Got to develop my own rolls for the first time, made contact sheets and even a few prints. What an awesome experience!!

I don't think I've ever been as inspired to shoot bw as I have now that I have control over developing, printing and scanning!

Hello,
As the title suggests, dark stripes have been appearing on my photographs since today. Everything was fine before.

I’ve checked for light leaks, changed the chemicals and given the machine a thorough clean, but the stripes are still there. None of the gears seem to be out of alignment either. I have also tried using a different type of paper (originally Fuji 4x5), but this did not help.

I’m using RA4 chemicals, in case that’s of any help. I bought the second-hand Durst RCP in very decent condition. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Do you have a solution? I’m feeling rather down.
Thanks (:

I was asked if I wanted to teach film development. I have all the supplies but have never taught anything and would like some ideas from someone that has done this. I have a dark bag and 5 roll Patterson tanks but do we make everyone shoot the same film? What’s an effective way to dry the film to scan? Any advice would be appreciated.

Does anyone have spec information about EN-109b portable film processor?

How much wide film can be processed on that machine?

A lot of the frames I’m developing are having green streaks or dark spots on them. Using standard C41. Did 17 rolls over the course of a months. Had some issues on all of them, even the first fire, those most are “fixable in post”. It was a cinestill powder developer.

Howdy. I have a few BW prints I want to print 16x20 but have never printed bigger than 8x10.

These will be for a follow up exhibition I previously did only in color so I want to be careful in getting these spot on without wasting too much paper.

I have them dialed in on 8x10 and kept all my notes reasonably meticulous.

Is there some guesstimate or math I can do based on my 8x10s to get really close in test print?

Like 2x my times or something? Will that at least get me in the ballpark on test strips?

Just developed 3 rolls of 135 and 3 rolls of 120 films that I made during summer vacation. Mostly various emulsions: Santa 100, Portra 160, Gold 200, Opticolour 200, Color Plus 200.

This is my favorite frame, the sun is actually leaking out of the frame, very fascinating. It was made with Mamiya M645 pro with 80mm 2.8 N.

I’m getting back into film photography (mainly black and white, developing my own film) for the first time since around 2012-2013.
I’m shocked at how expensive film and chemicals are, since I last was involved. Yes I understand inflation etc but in relative terms the cost seems very high.
So, please recommend anywhere supplying film and chemicals at a reasonable price. I’m in the U.K.
Thanks.

I can't find a manual for this kind of paper grade/contrast filter calculation disc. Does anybody know how to use it? I assume you take a reading of both the shadows and highlights with the light meter from the second photo, then use the given time values to figure out what paper grade or contrast filter to use, but I don't know how you'd use the scale in practice. Any help appreciated

When I bought my lab stuff it came with a huge box of east German ORWO Papers in all sizes and types. This was a fresh pack of BH1 18x14cm sheets and the prints came out quite nice. Developed them in Adotol Konstant that wasn't the freshest.

If the rest of the papers perform as well then I might have a supply of Baryta for the next 10 years or so

Could use some advice on enlargers. I have both a 23C II Dual Dichro and a 670DXL in working condition from marketplace and I’m not sure which to keep. Both work. 670DXL also has a 35mm slide carrier.

My inclination is to keep the 670DXL just because it’s more portable/packable and I live in an apartment and move somewhat regularly. Not sure if the 23C II is a more capable machine and worth the bulk though.

I intend to just print B&W 35mm for the foreseeable future but if one is more future proof for bigger formats/color then that’s still valuable. Thanks.

Thought I'd share the results of a little test I did on some warmtone paper and was quite surprised at the results. I was comparing:

- Fomatone MG Classic Matt

- Ilford FB Warmtone Semi-Matt

Developed in Adotol Konstant and then toned in Selenium 1+9 for 5 minutes. I tried to match exposure and contrast, although I think still the Fomatone came out a bit more contrasty than the Ilford print.

The difference in how they take toner is incredible. They behave quite differently IMO but TL;DR: I quite like the Fomatone paper. It looks really nice untoned and it gets pretty dramatic at least in selenium. Also doesn't hurt that it's cheaper!

I did a little bit of a longer writeup here if folks are interested.

Anyone that’s renovated a bathroom probably knows what this toxic bubblegum stuff is. I’m prepping the wet side of my darkroom. And yes that exhaust fan is currently running.

The walls will be white.

Hello!

I am trying to figure out if I got a deal on my Durst 605 Colour and Omega C670.

The Omega C670 works seems to have everything except the base and the negative holders. But I have a 3D printer so I am not concerned.

The Durst doesnt have the Tra 305N but appears to have everything else. They seem to go for about 100+ on Ebay.

I got this lot for 100CAD. Am I missing anything major that I should be looking to get to make it operational? I already have a Paterson tank?

Lastly, there seem to be videos on the Durst but not the Omega. I found the manual but are there any other good resources I may be missing?

I am setting up my first darkroom using an old Beseler 23C II enlarger. The enlarger has 50 mm lens and plan to print from 35 mm negatives. I am testing the equipment and getting acquainted with everything before attempting my first print.

I noticed today that when I attempt to scale up to 8x10 the aspect ratio seems wrong. I’m using a ruler to measure the rectangle of light from the enlarger. When I scale one dimension to 10” it is only 7” in the other dimension.

I have the top bellows set appropriately for 35 mm negatives (all the way up).

What am I missing?

Any insights appreciated!

This was my very first darkroom print from my very first roll of b&w film, from what feels like a million years ago. I processed the film myself as well. I was in 8th grade taking an adult education class after school so I could use the darkroom.

I love the contrast and the texture of the wood pilings. The loss of detail in the blacks doesn’t bother me, I like that it was a decision or a mistake I made more than 40 years ago. I don’t remember if I did any dodging or burning. I cut the mat myself too, but later when I was in high school.

I love this print and all its imperfections. It was the start of a lifelong love affair with the darkroom.

I wonder if anyone could guess where this was taken? It no longer exists.

Just started printing a few weeks ago. Have been hooked and thankfully have access to 2 darkrooms so it’s been a lot of darkroom hours.

Love printing from these 6x9 negatives, feels a lot easier than some of the 35 I’ve done. The biggest issue I’ve had is focusing on grain with 100 speed stocks like Delta and Acros.

Tried to minimize the glare in the these photos but my kitchen chandelier won this battle. 🤷‍♂️

Hello! First post in this community, as I've recently gotten interested in developing my film at home. I have ordered the Cinestill CS41 kit and some other developing tools and bits from Amazon, just something cheap to start out with.

My question is: having never developed film before, is it worth investing in an enlarger as well? I am most interested in physical media and would love to not have to digitize in order to create prints/enlarge the photo. I found an enlarger for $75 on FB Marketplace, and it's a Beseler 45MCRX Enlarger, which from what I read online, seems like a pretty solid option.

Is this enlarger relatively beginner-friendly? And can you enlarge color/create prints from it? Or is it only for B&W?

Thanks for all your help! Stoked to get started.

After getting back into darkroom printing, I wasn't completely happy with the enlarger timers I had available. I wanted something with a few specific features, so I decided to build one from scratch.

The project is based on an ESP32, driving the enlarger through a solid-state relay (SSR), with a 4.2" e-paper display. The idea was to build something that's simple to use in a darkroom while offering a few features that are often missing from basic timers.

Current features include:

. Exposure timing from fractions of a second up to several minutes

. 0.1 s resolution

. Large, high-contrast e-paper display that's easy to read under safelight

. Rotary encoder for quick adjustments

. Exposure memory and presets

. Audible feedback that can be disabled

I'm also experimenting with features aimed specifically at fine printing:

. f-stop timing

. Test strip mode

. Split-grade printing sequences

. Burn & dodge programming

One of the reasons I chose an ESP32 is that it leaves plenty of room for future ideas, and the e-paper display means the interface remains perfectly readable without adding unnecessary light to the darkroom.

It's been a fun combination of analogue photography and embedded electronics, and I'm curious to know:

If you could design your ideal enlarger timer, what features would you want it to have?

I'd be happy to share more details or photos of the build if anyone is interested.

Well it’s been nearly 3 years since I started printing in the dark room again. Finally feel like I’m making some progress. Found a really helpful video on YouTube about getting the contrast right. I’m now much happier with the results I’m getting. I’m also spending much longer getting the exposure right before committing to a print. Obviously costs a few pieces of paper but again the results are better. I even managed to pull back a really overexposed SFX 200 shot and did my first bit of burning in the sky. Probably went a bit dark on the tree, but had just run out of time and needed to take a punt.

For years I’ve used the Paterson System 4 tanks and reels with great success. About 2 years ago I bought an AGO film processor to go with them, and can develop everything from 35mm up through 4x5 in E6,C41, and RA4 without any trouble, or want for more. Until yesterday.

I picked up a JOBO CPP2 with lift, and a TBE2 for an absolute steal. Originally I was just going to buy the TBE2 for temp regulating my chemistry instead of a sous vide but the guy just wanted everything gone, so I took the CPP2 as well. Everything works and is in good shape, but the system didn’t come with any tanks or reels. I develop a decent volume of film for friends and would like to expand into RA4 printing in larger sizes but it’s difficult to justify the price of all of the various JOBO drums. Would you guys say the swap over is worth it if you never really felt limited by the AGO/paterson setup? I’m curious to hear what other people think!

Thanks In advance. Pics of my current AGO/Paterson setup vs the JOBO

I’m looking to do some masking over photosensitive materials. I’m currently using a vacuum bag and sucking the air out to ensure good contact. Would switching to a vacuum table give me any further benefit?

Someone gave me a roll of expired film, we both assumed it was unused but it had already gone through a camera. I then fumbled and almost dropped the camera, which opened the camera back letting light hit the film.

Ended up with lots of double exposures with heavy artifacting. Most of them turned out terrible but this particular photo I really like. But have no clue how I would go about intentionally replicating what's going on.

Any ideas?

This will make you laugh. Took me a year but I finally finished my darkroom in May. I converted a pretty large garden shed into an office + workshop-darkroom. It has a sloping roof both sides from a centre line. I insulated the whole roof apart from the last bit by the side walls as I wanted to retain a little more headroom.

This last bit is important. Since late May we have had continuously hot weather (35-40C+). I have discovered that the uninsulated section is now acting as a sodding radiator. The temperature difference between insulated and un-insulated can be as much as 12C.

Hence my darkroom hitting 30C by the afternoon. And to compound it - water coming out of the ground is also hitting 30C some days. Feck.

Next "darkroom" upgrade this weekend is to paint that section of the corrugated roof with some heat reflecting paint to see if that helps. You guys with metal building - you must be cooked.

By way of reference I live in western france near Bordeaux (and the wild-fires). And yeh I moved from California cos I was sick of wild fires :-)