Oh dear looks like Wet printing, darkroom coming sooner than one thought help!

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jo
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One of the members at camera club has given me a very old enlarger, a Gamma 11...

So now it's time to look into what exactly do I need in the darkroom (which going to be the traditional bathroom setup, at the moment)

What best photographic paper to carry out my first attempts
Any decent books how to print

And where the heck might I find a manual lerking on the internet, as haven't got a clue what lens it has, or how many Fstops it has, appart that it clicks several times.

Any first time printing advice would be very much appreciated
 
Take a look here:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...ion-where-to-find-tutorials-resources.571044/

My recommendation for a book is still Carson Graves.

The chances are that lens and enlarger are not an entity, and the lens should have some identifying marks. Based on the enlarger, if it is very old (say 60 years, which would make it new when I started!) it may be a Wray lens, probably f/4.5. Absolute apertures don't matter; exposure is by trial and error (called a "test strip" in fancy terms) or using a meter.
 
Apart from the enlarger, you'll need dishes and a safelight, apart from paper and chemicals.
 
If the lens isn't marked, stop it down a click or 2 from wide open (look through it and you'll see which end is wide open) and, as Stephen says, use a test strip as your exposure guide.

My last wet print was over 30 years ago so any paper recommendation would be a little out of date - I used to use Ilford Multigrade.

Might be worth asking the donor for a lesson or 2.

Nothing quite like the magic of seeing a print gradually appearing from the red.
 
Is it like this one on eBay jo? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gnome-Ga...628610?hash=item2ab0ba57c2:g:yVkAAOSwWw1a6vOu
If so, that one has a Wray lens as Stephen suggested and has a photo showing where the f numbers are located.

The other thing to be aware of is that the majority of papers nowadays are "Multigrade" (although that's an Ilford name) and would need to be exposed through a selection of graded filters from 1 (soft) through to 5 (hard). These can be held in place below the lens, as I don't see a filter drawer for fitting them above the lens, but better check and see if there is a set with the enlarger. The other type of paper comes in fixed grades, but I'm really not sure what is available nowadays. It would also mean having to buy more than one grade, so the multigrade paper with filters would be wiser financially.
 
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One of the members at camera club has given me a very old enlarger, a Gamma 11...

So now it's time to look into what exactly do I need in the darkroom (which going to be the traditional bathroom setup, at the moment)

Excellent!

I am presently setting myself up and "returnng to wet printing.

I say "returning" as I only dabbled in it for a brief time when in my teens so over 35 years since.

Like you Ellie, I have to do some studying etc but I am just about ready to go having acquired all that I need ( to get started anyway), including an enlarger kit from Intrepid.

I'll have to get some photos posted when I actually get evrything up and running.

The hardes part for me personally is that I have a large expanse of window ( and doorway) to black out each time I want a darkroom as I live in a small studio appartment as they're called nowadays ( when I was a kid we knew them, in the uk, as bedsits!)....Hopefully you have somewhere that you can make as a dedicated darkroom which has to be easier.?

Best of luck and I'm sure that amongst many mistakes we will come up trumps with some results!

Are you going to purely wet print or do you intend to do like myself, both methods, traditional wet printing and negative scanning / computer proccessing? of the negatives that you expose?
 
thanks Guys

@Peter B Yes that's the one I've been given.

@Asha

Got a couple bits that I need to get, and humming and erring whether it's going to be easier to black the spare bedroom or bathroom!

The advantage of the bathroom it has running water and also an extractor fan, but it's a very small bathroom and doesn't have electric.

The advantage of the bedroom, is a lot bigger and does have electric, and I can leave everything in situ, no major building and dismantling every time I was to print some photographs... Both rooms will take the same amount of work to black out, personally I think I'd rather use the bedroom if I can find decent way of ensuring I have enough water during printing.

I've got to get some items such as safelight, trays, tongs etc as well has what I intend to use for blacking out.

But first step, while I'm gathering what I need, is getting a book to gem up on the process...
 
Once the prints are fixed, you can take them out of the bedroom "darkroom" to the bathroom to wash them.
 
I've never had a darkroom with running water - apart from any I spilt :)

I used to use my bedroom, and used a bucket of water to hold prints until going down to wash them.
 
The spare room is sounding better by the minute... As it's going to be a lot easier just to contend with legging it next door to the bathroom to wash off the print than faffing around with put a cover over the bath, putting up blackout material etc etc...

Just wondering what sort of cockup I'm going make of my printing getting started.... Mind saying that better put a film in the camera
 
Just wondering what sort of cockup I'm going make of my printing getting started..

Be sure to let us know so that at least I won't feel alone when ( yes when!) I stuff mine lol
 
it's a very small bathroom and doesn't have electric.

IF you decide to use the bathroom and get electric in there (extension lead would do the job), make sure the supply is RCD protected to reduce the chances of the electric getting where you don't want it - through you! Many distribution boards (AKA fuse boards) are now RCD protected but if yours isn't, there are lots of relatively cheap and easy ways to protect yourself. (Toolstation have a good choice - https://www.toolstation.com/search?q=rcd )

ETA... In fact, anywhere that there's a chance of the supply getting wet (anywhere there's water and electric close together in the dark!!!), an RCD is a good idea.
 
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IF you decide to use the bathroom and get electric in there (extension lead would do the job), make sure the supply is RCD protected to reduce the chances of the electric getting where you don't want it - through you! Many distribution boards (AKA fuse boards) are now RCD protected but if yours isn't, there are lots of relatively cheap and easy ways to protect yourself. (Toolstation have a good choice - https://www.toolstation.com/search?q=rcd )

ETA... In fact, anywhere that there's a chance of the supply getting wet (anywhere there's water and electric close together in the dark!!!), an RCD is a good idea.

Think that what was putting me off the bathroom, I had a new board put in, in the summer all fuses are now RCD's which the old board only certain ones were.
 
Trailing an extension lead in could create problems with the blackout as well.
 
I'd definitely use the bedroom. If nothing else, it'll be easier to set up work surfaces for dry and wet areas, and it doesn't commandeer the bathroom. If you can leave the kit out, then all the better.

In the wet area, keep a basin half full of water handy for giving your hands a rinse if any of the chemicals get splashed on them, and a towel dedicated to the purpose for drying. That way, you can reduce the chance of contamination of the dry area (your negs and nice, fresh paper, particularly) when you go back there to do another exposure (always have clean, dry hands in the dry area).

The main mistake to watch out for is switching on the white light and exposing your unused paper because you forgot to close the light-tight packaging after taking a sheet out. It's tempting to switch on the light after a print has been fixed and washed/rinsed to get a better look at the contrast and density because they're hard to make out under the safe light. Best practice is to reseal the unused paper immediately after removing a sheet - avoid doing it 'in a minute'.
 
There are lots of books from the 80s and 90s that cover darkroom work alongside other aspects of film photography, which can either be found cheaply in charity shops or on Amazon.

As an example, Amazon has several copies of "The Darkroom Handbook" by Michael Langford, from as little as £0.81 plus delivery.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkroom-Handbook-Michael-Langford/dp/0852231881/ref=pd_sim_14_2/260-9973314-9697917?
Stunningly good book. Was my "Bible" in the 80's and unlike most aspects of photography darkroom wet printing hasn't changed much. I'm sure you will have immense fun, seeing the image literally appear before your eyes is like magic, even more exciting than pulling a developed roll of film from the tank.
 
One thing I'd add. CFL bulbs and some LED bulbs glow for a lot longer than old fashioned bulbs. After you switch the main lights off count 30 before opening any paper !
 
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