View Full Version : Darkroom comfort items?
OK so the process of setting up my rather large darkroom/studio is coming along, and now comes time to decide on "comfort" items. Any suggestions?
I have a stereo, and a few nices chairs and will be getting a stool too.
I bought an espresso-maker, as well as an electric kettle for tea etc.
A mini-fridge with freezer, and a microwave come next.
I already have and anti-fatigue mat for standing long periods
I'd like to get a couch, something I can doze on occasionally, but I dont want to spend a lot of money on a large one. Perhaps a folding fouton?
Is this a darkroom or an apartment?
My only addition would be to suggest the kind of anti fatigue mat that hairstylists use at their stations. I got mine from a salon that was going out of business. Ten bucks for the best mat I've ever used in my life.
aduncanson
22-Sep-2010, 11:40
Changing/makeup/shower facilities for models (and photographers?)
David Aimone
22-Sep-2010, 11:43
Is this more than one room?
I'm not sure you want to keep food and coffeemaker in the same room as the darkroom, and you'll want to wash up before cooking/eating (well, perhaps except for a coffee in a to-go cup.
BetterSense
22-Sep-2010, 12:17
My only addition would be to suggest the kind of anti fatigue mat that hairstylists use at their stations. I got mine from a salon that was going out of business. Ten bucks for the best mat I've ever used in my life.
Those things are nothing but a gimmick. Your body isn't designed to stand on squishy things, and a squishy mat is more likely to give you a back ache than anything else. It's not like darkroom work is high-impact.
Internet access is a nice thing to have too.
The fridge isn't a comfort item. It's where your film goes.
I believe anti-fatigue mats are of some benefit. They can make it harder to keep the floor clean though. Sometimes your feet go tired/sore and it caused posture issues for your back if you were trying to be easy on your feet while standing.
I used to work on a fishing boat and had to stand in place for much of the day, and was glad to have a mat. It wasn't squishy; just a tough black rubber perforated mat.
Changing/makeup/shower facilities for models (and photographers?)
There is a small bathroom down the hall which can be used but now shower. If there was a shower, I'd live there!
Those things are nothing but a gimmick. Your body isn't designed to stand on squishy things, and a squishy mat is more likely to give you a back ache than anything else. It's not like darkroom work is high-impact.
We evolved over millions of years walking on grasslands and on surfaces with some give. My darkroom has a concrete floor and just moving around transmits a lot of impacts and stresses on the joints. Think about how those stresses add up over a 6 hour darkroom session. Anti-fatigue mats have made a *huge* difference in my comfort level. Other than that, I just need music and a big supply of towels.
Kevin Crisp
22-Sep-2010, 13:39
When I built my darkroom and used it a few times I got very sore from long standing on the linoleum over slab floor. It happened every time. I picked up two of those red rubber fatigue mats from Costco (looks like what a bartender stands on) and no problems since.
Their raised surfaces and many holes preclude using a stool too, but I never cared for sitting down when participating in the action sport of wet darkroom work.
The unexpected plus side of the mat is that whatever you walk in with on your shoes falls right down through the holes and stays under the mat. It is all nice and collected for sweeping up.
Those things are nothing but a gimmick. Your body isn't designed to stand on squishy things, and a squishy mat is more likely to give you a back ache than anything else. It's not like darkroom work is high-impact.
Better Sense!
Well, I would agree with you if we were talking about being in constant forward motion which exercises all the joints instead of essentially standing around for hours while creating continuous downward stress on our spines, hips, knees, ankles and feet. Since we are talking about alleviating those downward stresses, I think you are incorrect about the pads.
My beauty shop pad makes a huge difference as do my cushioned walking shoes and insoles and even more extreme insoles for hiking. By the way, do you use use nothing but hard soled leather shoes with no insoles, or do you you accommodate and protect your feet with softer soles and good insoles like most podiatrists seem to recommend?
Just sayin' you put the appropriate fix to the problem.
I got an anti-fatigue mat so that's resolved.
What else?
jeroldharter
22-Sep-2010, 14:12
+1 on the anti-fatigue mats. I love mine.
Handy light switches.
Many GFCI outlets, both above and bellow countertop height.
Floor drain to easily drain out-of-sink print washers or hose down/mop floor.
RH Designs LED safe-torch
Magnetic stirrer
Central vacuum system - excellent for getting dust out of the room.
Small air compressor for blowing dust off of negatives.
Full sheet vinyl flooring without seams for easy cleaning and low dust.
I would not put a refrigerator in the darkroom. Ever look at the coils? They are dust magnets. Likewise computer equipment and a sofa. Most sofas are really just highly compacted mounds of dust. I would put that stuff in the adjacent room and treat the darkroom as much like a clean room as possible. I would add a microwave to the adjacent room just for heating water to mix chemicals.
BetterSense
22-Sep-2010, 14:32
essentially standing around for hours while creating continuous downward stress on our spines, hips, knees, ankles and feet. Since we are talking about alleviating those downward stresses
Please explain how a cushy mat will do anything to alleviate downward stresses? Once you are sunken in, exactly the same downward stresses are applied; it's simple physics...only now, your joints are not in the proper orientation, resting on firm flat ground, which is only going to make things worse.
By the way, do you use use nothing but hard soled leather shoes with no insoles,
When I can't go barefoot, I wear skateboarding shoes, which are basically modern moccasins.
or do you you accommodate and protect your feet with softer soles and good insoles like most podiatrists seem to recommend?
Softer soles and "good" insoles are the enemy. I don't care what podiatrists recommend. FWIW when my mother had chronic back problems, she asked her chiropractor what would be the best shoes to wear. His answer was "none".
I don't care what podiatrists recommend.
Sorry, I disagree. I like the mats, too.
imagedowser
22-Sep-2010, 16:29
Made a fortunate buy at a yard sale, an older "Rainbow" water vac.... It really does a job on mold spore, pollen and fine dust... would also rec an air filter, small, one room hepa...
John Kasaian
22-Sep-2010, 17:06
A stool, a radio, and a margarita machine!:D
John Bowen
22-Sep-2010, 17:15
I second the magnetic stirrer....and would add a Thomas Safelight, a Zone VI antistatic brush and just for fun..... a 60" Plasma TV, a fine, single malt scotch, a fireplace and a beautiful lady to keep you company :-)
Marek Warunkiewicz
22-Sep-2010, 18:05
An electrostatic/HEPA air cleaner... Really, they work well and number one on my list! Number two are the gel floor mats. Then, magnetic stirrer, two of them with temperature controls, don't need compressed air due to the electrostatic cleaner, sink level air system (I built one that was incorporated into the edges of my sink so I NEVER had any fumes from chemicals), fridge for sure, 30" monitor for computer covered in rubylith, and most important, talent and an assistant! :-)
I second the magnetic stirrer....and would add a Thomas Safelight, a Zone VI antistatic brush and just for fun..... a 60" Plasma TV, a fine, single malt scotch, a fireplace and a beautiful lady to keep you company :-)
Why does she have to be beautiful? It's a darkroom.
Jim Galli
22-Sep-2010, 20:41
No Pain - No art! You need to suffer in the darkroom! It should be cold in the winter and hot in the summer! Faucets should leak and make little icy spots in the winter and grow mold in the summer. Suffering is what makes good art. You should be digging slivvers out of your hide from the rough hewn wooden benches, and you should be approaching blindness by age 58 from the single 60 watt lamp hanging from a string. Internet! Bosh!
Air conditioning
If you shoot with Tungsten in the Summer you're gonna wish you have it, even if you
don't and use strobes, you're going to wish you have A/C.
Besides a dark room in the Summer can get pretty humid even if you're exhausting air out
biglewsmi
22-Sep-2010, 23:27
My suggestion is a multi-step timer. Using this item allows you to program in all the steps of film development with alarms to indicate when to start draining, and when to start the fill for the next step. JOBO ProTime 100 is an example of a hardware timer of this sort and Alti Timer is a computer version. For me it means one less thing to fidget with when processing film. All I have to concentrate on doing is pouring and dumping chemicals on cue since I use a rotary base to agitate.
Another good addition would be a print dryer. They are going few very low prices on that uh, E bidding site. It will help get those fiber prints dry and much flatter than air drying.
Jim Graves
22-Sep-2010, 23:40
I would not put a refrigerator in the darkroom. Ever look at the coils? They are dust magnets.
I'll add another +1 for cushion floor mats.
As for the "dust magnet" ... isn't that what you want in a dark room ... something to attract and hold any dust in the area???
John Bowen
23-Sep-2010, 03:59
Why does she have to be beautiful? It's a darkroom.
Because, once the Thomas Safelight is fired up, you could easily SEE in the darkroom
John Bowen
23-Sep-2010, 04:03
Oh yes, one more "must have" item...a compensating developing timer. I use the Zone VI Compensating Timer and rely on it so much, I've purchased a spare......just in case.
bob carnie
23-Sep-2010, 05:40
Humidity and temp control for the space, specifically if you plan to work with alt processes.
My next darkroom will have a skylight and a monster window that will be able to darken at a push of the button.
Setting up and closing down from a day of printing I say bring in the light.
David Aimone
23-Sep-2010, 06:28
How about an iPad with Massive Development chart? This can be your developing notepad and timer with temp compensation calculator built in (as well as perform dozens of other comfort and utility functions like music, email, web browsing, etc, etc, etc). Hey, with a darkroom like this, the cost of this is a drop in the bucket!
Oh yes, one more "must have" item...a compensating developing timer. I use the Zone VI Compensating Timer and rely on it so much, I've purchased a spare......just in case.
Pawlowski6132
23-Sep-2010, 06:29
- Six Pack of Belgium Beer
- Anti-Fatique Mat
- Laptop w/wireless internet and speakers
I second the magnetic stirrer....and would add a Thomas Safelight, a Zone VI antistatic brush and just for fun..... a 60" Plasma TV, a fine, single malt scotch, a fireplace and a beautiful lady to keep you company :-)
Wait, you're going to fast...fine malt scotch. Check.
TV...check.
Beautiful lady...Hmm...
Jerry Bodine
23-Sep-2010, 11:22
Another good addition would be a print dryer. They are going few very low prices on that uh, E bidding site. It will help get those fiber prints dry and much flatter than air drying.
If you're going to be selenium toning your prints, then air drying is a must. Heat drying will wipe out the effects of the toning. A microwave is handy for quick-drying test strips to assess the dry-down effects in the print highlights, and a microwave puts out a lot less heat into the darkroom compared to the lengthy operation of a dryer.
...pot... erm, medical grade...
John Bowen
24-Sep-2010, 04:09
...pot... erm, medical grade...
Hmmmm...I can see myself developing prints in the single malt scotch and drinking the amidol....better pass on the pot.
sully75
24-Sep-2010, 05:38
I don't have a darkroom, but if I did and was spending a lot of time in it, I'd definitely be wearing a pair of Sanita clogs. Stupid comfortable for standing for long periods. I think I'd also make it a point to walk briskly around the room once in a while to encourage blood to return to the ol' heart.
Well, I've never felt a need for fancy darkroom footwear. But a plain mono, single speaker radio can help a lot at keeping me oriented in the complete darkness during film tray development.
Michael S
24-Sep-2010, 08:44
I'm not sure it would qualify as a "comfort" item, but for me an invaluable piece of equipment is the vacuum sealer to keep my developer solutions from oxidizing. Before I bought one, I would constantly be throwing away old developer which had gone bad in the bottles. Now I store developers in dark wine bottles and vacuum seal them, and every time I pour my developer it is as clean and clear as the day I mixed it.
Jay DeFehr
24-Sep-2010, 09:51
A dishwasher is very nice.
biglewsmi
24-Sep-2010, 11:48
I'm not sure it would qualify as a "comfort" item, but for me an invaluable piece of equipment is the vacuum sealer to keep my developer solutions from oxidizing. Before I bought one, I would constantly be throwing away old developer which had gone bad in the bottles. Now I store developers in dark wine bottles and vacuum seal them, and every time I pour my developer it is as clean and clear as the day I mixed it.
I'd be interested in learning a little more about your vacuum sealer setup Michael. I don't get to spend as much time as I would like working in my darkroom, so there are times when things go bad before I can finish them.
I'm not sure it would qualify as a "comfort" item, but for me an invaluable piece of equipment is the vacuum sealer to keep my developer solutions from oxidizing. Before I bought one, I would constantly be throwing away old developer which had gone bad in the bottles. Now I store developers in dark wine bottles and vacuum seal them, and every time I pour my developer it is as clean and clear as the day I mixed it.
The real trick is to develop a lot of film constantly...:D
Ken Lee
24-Sep-2010, 13:01
This article (http://www.pyrocat-hd.com/html/preservation.html) discusses and illustrates an affordable vacuum sealing device.
It's on the Pyrocat Forum (http://www.pyrocat-hd.com/), but can be applied to any chemistry.
Michael S
25-Sep-2010, 07:41
I hear you biglewsmi. Until I obtained a vacuum sealer, I would always try to fill my developer bottles to the very top, because any air that remained would invariably and inevitably oxidize the solution. I can't tell you how much precious chemicals I have had to throw away because of it. With the vacuum sealer I use old wine bottles (gives my darkroom a very classy look, as long as you don't mistake the Dektol for Riesling), and utilizing the special valved bottle stops, I can keep my developers in half filled bottles, but without any air to oxidize them. I bought mine at a nearby Fred Meyer's store, but I'm sure that you can easily find one on the internet.
Michael S
25-Sep-2010, 08:05
The vacuum pump which is described in the article is manual and would probably work as well as the one I use, which is electric. (What is also nice about the electric one is that it can also seal plastic bags which are specifically made for it. My wife has one in the kitchen and uses it to seal and freezer store meat.) In either case, the goal is to get rid of the air in the bottle.
David Karp
25-Sep-2010, 09:32
How about a bench instead of a couch? Much easier to keep clean. Couches are dust collectors.
Preston
25-Sep-2010, 12:14
I haven't worked in a darkroom in many a year, but I offer the following based upon earlier experiences...
Single malt---yes, with a splash of water to improve the 'nose'.
Music--yes.
Girl--Waaayyy too distracting, at least she would be for me.
Recreational medications--aside from the mental acuity issues, the ashes and smoke could be a problem.
A couch and/or a refer will be the biggest of dust bunnies.
A microwave is a good idea for drying strips or test prints, but I wouldn't have it in the same room where dust could be a problem because the fan in a microwave will blow any dust all over the place.
Good air handling is a must, in my opinion.
--p
If at all possible have wooden floors. 3/4 inch hardwood is great for standing for long hours. Concert floors of floors covered with tiles will cause lower leg pain when standing for hours at a time! I do not listed or play music at any time. I have daylight tanks, HP Combi, and some times have 4 tanks going at once. To avoid missing agitation, or dumping chemicals at the appropriate time I never listen to music as its too much of a distraction for this much processing!
bsdunek
28-Sep-2010, 11:20
I second the magnetic stirrer....and would add a Thomas Safelight, a Zone VI antistatic brush and just for fun..... a 60" Plasma TV, a fine, single malt scotch, a fireplace and a beautiful lady to keep you company :-)
Tried that once. Turned out the lights to see what would develop, but she said if I didn't stop, I'd be in a fix. Never again.
I have to have a couch. I will be spending long hours there and need to crash, especially after I get into the single malt. I don't think it would cause a lot of dust. Especially if I cover it with something that gets aired out regularly.
Ken Lee
28-Sep-2010, 12:33
An Infra Red viewing device (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/index.html#Monocular): perhaps the single greatest improvement in decades :)
jeroldharter
28-Sep-2010, 22:28
An Infra Red viewing device (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/index.html#Monocular): perhaps the single greatest improvement in decades :)
I checked that out and it looks interesting. However, it says that the closest focus is 3 feet which might be too far for film loading, inspection, etc. How do you manage that?
A telephone.
N. Riley
http://normanrileyphotography.com
Ken Lee
29-Sep-2010, 02:22
I checked that out and it looks interesting. However, it says that the closest focus is 3 feet which might be too far for film loading, inspection, etc. How do you manage that?
I would not recommend it, if there were such a major limitation :)
3 feet is a rough estimate, of little interest to typical night vision users, who are outdoorsmen and "sportsmen". My guess is that most are interested in the other extreme: how far one can see.
In any event, I have no problem reading in the dark, and doing all the other tasks like film loading, development by inspection, etc. at arm's length. I am of average height, and my arms are of average length. I have never heard from anyone who has purchased one of these, and had to return it for any reason whatsoever.
There are other vendors out there: I purchased that model, based on low price.
jeroldharter
29-Sep-2010, 05:24
Thanks Ken. I like the idea and might take the plunge.
BetterSense
29-Sep-2010, 06:00
I checked that out and it looks interesting. However, it says that the closest focus is 3 feet which might be too far for film loading, inspection, etc. How do you manage that?
I have Eyeclops IR monocular, and I taped the lens from a +3 reading glasses over top of the camera lens on the monocular; now it is focused at arm's length.
Ken Lee
29-Sep-2010, 06:34
Excellent idea !
Lenny Eiger
29-Sep-2010, 11:29
Re: Cushioning. I used to live in NYC. People toss out amazing stuff and leave it on the street. One day I came across a huge pile of used rugs. I put three layers on the floor. I spilled plenty of chemicals on it and when it got dirty I threw it out... and got another one to replace it. It was heaven in there...
Lenny
Lenny - nowdays no one in NYC would pick up old rugs because of the bedbugs infestation!
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