Does anyone here have a good recommendation for a starter darkroom kit? I’ve got an old enlarger, can’t remember the model. I know it’s a long shot since this community is small.

  • jonsey32
    1•2 years ago

    Are you looking to just develop your film, or also develop prints with your enlarger? If you can swing it I would recommend buying pieces individually rather than a kit, simply because you will have more choice in what you actually get, and you can save money by only buying the essentials to start and build up your setup as you learn more.

    If you’re set on the kit from a convenience perspective, then Ilford so a couple of kits that are fine:

    Film Developing Kit: https://www.freestylephoto.com/5470-Ilford-and-Paterson-Film-Processing-Starter-Kit

    Considerations:

    • Only one-shot chemistry, and no storage bottles. Fine to try out B&W developing but it will be more economical buying chemicals in concentrate and mixing. Recommend something like HC-110 or Rodinal as a first developer as both are very economical, and will likely outlive you. Ilford Rapid Fixer if fine and can also pull double duty for fixing prints.
    • No included timing mechanism, so it is worth downloading the Massive Dev app, which pulls data from the Massive Dev Chart. This can provide good starting points for development and can also save your tweaks and adjustments for future use, and can provide necessary timing for consistent developing.

    Print Developing Kit: https://www.freestylephoto.com/5750-Ilford-and-Paterson-Darkroom-Starter-Kit

    Considerations:

    • No storage bottles. Whole developer is generally exhausted after use, your stop bath and fixer are good for repeated uses, so it is worth picking up bottles to save these chemicals.
    • No timer. Unless your enlarger has a timer included, which many do, you will need some method of timing your prints. Unfortunately most phones can cause fogging of paper even with filters over the screen, so it may be worth including a cheap mechanical timer to start. Alternatively, you can use a metronome app in your phone with the phone completely covered and count seconds manually. This may cause you to go insane but that’s OK if you get tonez.

    That said, my recommendation is you haunt eBay or your local equivalent for darkroom sales, I have bought roughly half of my gear used. I would not recommend buying film reels used unless they are clean in photos, as I’ve had a lot arrive with issues. But things like trays, measuring cylinders etc can be found significantly cheaper.

    • flart
      1•2 years ago

      I disagree about the developer usage.

      1L of Ilford Multigrade developer is good for developing something like 2-4 square meters of paper. Most amateur users will definitly not exhaust that in a session.

      Stored in proper(!) bottles, you can use it perfectly fine for multiple sessions. Thats what i do.

      Proper plastic bottles for chemicals can be had very cheap and are totally worth it.

      • jonsey32
        1•2 years ago

        That’s true, but Ilford themselves recommend making only enough for each session which is how I’ve done it to maximise how long my concentrate lasts:

        Prepare the working strength solutions of MULTIGRADE and PQ UNIVERSAL developers directly before they are needed. Determine the amount of solution needed for the processing session, making sure that it is a least enough to fill the developing dish/tray to a depth of about half full.

        That said they also have specifications for storing working solution, I just don’t print frequently enough or in such volume to use the solution before it spoils.

        They also specify that working strength solutions may last up to 24 hours in bottles:

        WORKING SOLUTION LIFE BROMOPHEN stock solution should last for up to:- 6 months in full capped containers 3 month in a half full tightly capped container. Working strength MULTIGRADE developer, PQ UNIVERSAL and BROMOPHEN left in an open dish should not be kept for more than one working day. If stored in a tightly capped bottle they may last up to 24 hours.

        I suppose my reason for recommending this approach is it can be discouraging if you’re new to printing if prints fail or turn out inconsistently, and without experience a new person may not recognise the developer becoming exhausted as the cause and instead think they did something wrong. At least to start, using fresh solution each time means one less point of failure while they learn the process and gain experience.