Start your own Darkroom

Simplicius

I noticed a Durst C35 Enlarger for a song on Adverts ..... If anyone is thinking of printing at home, this is a great little entry level enlarger. It was my first one which I used when I temporarily took over the bathroom.

it has limitations, only for 35mm
lightweight so enlargments over 8x10 are tricky as it tends to wobble when extended full height but put a decent enlarging lens on it and it will be fine.

Good points, it is easy to take apart in minutes and can be easily stored in the wardrobe.

Anyone with a bath could easily create a temp darkroom with one of these. Simply get a sheet of ply cut to cover 3/4 of the bath, leaving the tap end free. place the 3 trays on top of plywood and set the enlarger next to it on a small table. put a deep container, i used a cheap storage one under cold tap to wash developed prints in.

a safelight, a pack of contrast filters, an enlarging timer, a few trays and tongs and you are away.

Please feel free to ask any questions as there is a lot of darkroom buff lurking here.

PoleStar

Was considering this myself.

But in a 2 bed apartment not sure how feasible it is (with 2 kids and a wife to fit in the small space already!)

Was thinking of striking a mid ground ie develop the film myself and then scan the negs. Film development requires little equipment.

Or does this defeat the whole purpose of home development.

ThOnda

From my experience, I would not recommend own darkroom at all. Joining a camera club with darkroom or renting such facilities are much more practical, unless you want to print on very regular basis and such amount of garbage and time spent in the bathroom won't cause divorce.

Simplicius

PoleStar wrote: »

Was considering this myself.

Was thinking of striking a mid ground ie develop the film myself and then scan the negs. Film development requires little equipment.

Or does this defeat the whole purpose of home development.

I would not think so, once you start developing yourself it gives you a far greater understanding of film and it's behaviour. Also when the weather is terrible you have something to do. I would suggest starting after the kids are in bed and leave the film to dry overnight ... Once you get used to it you can run off easily 6 -12 rolls in 3 hours and be cleaned up and all. The trick is to only shoot one kind of film to increase workflow. then you can get a 5 roll tank which obviously increases output.

ender ender

I was considering this too but I shoot a lot of 120 so I'm holding out for a bigger enlarger. They seem to be rarer and a good bit dearer, though.

You can become a member in the Gallery of Photography and book time in their darkroom as far as I'm aware, but in the long run it's costly...

DaireQuinlan

PoleStar wrote: »

Was considering this myself.

But in a 2 bed apartment not sure how feasible it is (with 2 kids and a wife to fit in the small space already!)

Was thinking of striking a mid ground ie develop the film myself and then scan the negs. Film development requires little equipment.

This is prettyy much what I do. Dev all my own B&W and colour, and then scan the negs. Developing your own is considerablyy cheaper even in the short run, and I have a decent scanner for 35mm at least. Prints go to photobox if I need some. It's a bit of a disappointing compromise, but space and time constraints don't really allow anything else at the moment. I have an enlarger in the press waiting to be taken down again and used some day.