Are there any darkroom people left :-(

[johnalex141r]

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Just finishing up my new B&W darkroom. Been printing twice so far. Still need a good sink; I'm debating that one; right now just old plywood on top of kitchen cupboards.

 

First night - doing this I caught myself saying "this is fun!" out loud.

 

Second night, my 22 year old daughter and I did some printing.

 

She's heading to the Yukon to do some ecology research work, it'll be cold, and they have little electricity, so she has an Olympus Trip and some HP5 along with her.

 

My M8 is broken, and I really don't expect to have it back and running until spring time, so my camera of choice right now is an Olympus 35RC.

 

This morning was thinking about the probable total cost to get my M8 repaired; it *could* equate to 100 rolls of B&W film per year in terms of M8 ownership; and that does not include depreciation. (more when it is actually repaired and back into my hands)

 

JohnS.

[PauloSm6]

Leica M8, M8'2, M9, give me a break please..... :-}

Can anyone remember the joy and excitement of producing your very own print?

The endless possibilities and formulae, not possible with Photoshop, Aperture or any other computerized media, which can be used to create a piece of fine art on "proper" paper that can last for generations?

I am not a purist, far from it, It's just that I feel that those of you out there who possess the incredible, creative ability to produce fine art photography, should not let it this tradition fade into the past.

Don't get me wrong....I never stood in the way of progress, I am guilty of falling into the digital photography trap, but since I have been introduced, very recently, to the Leica M Camera system namely the IIIf and the M3 i have fallen in love with the quality and workmanship of Oscar Barnack that it wasn't very hard to decide to revert back to B&W film photography and learn to produce my very own fine art.

So why not pass on the darkroom tradition to our young photographers and keep it alive.

Thank you for your attention. I just felt that I needed to say this.

Happy Photography everyone.

I have had a darkroom since 1980 when I was in College, once I realized the control one had over his negatives and the joy of printing I only sent off my color work to professional labs.

Fifteen years ago I designed a new home for my wife and I which included of course, my custom darkroom that I had to have.

Still use it often, aside from the m6, I also shoot with a Rollei TLR, and a Mamiya7.

Paulo

[topoxforddoc]

Just come out of the darkroom for the second time this week. I bought a RH Designs Analyser Pro ten days ago. It's transformed my B&W printing! Just come up for air after 4 hours. It's gone midnight, so time to clear up, methinks.

[Michael Hiles]

I bought a RH Designs Analyser Pro ten days ago.

 

Charlie,

 

I wonder if you would share some details about the Analyser Pro. It looks interesting (but not cheap), and seems to be a viable competitor to the Heiland Splitgrade unit (also far from cheap). Can you get a close to perfect first print using this unit? Do further manipulations (burning, dodging etc) require anything different by way of technique? Does the unit help decide on paper grade? I have a test strip system that is well organized and wastes little time or paper. Should I consider one of these units?

 

Anything you want to share would be greatly appreciated.

[topoxforddoc]

Michael,

 

I've only had a quick play with the RH Analyser Pro. It's calibrated out of the box for Ilford multigrade, but you can calibrate any paper (8 memory settings). It's easy to use, once you get the hang of it and yes, I'm pretty close to a final print first time around.

 

Email me on topoxforddoc@btinternet.com and I'll share some more with you.

[Michael Hiles]

Thanks Charlie - much appreciated.