints but want good quaility.

/matti

As far as those enlargers go, definitely go for the Durst 805 over the Modular 70. It's better built and more robust. The key with buying Durst enlargers is to make sure all the bits you need are included in terms of negative carriers, masks, lensboards, correct power supply, etc. Buying Durst parts you are missing can be expensive unless you get lucky. That said they are bombproof enlargers and I expect my Dursts will long outlast me.

One other very useful piece of kit I use is a Nova slot print processor. These allow you to work in a very small space and have chemicals ready and mixed which keep for weeks. You can literally go into the darkroom for 15 mins and knock out a few prints without any setup or breakdown time. The Monochrome models for B&W chemicals are quite inexpensive if you can find them second hand.

There really is no better time to be buying used darkroom kit so I'd say definitely go for it. From personal experience I can say I get far more satisfaction from my wet prints than I do from the ones that come from my inkjet printer.

 

[rpsawin]

This is great! I just made the decision this weekend to include a darkroom as part of my home office remodel. In fact, I bought my enlarger in preparation. No....you are not nuts and not alone.

Bob

 

[matti]

I did it!

I did it!

So, I did it! 😱 I bought the Durst M 70 with colour head and a nikkor 50 1:2.8 a nice timer, some extra parts like glasses and a focusing loupe. I also got some trays and other stuff, like a big heavy easel with 4 moving edges. Everything for about $150. The Durst 805 I also looked at lacked some parts and had to be shipped here so it was out.

The only missing things to be able to try it out are some paper and developer. Any hints on what to start with? When I did this the last time about 17 years ago, we were a bit sceptical about multi contrast paper as it was kind of a novelty. At least according to my friends... now I feel old... I suppose the colour wheels can set multicontrast paper if I want to. I also need a darkroom lamp of some sort. I will also be looking at a decent 80 mm lens to enlarge some Iskra shots.

First I think I will try a night in the kitchen before I rebuild a basement room for the permanent setup.

This is going to be fun!

/matti

 

[Solinar]

Well congratulations! VC papers have improved, and are much faster to wash.

Does you M 70 have the VC or color filter unit in the head? If so, these newer dichroic filters pretty much let you change the filtration without having to change the exposure when using VC paper.

 

[titrisol]

I moved from a townhouse with basement to another one that had one extra bedroom.....
I miss my basement!!!!
:bang: :bang: :bang: :bang:

I dont think I will EVER be able to live in an apartment or future house without my darkrrom. Cant wait to buy a house so I can build a permanent darkroom.

 

[Goodyear]

A good read, and lots of useful information. Thanks, folks.

We a re planning a move towards the end of the summer, and one of my essential criteria for the net house is space for a darkroom!