Help and advice about darkroom equipment please.

simon ess

simon ess

Just call me Roxanne.
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Evenin' folks.

I would like to go to the next step and do some proper prints from my negatives.

I think I need an enlarger with 35mm and 120 holders, an easel type thing, trays and a safelight.

Any advice or thoughts about which enlarger etc. to look out for would be much appreciated.

I'd love to be able to enlarge 120 negatives as big as possible, say 30"x30"

Thanks very much.
 
you dont NEED an easel ,you can print right to the edge ,,,not sure about the enlarger ,but to print 30 x 30 its going to be quite a size if you print onto the base board ,
 
While it's good to plan in advance the maximum size you want to go to, 30x30 is very big.
The maximum size I print to is 16x20 and I rarely go that large as most stuff I print at 10x8.
For 30x30 you are going to need ti project onto the floor or a wall, which although not difficult needs extra room and planning. Also you are going to need very large dveloping trays etc that take up a lot of space.
Not sure where you are Simon, but if anywhere near Manchester you are welcome to come and have a look at my home darkroom, have a play etc to help decide.
 
It's kind of hard to give advice as this is not something that holds much interest for me, but I'll try and give a few thoughts / pointers. You say you want to print up to 30"x30" using say 6x6 the old rule of thumb used to be a x8 enlargement for critical sharpness that would mean something more like a 16"x16" print which would be a lot more practical to deal with as trays that size are fairly easilly available, the nova slot processors might be a more compact alternative though and if you still want to do really large prints Jobo drums and a CPA processor would probably the way forward in a home darkroom.

With regard to enlargers lots cover 6x6 but not necessarily 6x7 or larger so you might want to be carefull in seleting one also bear in mind to get the best out of an enlarger it needs to be critically set up from the geometry point of view you will also need lenses suitable for the formats you want to print 50mm is normal for 35mm and 75-85mm typically for mf.

A good book to pick up would be The Darkroom Handbook by Michael Langford you can often pick up seconhand copies for next to nothing.

I would not look for particular brands of gear so much as see as what turns up job lots on ebay if its collection only can be very good value.
 
Fantastic info. Thanks very much.

On reflection yes, 30x30 is slightly ridiculous. 16x16 as a maximum makes much more sense.

Will take on board all points and keep an eye on ebay.

Steve - that's a very generous offer that I'd like to take you up on. I'm near Stoke, so only about an hour away. Would the first week of December be ok for you?

Thanks again everyone.
 
simon ess said:
Fantastic info. Thanks very much.

On reflection yes, 30x30 is slightly ridiculous. 16x16 as a maximum makes much more sense.

Will take on board all points and keep an eye on ebay.

Steve - that's a very generous offer that I'd like to take you up on. I'm near Stoke, so only about an hour away. Would the first week of December be ok for you?

Thanks again everyone.
Click to expand...

Great, I'm away from 5th to 9th December, but available any other days at that time.
 
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