Contact printing alternatives?

"Mark Liddell" <ml1002.TakeThisOut@soton.ac.uk> wrote

 > I develop all my film at home using a film chaging bag and until now
 > I've used the university darkroom to contact print my negs. I've
 > leaving in a couple of months so I'm going to be stuck.

 > Had a look into using local labs to do a contact sheet or 6x4's from
 > my negs but they either can't or are charging £6 - £10!

For "£6 - £10" (~$20) or so (~$40) you should be able to buy 3 trays,
a sheet of glass, a bottle of paper developer and a bottle
of fix. I imagine you already have a packet of paper, if
not then add a pack of the cheapest RC paper you can find. Red
Christmas tree bulb will work for a safelight if kept away from
the paper, a white Christmas tree bulb about 3" from the paper
will work for making the exposure (or flip the room light
on for a second).

Place an advert to buy someone's old darkroom equipment.
For £10, if you get lucky, you may be able to pick up
the whole shebang.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives? 

Nicholas O. Lindan wrote:
 > "Mark Liddell" <ml1002.DeleteThis@soton.ac.uk> wrote
 >
  >> I develop all my film at home using a film chaging bag and until now
  >> I've used the university darkroom to contact print my negs. I've
  >> leaving in a couple of months so I'm going to be stuck.
 >
  >> Had a look into using local labs to do a contact sheet or 6x4's from
  >> my negs but they either can't or are charging £6 - £10!
 >
 > For "£6 - £10" (~$20) or so (~$40) you should be able to buy 3 trays,
 > a sheet of glass, a bottle of paper developer and a bottle
 > of fix. I imagine you already have a packet of paper, if
 > not then add a pack of the cheapest RC paper you can find. Red
 > Christmas tree bulb will work for a safelight if kept away from
 > the paper, a white Christmas tree bulb about 3" from the paper
 > will work for making the exposure (or flip the room light
 > on for a second).
 >
 > Place an advert to buy someone's old darkroom equipment.
 > For £10, if you get lucky, you may be able to pick up
 > the whole shebang.

A red Christmas tree bulb will work as a safelight?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives? 

Alan Smithee wrote:

 >A red Christmas tree bulb will work as a safelight?
 >
 >

Yup !!

But...he also said (to keep it in context) :

 >if kept away from the paper
 >

cheers



--
regards from ::

John Bartley
43 Norway Spruce Street
Stittsville, Ontario
Canada, K2S1P5

( If you slow down it takes longer
- does that apply to life also?)<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives? 

On Friday 15 April 2005 15:57, Alan Smithee wrote:

 > Nicholas O. Lindan wrote:
  >> "Mark Liddell" <ml1002 RemoveThis @soton.ac.uk> wrote
  >>
   >>> I develop all my film at home using a film chaging bag and until now
   >>> I've used the university darkroom to contact print my negs. I've
   >>> leaving in a couple of months so I'm going to be stuck.
  >>
   >>> Had a look into using local labs to do a contact sheet or 6x4's from
   >>> my negs but they either can't or are charging £6 - £10!
  >>
  >> For "£6 - £10" (~$20) or so (~$40) you should be able to buy 3
  >> trays, a sheet of glass, a bottle of paper developer and a bottle
  >> of fix. I imagine you already have a packet of paper, if
  >> not then add a pack of the cheapest RC paper you can find. Red
  >> Christmas tree bulb will work for a safelight if kept away from
  >> the paper, a white Christmas tree bulb about 3" from the paper
  >> will work for making the exposure (or flip the room light
  >> on for a second).
  >>
  >> Place an advert to buy someone's old darkroom equipment.
  >> For £10, if you get lucky, you may be able to pick up
  >> the whole shebang.
 >
 > A red Christmas tree bulb will work as a safelight?

Your average GRADED (not multi-contrast) photo paper is orthochromatic,
that is, mostly sensitive only to blue light, and won't "see" red,
which is totally at the opposite end of the spectrum. And while any
dark red light may work in a pinch as a safelight with graded papers, I
wouldn't want to risk an entire box of paper betting that such lights
are "safe." Get a real photo safelight. Some are very small,
particularly the battery powered LED types.


--
Stefan Patric
NoLife Polymath Group
tootek2 RemoveThis @yahoo.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives? 

John Bartley <oldrad RemoveThis @sympatico.ca> wrote in news:b6Y7e.6604$MZ2.950646
@news20.bellglobal.com:

 > Alan Smithee wrote:
 >
  >>A red Christmas tree bulb will work as a safelight?
  >>
  >>
 >
 > Yup !!
 >
 > But...he also said (to keep it in context) :
 >
  >>if kept away from the paper
  >>
 >
 > cheers

The sun will also work as a safelight if kept away from the paper. I still
wouldn't use it! <!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives? 

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 14:33:02 -0700, Stefan Patric
<writeme.RemoveThis@addressbelow.com> wrote:

 >...
 >If you want to use a digital camera to "proof", use a lightbox, lay the
 >negatives on it, cover with a heavy piece of glass to flatten the
 >negatives, take a picture of all the negatives at your camera's highest
 >resolution, then "reverse" the image either in camera or with your
 >image viewer to get positives for viewing.
....


apr1605 from Lloyd Erlick,

An alternative is a flatbed scanner. Depends on whether or not one has
to buy the digital camera for this purpose, and how much one would
have to pay for a scanner (which must be able to scan transparencies,
might need some sort of accessory).

I've scanned my negs on a flatbed since 1996. I put them in the usual
plastic sleeves that are made to be filed in three-ring binders, and
lay them on the scanner glass. I 'invert' them in PhotoShop, and then
pick out the ones I like by copying that section of the scan to an
appropriate directory. Then I can look over my choices, sometimes by
turning them into a slide-show, at leisure.

I like to do it this way because now I never go to the darkroom to do
distasteful chores (I always hated making contact sheets, and it just
became a piled-up impediment). Plus, the clarity of the image on my
monitor is far better than I ever found in a contact frame. I can
choose a portrait very accurately this way, and whenever I go to the
darkroom I know which frame I will work on, and I also know it will
give me a good print. With small contact frames, even with a
magnifying glass, I was never absolutely sure about the content of
faces.

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: portrait.RemoveThis@heylloyd.com
net: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.heylloyd.com" target="_blank">www.heylloyd.com</a>
________________________________
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 >> Stay informed about: Contact printing alternatives?