On Fri, 28 Sep 2001 16:50:54 -0600, Daniel J. Mitchell wrote:
>> I probably have $1500-2000 invested in my
>> darkroom, and could easily have built the same darkroom for
>> $1000-1500 if I hadn't tried to take shortcuts along the way.
>
> Hm, that's rather discouraging. I've seen a couple of 'complete darkroom
>setups' go past in the classifieds locally for CDN$400 and $250 respectively
>in the last few months, and the guy at one of the local used shops claims he
>can put together a setup for about $350 or so.
There's a difference between a 'complete darkroom setup' and a good
darkroom setup. I'm sprung for a lot of extras that aren't strictly
required but sure are nice. Thinks like vertical print washers, film
dryer / cabinets, water panels, darkroom sinks, etc, aren't strictly
required. And you can certainly use a student grade enlarger and lens
and get by. But if you spend much time in your darkroom, you'll soon
see the use for those items.
Of course, my default walking around setup is a OM-4T with a 21/3.5.
If you're an OM-10 and 50/1.8 guy, you can get away with a lot less
money than I can, and still be able to take pictures that rival or
exceed mine.
If you have someone at a local shop that you can trust, you're miles
ahead of me. I put my darkroom together with lots of trial and error.
Your buddy can probably help you cut some costs that I got stuck
with.
But in the end, a $1000-2000 US isn't that big an investment for a
setup that allows me to really do what I want with my photography,
and should last for decades.
If I'm going to end up
>spending four times (oh, no, six times, given you're presumably using US
>dollars) as much as that in the end, it's suddenly an awful lot less
>attractive.
There's always the developing tank and a negative scanner.
> What did you find was wrong/needed upgrading with a cheaper setup?
Quality of construction, ease of use, and features.
> (I should probably just find one of the local photography classes and go
>with that, but I have a peculiar builtin desire to learn stuff myself when
>at all possible, even when intellectually I know it'll take me twice as long
>that way.)
By all means take a class if there's one locally. There is no
substitute for spending time in the darkroom to see what works, what
doesn't, and what your real priorities are.
BB
-
B.B. Bean bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bean & Bean Cotton Co
http://www.beancotton.com
Peach Orchard, MO
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