Despite not having room to swing a cat I’ve embarked on my darkroom project. The plan is to use the bathroom. It has no windows so the only light source is the door and the ‘show us your darkroom’ thread on photo.net has many examples of bathrooms used as darkrooms.
First thing to think about is the enlarger. Much darkroom stuff goes for a song on ebay but the enlargers usually require a pickup since they are big and heavy and awkward to package. Often they are accompanied by a shedload of other darkroom stuff. The auctions sometimes say stuff like ‘My late father’s darkroom would be a shame to junk…’ which says a lot for the status of analogue film.
Sadly, since I have no wheels, I can’t pick one up, so I had to wait until I found one that could be delivered (and I am missing out on all the bundled stuff). My heart wanted a Leitz Valoy II or the Focomat Ic, both of which were being auctioned (and the latter probably needing a crane to move it) but luckily, and unusually, brain kicked in just in time. I picked up a brand new boxed Durst M 370 BW enlarger for a song and it was delivered the next day. This should be perfectly adequate for what I need it for since my main workflow will continue to be to scan the negatives and print from the tiffs. I hope I don’t regret the plastic negative carrier though. It is possible to get the parts to turn this into a medium format enlarger too but word has it they are scarce and hard to find. Don’t how true this is in Europe though. Still, with the silly prices these enlargers go for, it would probably be cheaper to pick up a complete MF enlarger!
Next I have to find a lens, easel and a timer. There are lots of lenses and easels on ebay. For the lens I’ll probably pick up an EL Nikkor, a Schneider Componon-S or Rodagon, all f/2.8. There are dozens of (usually LPL) easels of varying sizes. Haven’t a clue about the timer, I’ll have to find out more.
Other than those items, the rest shouldn’t be too hard to source – safelight, developing trays, chemistry, papers etc.
Game on!
by skinnyvoice
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