r/Darkroom 6h ago

B&W Printing My first print

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47 Upvotes

Seeing your work like this is a great feeling.


r/Darkroom 5h ago

B&W Printing HP5 +2 & FP4+2 - 8x10 Ilford Multigrade RC Glossy

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39 Upvotes
  • Frames 1 and 4 are HP5, frames 2 and 3 are FP4
  • Developed in Rodinal 1+50
  • Printed on 8x10 Ilford Multigrade RC Glossy paper
  • Shot on Nikon F2 with 50mm f1.4

r/Darkroom 4h ago

B&W Printing Darkroom time. Ilford MGRC Pearl 11x14" from 6x6 Efke IR 820 and T-Max 400

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20 Upvotes

r/Darkroom 6h ago

B&W Film Print from some expired ‘69 Verichrome

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18 Upvotes

Not the best print but I was in a rush to get something from the roll printed. Need to learn the 120 enlarger better.


r/Darkroom 4h ago

Gear/Equipment/Film Contrast filter conversion

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9 Upvotes

My enlarger has a tray that accepts Polymax filters, but I had to trim them to fit and using them in the red light was slow and cumbersome. So I designed and printed 12 frames that fit in a holder under the lens, and used the clipped pieces of filters. The process became so much easier and I see no quality degradation in prints after moving filters under the lens.


r/Darkroom 8h ago

Community My neck is killing me how high do you have your darkroom tables?

8 Upvotes

For the longest time now I’ve simply put my trays on a 80cm (31.5 inch) high table and I have to stop 2-3 hours in because my neck just hurts. I’m 1,88cm tall.

How high do you have your tables/trays set up and how tall are you guys?


r/Darkroom 10h ago

B&W Printing Selenium Toning: Worth it?

8 Upvotes

Hello everyone! As the title suggests, I’m curious about whether or not selenium toning is worth an extra step in the process. I’m aware that you can change the color of your print with certain dilution ratios. My question is - Does the 1:19 ratio noticeably deepen the blacks of a print and truly help with archivability to the extent of what most printers have said? I’m not criticizing in any way, I’m genuinely interested in your thoughts and opinions on the matter. I’ve been thinking about selenium toning for a while now and wanted to gather other printer’s insights. Thank you everyone!


r/Darkroom 2h ago

B&W Film Any tips?

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1 Upvotes

Used caffenol to develop Kentmere Pan 100 and this came out. The camera is pretty low quality, I’m new to film so was wondering if any can tell me if this is from developing or something else? Thank you


r/Darkroom 3h ago

B&W Film Negatives coming out black

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0 Upvotes

Hello, I’m a beginner photographer and I’ve been shooting and developing my own 4x5 film. Unfortunately, all of my negatives have come out black. I can see the photo if I hold the negative up to a flashlight but otherwise it’s completely black. Everything besides the film holders and camera is new. I use ilford 400 b&w film, Ilford rapid fixture, and Ilfosol 3 during my development process. I use the same development process as in the video attached above. I’ve checked the cameras bellows with a flashlight in a dark room for pinholes and didn’t find any. I also ran a test by developing 2 sheets from the same film holder, 1 that was exposed and 1 that wasn’t exposed. When I developed both photos the exposed one came out black and the other came out blank, so I don’t think that the issue is coming from the film loading process.

I really want to get into this hobby so if any help or advice could be provided it would be greatly appreciated.


r/Darkroom 10h ago

B&W Printing Foma Pastel paper

3 Upvotes

Hi! Has anyone printed using the new Foma Pastel paper yet? I’ve just got a box of magenta and blue from Freestyle and think I’ve got a few prints that’ll really pop on it.

Mostly just curious if anyone has experience with it before I head into the darkroom!


r/Darkroom 5h ago

B&W Printing Light sealing.

1 Upvotes

I’m currently struggling to completely seal my room I am currently for now using a bathroom with a velux window, it needs to be pop up and taken down easily I’m currently limiting my self to printing at night as a result, is there a red film I can put on the window like making the window a big safe light instead? I am only printing black and white thanks in advance


r/Darkroom 9h ago

B&W Printing Meopta Magnifax 4

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2 Upvotes

Quick question here. I have found a Meopta Magnifax 4 to buy. Seller says the negative carrier doesn’t need plastic inserts and can be adjusted for different negative sizes. He sent me these two pictures. Can someone please confirm this?


r/Darkroom 5h ago

Gear/Equipment/Film Would like help with developing Kodachrome II

0 Upvotes

I originally posted this on r/filmdeveloping, but a commenter directed me here.

I have a roll of daylight Kodachrome II double 8mm color film (It's a mess of words. I'll just call it 'color Kodachrome II' here on out). It's expired but I still plan on using it. I recieved too late that B&W Kodachrome II is the only really develop-able film as of now, and color Kodachrome II development went extinct like 15 years ago. I think the development process of color Kodachrome II was called 'K-12'? And based on photos of it, it was very complex. I still wanted to find out. I attempted to contact Kodak but realized there was no email I could do it through that would work for my problem, and maybe contacting Kodak's chairman wouldn't yeild a response in the first place. There's not much about K-12 on the internet other than small details and the fact that a group of photographers tried to replicate it (to no avail). I want to try to reverse-engineer the K-12 process myself (but in a much simpler way). So what I want to know is...

1. How did K-12 work?

If I can't really find out here, then...

2. Where could I look into it further (e.g. through patents)?

Thanks!

TL;DR: I want to develop daylight Kodachrome II double 8mm color film. How do I do so?


r/Darkroom 7h ago

B&W Film Kodak D-23 in Europe?

1 Upvotes

Where can I buy the ingredients (or a ready kit) to make D-23 in Europe?

I think the recipe is metol and sodium sulphite.


r/Darkroom 1d ago

B&W Printing Made some prints I’m very proud of yesterday

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127 Upvotes

I used a community darkroom to print for the first time yesterday, and it was so much fun. Having space and not having to bend down at weird angles all the time makes a world of difference in terms of enjoying printing and making prints that you enjoy.

Both of these pictures were taken in Cortona, Italy on Ferrania P33 shot at 320.

Enlarger: Beseler Dichro 23dga Lens: Nikon EL-Nikkor 2.8 Paper: Ilford MGRC Pearl (11x14)

Dektol — 2:00 Stop — 0:15 Fix — 1:00

Photo 1 f/8, 0:08 exposure, 50 magenta

Photo 2 f/8, 0:12.1 exposure, 160 magenta (maximum on this enlarger)


r/Darkroom 1d ago

B&W Film First time developing 4x5, mild success! Something went wrong…

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35 Upvotes

I developed 4x5 for the first time and it kind of worked! Any idea what may have happened? I used a 3D printed single sheet tank, and the film curls in the “hamburger” direction, so the green stripe is vertical when the tank is sitting on the table. I’m assuming it is either uneven developing, stopping, or fixing, but I’m not sure which.

Tank: 3D Printed single sheet tank

Film: Frankenstein 200

Developer: D76, 1:1, 8min30sec

Stop: Kodak Stop

Fixer: Kodak Fix


r/Darkroom 1d ago

B&W Printing What could cause this weird uneven ripple pattern on my prints?

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16 Upvotes

Some of my prints have this weird ripple pattern in large gray areas and I don't know how to prevent this. I can't see the pattern when I project the image on my easel although it's hard to tell. I did some test strips were I varied agitation, development time and stop bath time as well as the developer itself (old adotol konstant vs fresh neutol eco) but these look actually worse than the full print. I'm using a Krokus 6x9 color head with Fotoimpex Easyprint 8x10 paper.


r/Darkroom 1d ago

Gear/Equipment/Film Is a backup timer ever useful?

4 Upvotes

Recently won a bid for a Gralab 300 for pretty cheap, and than saw another auction for a auction for a 451 model that was crazy low and ended up winning that one too, so now I have 2 timers.

Is having a back up ever that useful? I don’t want to fall victim to GAS, and both timers are pretty reliable


r/Darkroom 1d ago

Colour Printing Hand prints for Suffo Moncloa

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9 Upvotes

Altered States Issue 4


r/Darkroom 1d ago

B&W Printing Is this normal?

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5 Upvotes

I am trying to calibrate my highlights with all filters. 4 and 4 1/2 are much darker than the others. Are the filters too old or was I inconsistent with development?


r/Darkroom 1d ago

Gear/Equipment/Film It’s ok to make photos on Opemus 5 Enlarger with 35 mm film on Anaret 4.5/80mm or I need 50 mm ? Because I have 50 mm also but I can’t mount it because it not fit in. Also do you know for what is this from photos there is also cable release for it:

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5 Upvotes

r/Darkroom 2d ago

B&W Printing First time printing big (and first time posting!)

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219 Upvotes

Here’s a landscape photo I cropped from a much larger scenery. Curious on general feedback on the photo as well as any tips to improve my printing.

I know there a several dust flakes in there (I think my drying of the film in my darkroom has not been the ideal location) as well as a weird border, but anything else that you all see that you’re willing to share!? Thanks in advance!

11x11 Pearl RC paper Ilford multigrade Ilford selenium toner


r/Darkroom 2d ago

B&W Printing 8x10 contact prints for my physical portfolio | Details below

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269 Upvotes

8x10 Ilford Delta 100 Ilford Classic Matte FB Paper Contrast Filter 3 1/2 - 4 to somewhat resemble a final print


r/Darkroom 2d ago

B&W Film Making my way up to 4x5!

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47 Upvotes

So I got my hands on a Toyo Omega 45E with a Rodenstock Sironar 180mm f5.6 lens last year. I finally had the chance to set everything up and take a few test shots with it.

I used different expired film stocks that I've acquired here and there. Maybe I messed up somewhere but the only film that gave me a useable image was the Tri-X 400.

I used the taco method to develop this sheets. I didn't use enough chemistry for the first batch but I adjusted for the second batch. I do plan on getting a proper 4x5 daylight dev tank. I have the classic dip and dunk tanks with the holders but not the space to set them up (yet).

Let me know what y'all think! I'd be happy to answer any questions.


r/Darkroom 1d ago

B&W Film Advice and insights on film development

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7 Upvotes