Enough already.

It is one of the old models, there are no plastic switches, just chunky analogue levers.

Gralab 300 process timer with 120 reel (for scale)

It is big. Like surreal big! It has a highly visible and luminous 8 inch face. It is built of metal and is constructed like a tank and consequently weighs about as much as a Sherman too. There is no ‘creak’ factor anywhere. The hands are super-easy to set and there is basically one control (for process timing anyway) – off and on. Nice and binary.

The huge second hand has a mesmerising quality as it majestically sweeps the dial. I need something to hold my attention when agitating a dev tank twice every 30 seconds for 15 minutes (which is my current Rodinal/FP4+ regime). I find the process of developing film very relaxing anyway so this should just add to the contemplative mood it induces in me.

The buzzer could wake the dead though. Luckily the volume can be adjusted.

So why do I like it so much? Because it does what it says on the tin and nothing much else. It is simple, elegant, single purposed, has a very high usability quotient (always a plus but surprisingly uncommon,) and it harks back to a ‘golden age’ of over-engineering build. It is pure quality. For 1/10th of a second enlarger operations in the darkroom it won’t cut the mustard any more compared to digital timers but I have a Durst Labotim for those scenarios anyway. However, people managed enlargers for years with these Gralabs before digital was available. There are enlarger and safe-light sockets on the side and one additional time/focus switch opposite the off/on switch on the front for use with the enlarger.

For developing & wet darkroom stuff I have been using a Patterson Triple Timer until now and it is a right PITA, really horrible to use. Yes it does do everything a timer can do but in my opinion at a huge cost in usability. It is so small it slides around the worktop as you are trying to stab the buttons, usually with wet fingers, or faffing around trying to figure out which of the three timers is actually bleeping (each timer is accessed by a fiddly little slide-switch on the side -  and as an aside, how difficult would it be to give each timer a distinctive bleep?) . Unforgivably, it is just too easy to reset or stop the wrong timer. I’m so glad I won’t be using it in future, except maybe to time boiled eggs.

Yeah well, maybe I get too excited by the wrong things…

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!