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Re: [OM] [OT] two OM items for sale -> browsers -> darkrooms

Subject: Re: [OM] [OT] two OM items for sale -> browsers -> darkrooms
From: "Bernd Moeller" <dsl33687a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 22:01:21 +0100
Hi AG,

> 35 for a few more days yet.

Then you're a little more twan two year ahead of me...

Let me share some details of my own darkroom with you:

> The darkroom space is a cove in the basement that has a 2-meter
> workbench.  

I have about 3 meters which is nive to separate the wet from the dry area.

If I need to Dremel something I've got to set all
> the chemical trays on a card table behind me.  The two windows
> in the basement are covered with sleeping bags to block out the
> light (usually).  

I use a kind of cloth made for that. The company where my father works produces 
this stuff, which is rubber covered. It is so lightproof that I can develop 
films at noon on a bright summer day.

There is a decent utility sink in the basement
> about twenty paces away.  

Same here. First I was a little concerned about not having a sink and 
freshwater in the darkroom, but a square 10 litre bucket filled with water is 
fine for storing the prints.

Fortunately Ilford RC paper and
> chemistry doesn't require much water.  Washing the fixer off
> takes about a minute under flowing water while brushing the
> print with your hand.  Soak it too long and the paper starts
> seperating at the corners.

I have never observed this, but Ilfords product specifications tell so.
 
> Right now, I'm using two enlargers, an Omega B66 and my Dad's
> Federal 4x5.  The Federal is a beast and the diffusion head is
> about as bright as night during a new moon.  Besides that, the
> lens starts at F6.3.  Of course, that lens is for 4x5 prints, so
> it's worthless for 35mm.  The enlarger is so old that I have to
> almost ducttape the 50mm enlarger lens in place.  But THAT lens
> is a F2.8.

Wow. But do you actually work with the aperture wide open? Usually I step down 
my Rodenstock 3.5/50 to f11 or f16 in order to achieve good DOF and better 
consistency of exposure time.

> I just picked up a set of 8x10 trays as the big trays are a bit
> much if I'm not working on 11x14s.  Takes two liters of
> chemicals to use each of the larger trays.  Mixed chemical
> storage is in 2-liter Coke Cola bottles hiding in a darkened
> room.  Burp the air out and they are perfect, stable storage. 
> Cost:  5 cents each (Iowa bottle deposit).  Basement temperature
> stays a constant 72 degrees (F) nearly the entire year.

Thats a good hint. I have radiators with thermostatic valves in my darkroom. 
Every time I want to develop something I turn of the heating a few hours before 
and set it to 20 C (Don't ask me how much F that is - I know the formula but am 
definitely too lazy right now).

> I did "enhance" the darkroom experience lately when I installed
> a stereo system down there.  MUCH better.

Mee too! Nothing is more relaxing than a good piece of music in the dim 
yellow-green light of a darkroom!

[snip]

> Yes, I love the darkroom.  My introduction with it was when I
> was barely a toddler and I have never "moved beyond" it.  I can
> understand why Ansel Adams settled in on B&W fine art
> photography and never really took an interest in anything else.
> B&W isn't a pathway to Color, it's a photographic category all
> in itself.  There is a romance to B&W photography and B&W is a
> very jealous lover.

You're absolutely right. I spend almost all my time at work in front of the 
computer, and although I do a lot of scanning (no printing though) on colour 
negs, I enjoy the time in my opto-chemical darkroom.

Best regards

Bernd Moeller



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