New To Darkrooms, Advice?

[Gerry Widen]

I find wet darkroom work after a 30+ year hiatus very rewarding. But as suggested I would stay away from color work, at least for now. Depending on your experience do as much reading as you can. You can't read too much. The library I'm sure has plenty of books. The internet especially photo.net is a wonderful source.

To keep it simple use Tri-X (the old standard) film with D-76 developer. Use it 1+1 and throw it out. For printing I recommend RC (resin coated) paper. It stays flat and since the chemicals don't seep into the paper base it develops,fixes and most importantly washes more easily. I'd start with Ilford paper and probably use Dektol (Kodak) or one of Ilfords developers. You can use the same fix for both film and paper. A lot of people are dumping traditional darkroom equipment so now is a good time to get started. I got most of my stuff on ebay for about 1/3 of the cost new. A lot of people are selling their entire darkroom in a "lot" and you can get close to an entire setup cheaper than picking and chosing items. I would say be patient and you will find the best deals

I would go for a Dichoic (color enlarger) it is a diffused light source and dust and scratches don't show as much. More importantly you can use the magenta and yellow filters to control contrast. on multigrade/variable contrast paper. But a condenser enlarger like an Omega B-22 is also ok.

But I can't over state to read as much as possible.

If you have any questions you can email me offline. I would be happy to help you.

[Pose]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I think I'll just go the scanner route, since Photoshop is a big hobby of mine. I have been keeping my eyes open for basic photography/darkroom courses at the community colleges and such, too.
The main problem I've been having is I shoot like 2-4 rolls of film a day when I go out, and there's no way I can develop all of that at any place around here ($$$$), so I have like 20 rolls sitting around my desk, which is somewhat depressing because I'm anxious to see the results.

[h2oskierc]

Thanks a lot for the replies. I think I'll just go the scanner route, since Photoshop is a big hobby of mine. I have been keeping my eyes open for basic photography/darkroom courses at the community colleges and such, too.
The main problem I've been having is I shoot like 2-4 rolls of film a day when I go out, and there's no way I can develop all of that at any place around here ($$$$), so I have like 20 rolls sitting around my desk, which is somewhat depressing because I'm anxious to see the results.

Do you have a local Costco store? I have found that processing there is very cheap (about 3.49 for a 24 exposure process C-41 film) if you use the two-day service. While this may not be professional quality processing, I have been very happy for my snapshots. They can only do color print films, and slide films, so you will still need to use a different place for B&W.

Also, the film there is dirt cheap if you don't mind using a consumer film. I have picked up Kodak Gold Max 400 for around 1.50 to 2.00 a roll....

[Gerry Widen]

If you are that active and don't have enough time to develop all of that film try some C-41 B&W film like Ilford XP2-Super. It is color based film using only B&W dyes. Just take it to any lab that does your regular color. They will print your 4X6 (or whatever size) prints on color paper, but will be B&W. In a traditional darkroom this film prints beautifully.

Leica M2 Summicron 50/2 Ilford XP2-Super

[magoo]

If you're going to set up a darkroom it is wise to invest in a color enlarger even if you decide to just black and white pics. The enlargers that have dial in filters are much nicer to use than ones with the filter drawers. Some B&W paper is "VC" variable contrast and depending on the maker some use magenta, cyan etc to get the contrast to change. Also you might be shooting with 35mm now but you may decide to change later. I started with an Elan 7E then an EOS 3 after using an ae1 and got addicted to cameras, I still love my 35mm cameras but I love to shoot medium format 6x6 and 6x7 so unless you know for sure that you'll only be shooting 35mm for now on you might also want to make sure that you get something that can do both. There are some cheap enlargers that only do 35mm. As far as doing your chemicals and developing your film, B&W has much much more room for error, if you will be doing color I would recommend that you have a dedicated space to do this and a adustable faucet that has a thermometer not just the faucet on your sink. Color is very tempermental to temperature, chemicals have to be mixed dead on, temperatures have very little room for error and the chemicals once mixed do not have a very long shelf life. If reading all this and you still want to shoot color there are a few places I get my E-6 process chemicals for my slides and they also carry C-41 process. If you live in chicago area Central Camera carries chemicals, I also go to B&H and Porters. Going to a Wolf or Ritz store is a huge waste of time, they sold out to digital and it could be a pain just to find camera filters let alone B&W chemicals. Hope I didn't rant too long

Magoo