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In
the photo, left, there are three stainless developing tanks. The one on the left will hold
four 35mm reels stacked on top
of each other, or two Medium Format reels (abbreviated MF, film sizes: 120, 220 or
620). One could also mix one medium format and two 35mm reels, but in some cases it is a
really bad idea to mix film sizes, even if the films are of
the same type. I’ve heard of people doing
this, but can’t imagine them being very consistent in development. In
many cases, the emulsions used on 35mm film and medium format film are different, even though the film has the same
name and speed designation. Do yourself a favor and process
only one film type at a time. This will ensure that you get consistent developing results.
The tank in the middle of the
photo is made for two 35mm reels or one medium format reel. The tank on the right, sans
lid, is made for a single 35mm reel. If you hadn’t guessed already, one reel is
required for each roll of film.
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The
photos at left were taken thanks to the courtesy of the folks in the new darkroom center at
Tempe Camera*. The plastic tanks shown at the left represent the current
state of the art. Both photos show the same equipment, but the photo
on the left shows the plastic reel adjusted to take 35mm film, while
on the right it's set to take 120-size medium
format film. Unfortunately, these
tanks can only be
used to process one roll at a
time. The plastic
reels cannot be stacked inside the tank as the reels
can be in a
stainless tank. Plastic tanks are available
that can handle multiple reels at a time, but
they are large and somewhat ungainly.
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You’ll
need some containers for your chemicals. These can be purchased at a camera store. They
have labels you can write on to let you and everyone else know what’s inside. This is
an absolute must! Regardless of the container type you choose, it must be clearly labeled.
Using the chemicals out of order will ruin your film, and using them for other than their
intended use can cause injury or damage to whatever they’re misused on. While
I’ve always considered the store-bought plastic bottles to be over-priced,
they’re really good at what they do: photo chemical storage. You can squeeze the air
out of partially filled bottles to extend the chemical life, they’re chemically
neutral, they’re durable and they won’t break if you drop them. Glass bottles,
while chemically neutral and good for preserving your chemistry are a bad idea for safety
reasons, and metal caps can be attacked by the photo chemistry, resulting in leaks and
contaminated chemistry. For most home darkrooms, stick with the plastic. If you keep them
clean, they’ll last a long time. Typically, these containers run from $3-4, which
doesn't seem like much until you buy several of them. You'll need separate containers for
each chemical. That adds up to a total of 6 of them for black and white film and print
processing.
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In
the photo on the far left I’ve shown some graduates. These are measuring vessels that
are marked with quantity in both English and Metric. You’ll need at least one of
these to accurately measure and mix your chemicals. In order of the numbers, 1) 64oz or 2
liters, 2 and 3) 32oz or 1 liter, 4) 16oz or 500ml, 5) 8oz or 250ml, 6 and 7) 4oz or
100ml, and 8) 1.5oz or 45ml. Number 1 can be used for mixing 1ga or ½ga quantities of
chemistry. It is useless for mixing a 1 liter quantity of stop bath, though. I need 15ml
of stop bath concentrate and 985ml of water. Using the #8 graduate for the concentrate,
and the #3 graduate for the water, I can get accurate measurements of
both the water and the stop bath
concentrate. There's no possible way to accurately measure the 15ml
of stop bath concentrate using the larger graduates. There are some "cheats",
however, that I'll cover later. The photo on the right, above, is of the front row of
graduates shown in the left hand photo, all stacked together. These give a broad range of
measurement, but they store in a small place. Prices range from about $4 to $15, depending
on size.
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The three items
in this photo are: 1) funnel for pouring chemistry into the storage bottles, 2) a kitchen
spatula for stirring the chemicals during mixing, and 3) film clips for use during film
drying. The funnel is a necessity. They’re inexpensive at the grocery store. Buy
plastic, not aluminum. The plastic ones are chemically neutral. The spatula will help you
to quickly mix some of the more stubborn chemicals that are bought in powder form. I like
the soft rubber end because it is large enough to really stir up the chemistry, and
because it will not scratch the inside of the plastic graduate. Scratches on plastic
equipment make it harder to keep the tools clean. Smooth plastic surfaces rinse clean
easily. Though it’s hard to see in this photo, I’ve marked the green handle of
the spatula with black lettering to let everyone know this is a darkroom tool, not a
kitchen tool. The film clips are made of stainless steel. The one on the left is used at
the top when hanging the film to dry. The one on the right goes at the bottom. What’s
the difference? If you look carefully, just to the left of the “3” you’ll
see what looks like a gray pencil eraser in the bend of the clip. This is a lead weight
that keeps the film hanging straight and prevents curling as the film dries. The film
emulsion absorbs water during processing and it expands. During
drying, the emulsion shrinks because the water is lost to evaporation. Without the weight in the lower film clip the film would
curl and stick together. Film clips are one of the items where cost
doesn't matter too much. Perfectly adequate ones can be had for $3/pair. The funnel and
spatula are $2-3 items at the grocery store.
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The
two tools to the left are squeegees. Many in the photographic community will tell you
never to use a squeegee when preparing film for drying. Undoubtedly, all of these people have scratched film using the type of squeegee that has rubber jaws. Early in
my darkroom career I also scratched film with a rubber squeegee. I
will never again use one. After my misfortune, accompanied by the loss of some important negatives, I improvised my own sponge
squeegee, using a rubber squeegee as the basic tool and gluing some sponge material to it.
By keeping it scrupulously clean, I am able to use it to remove water spots from the film before hanging it to dry, while still being
safe from scratching the film. The blue-handled squeegee in the photo appears
to have dirt on the sponge.
The dark areas are stains which have accumulated over 10 years of use, not dirt,
and will not scratch the film. The angle of the photo also makes the stains appear darker than they
really are. I have processed hundreds and hundreds of rolls of film using this type of
squeegee with the sponge jaws and have never scratched a film. When I write the article
about film processing, I will describe
my squeegeeing technique in
detail. I have heard of some alternatives to
using a squeegee and I will report on these as I have experience with them. Generally
speaking though, trying to dry film, even with use
of Photo Flo, with Arizona's hard water, will almost certainly result in hard water spots
on the film as it dries unless you use some technique to remove most of the fluid before
hanging the film. Foam jaw
squeegees usually run from $6-10.
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The two devices shown in the photos
at the left are different types of darkroom timer. The one at
the far left is an analog model, while the one
on the right is digital. The
analog timers are quite adequate, and whether new or used, generally cost about half what a digital timer will cost. For
those who want to start doing darkroom work without spending a lot of money, an
electric wall clock with a sweep second
hand or a digital
watch set to show hours, minutes
and seconds will do, as well. I'd advise against buying a new timer. There are plenty of used ones
available via the internet or at camera shows, photo yard sales or in the newspaper
classified ads. Plan on $50 for an analog timer or $100 for digital. Or if you're just
starting, buy a wall clock at Wal-Mart for $10. This will do for film, but later you'll
want a darkroom timer to control your enlarger when making prints.
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This
final tool that some find useful in the darkroom is a device for removing 35mm film from
its cartridge. This tool has uses both inside and outside the darkroom. In the darkroom it
can be used to extract the film leader from the cartridge to avoid
the job of prying the cap from the canister. Outside the darkroom, it
can be used to extract the leader of a film that has accidentally been wound completely
back into the cartridge, for instance, when changing from one film type to another mid-roll. If using this tool
in the darkroom, be sure to extract the film to its full extent and to cut the film as close to the opening of the cartridge
as possible. This will help to prevent the loss of frames at the end of the roll. The other tool that's useful for removing 35mm film from its canister is the old-style beer can opener that's sometimes called a "church key". The opener is
used to pry the cap from one
end of the 35mm canister so the film and
spool can be removed.
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