So I decided to build a darkroom

[Avotius]

Ok so I got my darkroom almost going, just need to finish sealing the cracks.

I got an enlarger, a..........russian something or another. Its really solid though and can print up to 6x7 so works for me. Price was good, 1200 yuan or about 170 dollars with all the bits and pieces I need, a 50 and 80mm enlarger lens (both russian) and the condensers, and all those things, very clean, very nice. The lenses are the (I think, everything is in Cyrillic) BETA-11Y2 which is the 50mm f2.8 and the BETA-30YP which is the 80mm f4. Just to jazz things up a bit I tried it out and my Leitz 50mm Elmar 3.5 red scale works perfectly fine collapsed on the enlarger, pretty neat.

Um....yeah, lots of space in the spare bedroom but no running water, I figure that isnt too much of a problem though, can do my washing in the bathtub 🙂

I do have a question though, after the developer I guess there should be some sort of stop bath. I have seen conflicting comments that yes you can use water, and no you should not use water but actually find stop bath chemical, and also that you dont need any of those and just stick the photo in the fixer and its fine.

oh by the way, my enlarger says this, whatever this means:

Also I am having a hard time getting a hold of a red light bulb dim enough to use in the dark room. Is it possible to take a small bulb, like 5 watts and then paint it red or something like that?

 

[pau3]

Hi, Avotius,

good luck with your new setting.

Be careful with the safe light. It is not enough that it appears
to be red and dim. It really has to cut the frequencies that may fog
the paper. Try to find a real safe light, or fluorescent lamp.
There are some made with diodes.

And, with respect to the use of stop bath, you'd probably want to
if you want to develop more than one sheet of paper. If not, the
fixer will be exhausted to soon. Is is hard to find photographic chemicals
for you? They are usually worth what they cost.

Cheers,
Pau

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

If you're out of stop you can just rinse like crazy, or you can vinegar and water. Even lemon juice will work. (Well diluted)

 

[kipkeston]

I think I was leaving the paper in the water for 2 minutes before fixing instead of 30 seconds and changing water a lot. It can be done!

Best of luck, it's a great way to spend your evening but gets a bit lonely. Put on some music or talk to somebody while you're at it. Think about ventilation in the future

 

[Avotius]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I have worked in a darkroom a lot before but it was always a ready to use one, everything was there and nothing had to be messed with. We did have a stop bath but I dont know if it was water it anything else.

Pau, yes it is very hard to find chemicals here, I will probably end up making a lot of my own, no problem, I had a chemistry set when I was a kid and only managed to blow my self up no more then 6 times.

And it looks like I better find a real safe light then, at first I will just be using cheapo chinese lucky or era papers but eventually would like to move up to something better as my enlarger has a 180 degree rotating head so i can enlarge extra big is I so wish.

As for ventilation I am considering building some a maze box out of plywood with fans at both ends, that or maybe trying to find some sort of kitchen fan and a exhaust pipe wrapped in a knot or something like that to act as a light trap. The problem is mounting it to the window, might be a pain, see what happens. During the summer I wont be able to spend a lot of time in the dark room at once anyway as it gets upwards of 44 C here and I dont have air con.

As for lonely, my gf is a photographer, she will be in there with me sometimes, also my bedroom is next to it so I can just turn on the tunes from there and easily hear them through the wall (we can hear people cooking upstairs all the time)

 

[varjag]

The lenses you have are Vega-11U and Vega-30U, Planar-type designs markedly better than more common, Tessar-like, enlarger Industars.

I've used 11U, it is a better lens than I was a printer. I printed up to 18x24cm.

The enlarger (Don 7002) is among the better ones made in USSR, although never tried it myself. Focomat most definitely would be better though 😉

 

[jbf]

Awesome to hear Colin! I look forward to seeing some wet prints from you!

One of my first goals once I finish school/start a carreer is to setup a traditional dark room.

(Oh and buy a nice lens or two)

 

[Avotius]

The lenses you have are Vega-11U and Vega-30U, Planar-type designs markedly better than more common, Tessar-like, enlarger Industars.

I've used 11U, it is a better lens than I was a printer. I printed up to 18x24cm.

The enlarger (Don 7002) is among the better ones made in USSR, although never tried it myself. Focomat most definitely would be better though 😉

Oh, i thought it might be beta, heh, Cyrillic...... Just off hand it seemed the Leitz Elmar lens I have is sharper and more contrasty. Either way it looks like a great set up, and the price seemed ok so will give it a nice go.