Darkroom and Film Developing Equipment

freecom2

freecom2

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Hey all,
Looks like I'm moving towards having to start processing at home rather than in a dedicated darkroom. Fair enough. But, surely there must be a way to get the necessaries for a cheaper price? I've kept an eye on Gumtree, Freecycle and fleabay but not much stuff comes up.

A Paterson developing tank is perhaps a necessary expense, but a changing bag - Firstcall wants £23 for a bigger one, excluding their extortionate postage. Second-Hand Darkroom Supplies want £20.

Surely there must be a place to get kitted out with the necessaries for less?
 
Boot sales? ....but you never know when stuff is going to turn up and so could wait months.
 
Good idea, although there aren't that many in London unfortunately (that I know of, anyway). I guess it's a reasonably niche thing, may just have to call it a necessary expense of the hobby...
 
Patience and *bay combined can be successful. Or sometimes you get lucky. My changing bag and developing tank came to less than £15 after a couple of weeks of checking a couple of bookmarked searches.
Have you tried putting a "wanted" on freecycle? Sometimes people only check it every couple of months, so it may be worth re-posting (as long as that's OK with their T&Cs).
But you may have to bite the bullet and stump up cash... cheap ones will appear as soon as you've paid full whack!
 
freecom2 said:
Good idea, although there aren't that many in London unfortunately (that I know of, anyway). I guess it's a reasonably niche thing, may just have to call it a necessary expense of the hobby...
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The best ones are in fields outside London, but because of the cost of fuel, entrance fee, your time, you have to have a list of other things non-photographic in your mind, as it could be cheaper to pay a high price on Ebay than wait for some specific photography gear to turn up at the bootie, and also hope when something does turn up, someone doesn't buy it before you.
 
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Offline, was that a Paterson tank? Or a different brand one? I was going to, but there were a fair few already similar to mine which look like they've had no responses, and those range over a few years up to recently, so I figure any film equipment would've been chucked already. I know, sod's eff'ing law, almost the second I click there will probably be some Gumtree advert saying:

"getting rid of this photography stuff, I don't know what it is, there's a 'Leitz' enlarger?? and some boxes of 'Ilfoord' photographic paper?? all free"

and I'll be sitting here smashing my head into the wall :p

That's true Brian, maybe I'll have to sit back and be patient and play the online game - the odds are against me for car boot sales, and I don't have access to a car either so anything that isn't commutable in the London area is a no-go.
 
There are 4 changing bags on ebay at the moment with no or very low bids and a fair few Paterson tanks.
 
freecom2 said:
Offline, was that a Paterson tank? Or a different brand one? I was going to, but there were a fair few already similar to mine which look like they've had no responses, and those range over a few years up to recently, so I figure any film equipment would've been chucked already. I know, sod's eff'ing law, almost the second I click there will probably be some Gumtree advert saying:
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Yes Paterson. Mine was an old one, very similar to this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Paterson-35-tank-/220777615286?pt=UK_Photography_DarkroomSupplies_SM&hash=item33675f0fb6 (nothing to do with me, and deliberately chosen a completed listing to show they do go cheap!). Does the job.

Sunday afternoons/evenings can be good as that seems to be a peak time for auctions to end, and there may be four or five similar items listed all finishing close together, splitting the bidders.
 
Keeping an eye on eBay, hoping to try and acquire the necessaries for a minimal amount. Will let you know how it goes, thanks all :)
 
How did you get on?

I don't have a changing bag still.

Instead, I bought some blackout curtain from Linens Direct and used some tape to black out the bathroom.

A lot of people warned me about using cotton fabric changing bags - it is a great way to end up with dust specks all over film.

Now I change film in the bathroom and develop it there.

You can also look up Jobo processors too.

There are some very good stores:

http://www.secondhanddarkroom.co.uk/www.secondhanddarkroom.co.uk/info.php?p=2

They sell a Super 3 Paterson for £14,99.

I don't like ebay. Unless you know enough, and know how to ask the right questions, you could end up with a cracked developing tank, or one with a light leak. Even though it might be a bargain, you will make up the loss for postage alone, and maybe not know it has a problem.

At least with secondhand stores - you can return it if it is faulty....warranty included.
 
Happy_medium said:
How did you get on?

A lot of people warned me about using cotton fabric changing bags - it is a great way to end up with dust specks all over film.

QUOTE]

I second that, first bag I had was terrible for that, ended up in the bin!
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I'll probably end up buying the changing bag new, a Paterson one. I had my eye on a Paterson Colour Darkroom kit, went for a quid more than my max bid - typical! It's not especially urgent, so I'm just hanging back and waiting, probably the best way to approach eBay really.
 
I'm in a similar position, want to start doing my own development at home. Been watching similar auctions, don't worry though I've not been bidding against you!

Thinking I might try and black out my bathroom instead, after reading about the issues with changing bags, just mentioned in this thread.
 
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angstmann said:
I'm in a similar position, want to start doing my own development at home. Been watching similar auctions, dot worry though I've not been bidding against you!

Thinking I might try and black out my bathroom instead, after reading about the issues with changing bags, just mentioned in this thread.
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Well when I first started it was under the bed covers, mind you it was about 3 thick blankets in those days ;)
 
excalibur2 said:
Well when I first started it was under the bed covers, mind you it was about 3 thick blankets in those days ;)
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Well you survived!

Spare a thought for those who didn't make it :LOL:

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For those die hard changing bag users - this is the best one on the market.

It's so large and practical. No need to bring a tent - just curl up and sleep inside it when you're done changing film :LOL:
 
There's quite a few no name changing bags on fleabay, but it's very difficult to differentiate since they all look so... black and sameish! Is it worth paying the extra for a Paterson one, or does anyone have a specific one (with link/name) that they can recommend? It's easy enough to differentiate developing tanks and stuff like that, but changing bags is a bit of a stumbling block!
 
My changing bag must be good as it's about 45 years old (and I still use it) but I can't find a label on it.
 
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