My new Darkroom in Phuket Thailand

[andybarton]

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Or, "Let me Bing it for you"?

 

Nah...

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Or, "Let me Bing it for you"?

 

Nah...

 

What did you come up with??

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[andybarton]

Nothing.

[Jeff S]

What's the phrase? 'Let me Google that for you...'

 

And for those still challenged...

 

http://www.letmegooglethat.com/?q=Photographic+darkroom+design

 

Jeff

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

And for those still challenged...

 

http://www.letmegooglethat.com/?q=Photographic+darkroom+design

 

Jeff

 

Jeff your a sweetheart......thanks

 

Neil

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Need some help with this enlarger.

I've decided to stop $%#$#$# around and just buy the enlarger from B&H............The problem is it comes in pieces so I want to make sure I buy all the correct necessary pieces. Below is what I think I need;

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

There are other items like these but have no idea if I need them or not??

 

 

Thanks

 

Neil

[Jeff S]

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You might consider researching the pros and cons of condenser versus diffusion (cold light or dichroic) light sources.

 

Jeff

[djmay]

Neil,

 

I never used a Beseler 45, therefore, I cannot comment on it specifically. I used Beseler for 35mm and Omega for 4x5. A few general comments.

1. You do not need to start with an alignment tool. You can wait and buy it if you need it, unless the Beseler is impossible to align out of the box. This could be if you mount on the wall, with which I have no experience.

2. If you use a cold light head, you will need a stabilizer of some kind. This keeps your light output constant and and the cold light at operating temperature when you are not printing. Without a stabilizer, there is no way that I know for you to maintain consistency.

3. I have used both condenser and cold light. I prefer cold light. A condenser head produces a lot of heat (assuming light source technology has not improved to reduce heat substantially). Heat plus longer exposures can cause a negative to "pop", resulting in movement. You can compensate for this by using glass negative carriers, however, this causes additional surfaces that must be kept clean and dust-free.

 

Jesse

Edited November 4, 2017 by djmay

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Jesse

 

3. I have used both condenser and cold light. I prefer cold light. A condenser head produces a lot of heat (assuming light source technology has not improved to reduce heat substantially). Heat plus longer exposures can cause a negative to "pop", resulting in movement. You can compensate for this by using glass negative carriers, however, this causes additional surfaces that must be kept clean and dust-free.

 

Jesse

Morning Jesse

Seeing as I live in Asia with an ambient temperature of 30 deg, saying that it will be set up in a room that will be 23 deg when I am working in there. knowing that information should that infloance my decision in a condenser or cold head??

 

Neil

[djmay]

Morning Jesse

Seeing as I live in Asia with an ambient temperature of 30 deg, saying that it will be set up in a room that will be 23 deg when I am working in there. knowing that information should that infloance my decision in a condenser or cold head??

 

Neil

The condenser heat is only during exposure. The cold light stabilizer will have a constant, but lower heat. You should have some ventilation, therefore, I do not think that should be the main influence for your decision.

 

One other point - if you decide on a color head with cold source, you will have the necessary filtration for variable contrast black and white paper. If you go for a cold head for black and white only, make sure the cold head is the type for use with variable contrast black and white filters.

 

Jesse

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

The condenser heat is only during exposure. The cold light stabilizer will have a constant, but lower heat. You should have some ventilation, therefore, I do not think that should be the main influence for your decision.

 

One other point - if you decide on a color head with cold source, you will have the necessary filtration for variable contrast black and white paper. If you go for a cold head for black and white only, make sure the cold head is the type for use with variable contrast black and white filters.

 

Jesse

Jesse

I'm currently reading up on it right now. My current enlarger is a color enlarger that has the filters built in but I don't use them. What I have is the VC B&W filters that sit in a holder under the lens.........I was told that its better to have the type that sits above the lens. I have both but my enlarger doesn't accolades the above filters

 

Neil

[djmay]

Jesse

I'm currently reading up on it right now. My current enlarger is a color enlarger that has the filters built in but I don't use them. What I have is the VC B&W filters that sit in a holder under the lens.........I was told that its better to have the type that sits above the lens. I have both but my enlarger doesn't accolades the above filters

 

Neil

What is the make and model of your enlarger? Theoretically, VC filters above the lens are better because nothing is in the light path between lens and paper. However, I do not think anyone could tell the difference.

 

If the filters you are using provide you with contrast control, then the light source is appropriate for VC. Some cold lights are only for graded paper.

 

Jesse

[Richardgb]

Need some help with this enlarger.

I've decided to stop $%#$#$# around and just buy the enlarger from B&H............The problem is it comes in pieces so I want to make sure I buy all the correct necessary pieces. Below is what I think I need;

Enlarger.JPG

 

There are other items like these but have no idea if I need them or not??

 

Extras.JPG

 

Thanks

 

Neil

 

 

Neil,

 

I never used a Beseler 45, therefore, I cannot comment on it specifically. I used Beseler for 35mm and Omega for 4x5. A few general comments.

1. You do not need to start with an alignment tool. You can wait and buy it if you need it, unless the Beseler is impossible to align out of the box. This could be if you mount on the wall, with which I have no experience.

2. If you use a cold light head, you will need a stabilizer of some kind. This keeps your light output constant and and the cold light at operating temperature when you are not printing. Without a stabilizer, there is no way that I know for you to maintain consistency.

3. I have used both condenser and cold light. I prefer cold light. A condenser head produces a lot of heat (assuming light source technology has not improved to reduce heat substantially). Heat plus longer exposures can cause a negative to "pop", resulting in movement. You can compensate for this by using glass negative carriers, however, this causes additional surfaces that must be kept clean and dust-free.

 

Jesse

 

The alignment tool could be useful but it's not an everyday item (I haven't used the Versalab tool but another make [Rodenstock]).

 

Once set up, the enlarger should stay in alignment although you may find slight differences when the head is at the top or bottom of the column owing to flexing where the column joins the baseboard.

 

If you want to do big prints (say 30x40 in), then you'll need to wall-mount the column and make sure the head is a sufficient distance from the wall (at least half the width of the print plus the width of the frame you're holding the paper down with). For more normal print sizes, put a table underneath the enlarger - and make sure it's aligned properly. There are 'freestanding' / 'floorstanding' enlargers (e.g. De Vere) which will print at any size up to 30x40 in, though you'll need to fix the top of the column to the wall to maintain rigidity.

 

If you want to go larger than 30x40 in with paper intended for wet processing, then horizontal projection is the more practical choice - but then you've got to consider how to handle the paper during processing and drying.

 

A more general point: Make sure the darkroom floor (and walls, if you're wall-mounting the enlarger) are fairly 'solid' and there's no heavy traffic or machinery likely to cause vibration. In this respect, basement locations are preferable to being on the umpteenth floor of an apartment block.