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You've done it all, you've shot different formats, colour and black and white, you process your own film at home, your scans are good, you've got a good process down and you're happy with the cameras and lenses you have. You own enough photo books that you have ones sitting on the shelf that you haven't got to yet and now you're asking yourself "What's my next money pit?", and the answer is, a darkroom! Darkrooms are hella fun, and another avenue for creative expression that will change the way you think about your photography and techniques in interesting ways. So what do you need? Enlargers  Enlargers come in many shapes and sizes but all do the same thing. Push even light through a negative and through a lens for focusing on an easel. Picking an enlarger to suit your needs only requires a couple of questions: Do I want to do colour? What's the maximum negative size I'll be enlarging? An enlarger with a colour head can enlarge black and white but not vice-versa, and you can always enlarge smaller negatives on a bigger enlarger but not the inverse. Lenses  Enlarger lenses and camera lenses are different beasts. An enlarger lens is a flat-field lens, designed for projecting a flat surface onto a flat surface. They come in different lengths that correspond to different film formats. A general rule is that the standard lens for your negative size is the same for the camera as well as the enlarger. 35mm - 50mm 6x6 - 80mm 6x7 - 90mm 6x9 - 105mm 4x5 - 150mm Easel  Your easel is where you put your paper and allows you to get even borders on your prints. They come in different sizes and configurations and you should get one that allows you to do the maximum size you want to print. Focus Finder  A focus finder, or grain looks up though the lens onto the negative and shows you the grain of the film. It allows you to get the sharpest possible focus on your negative. Trays  Once you've exposed your paper you need a place to develop them, you'll most likely be doing that in trays. For black and white you need at least 3 for develop, stop and fix. Safelight  Not all red lights are safe lights, and you should get a real one if you want to be sure you're not going to be fogging your paper. People who tell you to get red LED stips or use your photo with a red screen are fools and should be ignored. Paper   Photo paper used to come in different grades for different contrasts. Times have changes and now most black and white photo paper is variable contrast, where contrast is controlled via the use of various filters or by using the colour head on your enlarger. Chemicals  Paper developer is different from film developer, but the stop and fix are the same. As in black and white your choice of paper developer will effect the final image, which can be cool, neutral or warm toned. If you want to get into colour development you'll look for the RA4 processes, which is similar to C41 but shares no chemicals. Resources That's pretty much everything you need to get started with a darkroom, but how do you do the prints, and where can I have a darkroom? Well, thes two guys have some things to show you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVGkaYlt1Sg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N23P8jZJI9Q There's also some other great resources on youtube if these guys aren't to your tastes like: Line Bessanova Shoot Film like a Boss This is just the beginning From here it's a wide world. You've got terms like split-grade filtering, dodge and burn, pre-flash and toning to get excited about. You'll be amazed at all the tweaks and changes you can make in a single print and how much flexibility darkroom printing will get you. I'm only new to this myself, so let's explore this world together. Printing is really rewarding, and hanging your own work around the house is really great. It can be quite a slow process of trial and tuning to get a final print you love, but it' really worth it:  
Megabound fucked around with this message at 00:41 on Aug 30, 2020 |
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Aug 30, 2020 00:33
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 14:05 |
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I'm in the Darkroom today, doing some prints for a friend. I took a photo of a post office, turns out it was her grandfather's first station and she got a bit teary eyed. Officially my most successful photo ever.
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Sep 6, 2020 01:39
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A nice afternoon, hopefully she likes the set
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Sep 6, 2020 03:57
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What's your weird jank setup? I've found wet printing to have a real learning curve to it. I want to get some better inspection lights for my setup as I think they're a bit dim. What I think looks good in the garage is often a bit too overcooked when I get it back upstairs.
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Sep 17, 2020 07:01
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Just finished up a darkroom session and used both fibre and warm tone paper for the first time. I also did the print on standard RC paper too, so I'll do a side by side once everything dries. I also did 2 other prints on MGV Pearl, the 2 landscapes will be for a print secret Santa which sounded like a good idea. 
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Nov 22, 2020 09:08
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Because I made my own work bench out of whatever timber I has around and secured my enlarger to that I have no idea if my enlarger is level to my easel, so I made a leveling pad for it.  It's been too hot to do any enlarging work so I'm holding out for Autumn so I'm not trapped in a hot room with chemicals for a day, I also got some 12 x 16 paper for some prints that I'm looking forward to cracking open when I don't hate being down there.
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Mar 2, 2021 02:38
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Wet printing is what bought me back to shooting 35mm. Realizing how good it can actually look when not scanned on a flatbed at home was amazing.
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Mar 2, 2021 05:37
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Had a good time in the Darkroom this weekend, it's been raining all week so it's getting cool enough to spend some hours in there. Played around with cutting some custom masks for dodging and burning. I'm also testing out LED light sources and I burned out my last 2 halogen bulbs. I've got a cheap $10 one in there at the moment and a couple of others on order to play around with, I'll report back with how it goes. My enlarger uses MR16 bulbs and I use a colour head for filtration instead of filters. I had split toning explained to me in a way that made sense so that's going to be my next avenue of exploration, along with seeing how long I can push the use of Ilford Multigrade if the mixed solution is stored in an air tight bottle after use. Anyway, these are 6x6 negs on 5x7 paper.  
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Mar 22, 2021 00:44
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frogbs posted:Those prints look great! Nice variation of tone, good job! Do you prefer split filtration to using filters, or does it no really matter very much? Colour head filtration and using gel filters achieve the same end goal using the same method. The principal is that RC paper has 2 different emulsions, one is sensitive to blue, one green, by adding filters you block on that spectrum, from 00 (Yellow blocking blue) to 5 (magenta blocking green). I instead twiddle the magenta and yellow dials to what I want. The main benefit of a colour head is I get unlimited adjustment, but my times vary. For filters you get generally half steps from 00 to 5, but they're all calibrated to give the same base exposure for the same time. I have an excel spreadsheet with my filter coefficients, so I dial in for a 2 (no filtration), put in my base time and get all my other times out. From my understanding, split toning (using more than 1 filter for a print) is for giving you more fine control between your highlights and shadows. A 00 will develop your highlights more than your shadows and a 5 will only develop your shadows and leave your highlights untouched:  The way I had it explained to me is like poking your curves around, by using a 00 you're moving the highlight portion of your curve down, with a 5 you're moving the shadow portion, and of course the others will move spots inbetween. For example, the gentlemen explaining all this to me would use a 5 as a step to deepening shadows. Good luck! It's all very exciting. Just forget everything I told you and have some fun playing around with single filters. It's all magic.
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Mar 22, 2021 06:12
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-Best way to test paper? I've got fresh paper developer and fresh-enough fixer, but wanted to take a punt on what feels like a mostly full box of 8x10 Multigrade IV Deluxe RC paper before I shell out for new stuff. At the moment I'm just messing around as proof of concept so not too fussed on results yet. Old paper is going to have 2 issues, loss of sensitivity and fogging. Both can be worked around by increasing dev time/exposure time and adding restrainer. The best thing to do is do lots of test strips, in something like 10 second increments, then do a standard dev length. Once you have something that works you can look at the paper for fogging. If you see fogging you add your anti-fogging agent a little at a time until it disappear. Restrainer retards development so you will likely have to increase dev times again once that is added. Once I've figured out my fomula I write it on the paper box as "10ml restrainer, 40s base dev time". -Can I get by with an enlarger timer that only does 30s max? I assume it's a darkroom timer and therefore 30s is fine, but could be wrong ($10 tipshop find, not a brand I recognise). I have this transparent wheel thing with different levels of grey on it for checking a paper's speed that calls for a 1 minute exposure, which had me wondering. Depending on print size and negative size I've had prints go up to 3 minutes. My timer only goes to 99 seconds but you just do multiple exposures.
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Apr 13, 2021 23:28
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Had a productive day in the darkroom yesterday, was printing some gifts for friends who said they liked a photo. I had to do a mask to make this one as I needed to bring the clouds. All you need to do is cut up the first print!  Much bettter  I also printed half frame at 8x10 for the first time and it came out surprisingly nice, but the dust is a gently caress. I'm going to need to pick up a 35mm enlarger lens and a recessed board for printing more half frame in the future but the 50mm did OK. 
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Aug 20, 2021 09:37
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Extremely cool, I'm not that far down the rabbit hole yet but one day I'll inevitably end up in alt process.
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Mar 12, 2022 00:40
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Had a good day printing, including the most involved print I've ever put done. It's incredibly rewarding to see it all come together as you envision it.   And my notes 
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Mar 12, 2022 09:57
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Hell yeah, that's rad! Those LED strip's can be hit and miss as far as safety goes. Broadly they're fine for unexposed paper but can be an issue once exposed. I'd suggest putting up a saved search for safelight and finding one that takes the yellow ilford 902 filters as they're much nicer to work under in comparison to red
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Apr 23, 2022 09:34
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Other than stopping down further changing your bulb would be the way to go for sure. It sounds about right in comparison with my enlargers where I usually get 9 - 12 seconds around f/11. You could also use an ND filter if you happened to have the right thread already.
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Apr 25, 2022 15:09
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Nice murder box you've got there
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Jun 19, 2022 11:33
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I really like my Dursts, I've actually moved on from that M700 to an M805 which had a far more robust column. The biggest thing I'd look for in an enlarger these days is glassless neg carriers. While the universal carrier is good for convenience you can't beat a glassless carrier for dust management. In any case any enlarger is better than no enlarger and you'll almost never use movements so I'd get the Omega. This is my dry side at the moment.  Meopta Axomat 5 for 35mm and half frame, glassless carrier, Durst M805 for 6x9 with a universal carrier and a Meopta Magnifax II with glassless 6x6 carrier. People keep giving me enlargers and I can't say no apparently. Megabound fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Aug 14, 2022 |
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Aug 14, 2022 09:14
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Oh, the durst carrier is fine, well designed and does the job. Newton rings aren't an issue as they use ANR glass, it's just the dust issue. And if you're clumsy and crack the glass then you got that issue to deal with as well. Dust ain't so bad with medium format but 35mm and half frame especially can get frustrating. If you've got a glass neg carrier you have 6 surfaces you need to keep spotless, your film and both sides of the glass top and bottom. Much easier with glassless. Another thing to think about is that for each negative size you want to print ideally you have the correct condenser/diffuser for that negative size. Having one for a larger size isn't an issue, your print will just take longer to expose, but you can't go the other way. If that Omega has all of those as well you're saving yourself a lot of headache trying to track down the correct ones for the Durst. Or just own 3 enlargers, I don't have a problem at all.
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Aug 14, 2022 19:11
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That's correct, in colour heads its called a mixing chamber as is mixes all the selected colours together. All looks good to me.
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Aug 14, 2022 20:47
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Yeah, I'll just bring em back on the ferry, the wife will love it. I'm Tasmanian myself actually, would love to pop back down sometime for a photo trip. As for the carrier it's nothing special from memory, no springs holding it in place. I'll refresh myself once I'm back in the country at the end of the month and take some detailed measurements if you need.
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Aug 14, 2022 22:07
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This happens every single time you go to buy darkroom gear. Oh you want to print? Have my entire darkroom for no extra money.
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Aug 15, 2022 08:34
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The 80mm lens will most likely not cover a 6x9 negative.
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Oct 4, 2022 21:02
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Spent the weekend in the darkroom, been too long since I've had the chance to and boy I had a great time. This is what my setup looks like now, I also took the opportunity to teach some people wet printing so all 3 of these guys were getting used at the same time.  Some 8x10 on Ilford warm tone fibre   Exposing a step wedge for some 12x16   Some 12x16 for the loungeroom  More warm tone 8x10  5x7 fibre    And some photos taken by one of my students Megabound fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Jan 29, 2023 |
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Jan 29, 2023 10:13
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Thanks, I think it's important and valuable. Was actually printing today and had a student in as well, really happy with how this one came out. 
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Mar 5, 2023 11:06
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It's new enlarger day... An Omega D2 large format enlarger with all the masks I'll ever need. Unless I start shooting 8x10 I should be good for enlargers from here on out! Very excited to get it cleaned up and making prints.
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Mar 15, 2023 23:59
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Dry side update
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Mar 17, 2023 09:58
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LimaBiker posted:Quick question: can you enlarge 6x9cm negatives with the same lens that you use for 6x6cm? You might get away with it but you may not get complete coverage, ideally you want a 105mm lens for 6x9
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Mar 17, 2023 23:05
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Nice print, looks really great
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Mar 17, 2023 23:19
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That is very cool, I need to try out alt processes some time
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Mar 31, 2023 10:14
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Did some printing tonight, enlarged some 35mm to 12x16. That's 260x the area, 16x scale, and it looks so good.  Amazing how much detail you can get out of a 25x19mm negative Megabound fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Apr 4, 2023 |
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Apr 4, 2023 12:39
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Hell yeah good find. I found dichro heads more hassle than they're worth for black and white printing, filters were just easier and quicker, but I also have no desire to do RA4.
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Sep 17, 2023 21:40
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Yeah that's right, and that's what I'd be doing for black and white
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Sep 18, 2023 04:29
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Got a beautiful Gilkon 4x5 enlarger a while ago and gave it a good clean and service. It's gorgeous. Not as nice to use as my Omega to the right of it but certainly much prettier. 
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Oct 2, 2023 11:14
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Unless you're doing real big enlargements then I'd not worry too much about lens brands. Yeah do keep an eye out for fungus and other things of that nature with the lenses but because there's no focus helicord or any fancy mechanics in enlarger lenses they're usually very easy to service and clean up. If you really want to keep an eye out for top quality lenses then look for Rodenstock, Minolta, Nikon and Schneider-Kreuznach. Anyway, that Beseler is a lovely enlarger, great find!
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Oct 6, 2023 00:11
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 14:05 |
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You might get lucky with them but I would not trust them. You can do the Kodak safelight test to see if they are safe pretty easily. Do not do the coin test, it doesn't really work because it only tests paper pre-exposure. Basically cut a mask for a sheet of your paper and expose a strip around 1 inch wide (you want the paper to develop to a light grey). Move the paper to the brightest part of your darkroom and expose it to your safelight in stages of 1 minute, 2 minutes then 4 minutes. Then mask off the other side of the test strip and expose that to the same time in your enlarger. This'll show you how your safelight performs pre and post exposure and how much working time you have under your safelight until it is unsafe.  
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Oct 6, 2023 02:16
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