Minimum size new darkroom

[Michael Roberts]

Some good ideas here:
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...l=1#post556610

[jose angel]

I was thinking about 2,5m x 3m. Is this reasonable...?

The smallest? It could, for the so called darkroom. Sink, enlargers, chemicals, etc. Mine is 3m x 3.5m (and I`m packed!).
But notice that you also need a small office (the "dryroom") to store your gear, lenses, books, cardboards, film cooler, dry mount press, archives, light table, etc. and with a reasonable sized table for the mounting&finishing work. And with good light.
So the "darkroom" is just half the space a "serious" photographer actually need...

[Drew Wiley]

I started out with a spare bathroom where all the gear had to be stashed except when in use. That mandated a basic drum processing system instead of a sink line,
but it did the trick. The enlarger and dry supplies were in an adjacent bedroom with the window covered over. It worked well enough to get me some serious early
gallery gigs; but once I was hooked I took out a valid building permit and did things right. But as far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much space. Stieglitz processed his timeless classic contact prints using a vertical tray ladder in a claustrophobic broom closet. So where there's a will, there's a way.

[Peter Langham]

Have used small areas like closets and bathrooms (where I sat in the tub!) Built a 4'x9' darkroom in my garage. Get creative in your design. I have an L shaped sink which maximizes wet space. Drying racks built into the base of the sink as is other storage. I have a 4x5 enlarger and can print up to 16X20s in this small space.

[D-tach]

Good suggestions and info all - thanks!
I have foreseen a separate studio/workroom upstairs from 5m x 5m

[Cor]

Build my darkroom on the attic, "carved off" a part of a bedroom, and build the DR around my Laborator L1200. Have running water, a tiny sink (20*40 cm) and on the single high table: the big space saver: a Nova 20*25 cm (and a 40*50 in store) 4 slot vertical print developer, which can be removed to my son's adjacent bed room..;-)..

Print with difficulty upto 50*60 cm (I use a big drum and a roller base than), have a wooden big "lid"on my base board, which functions as a a table when contact (Alt.) printing..dryer, equipment, chemistry, mounting press scattered around the house..I have understanding wife..;-)..

Good luck,

Cor

[Drew Wiley]

Before my brother was married, and he was still working as a commercial photographer, he had his darkroom in the bathroom of a remodeled barn. Problem was,
it was a very expensive town (Santa Barbara), so he had to have roommates to help with the rent. Just one bathroom, with the toilet lid supporting a spare rinse
tray due to limited sink space, and of course no revolving light safe door. No rapid fixer either. Just wait.... wait some more... go find a tree

[John Kasaian]

My dark room is still a bathroom. A guest bathroom no one hardly uses. Most of the equipment fits in the built in cabinets and the enlarger(used for contact printing) sits in a spare room with a plastic bag over it to ward off dust.
The thing is, it's pretty spacious compared to a closet. Film and print washing is done outside on the porch where the wash water irrigates the plants, chemicals are mixed in the kitchen sink( like in the song)

[mdeddey]

Hi All,

Just reviving this old thread... For some similar advice....

I have a dedicated separate building in my yard that I intend to convert to a darkroom and finishing area. The building itself is externally 3m x 6m (or 9'10" x 19'7" for the yanks on here...��). I have a sink which is just on 9' long, plus another smaller sink that would hold an archival washer.

My decision is whether to roughly divide the space in half, so that the darkroom is roughly square at 9' x 9' and a similar space for the finishing area. I would plan to erect a stud wall with door to the DR....

I have 4x5 gear and max enlargements of 16x20 planned, primarily BW, thing maybe a little colour.

So best to divide the space roughly in half of make the DR bigger and the finishing area smaller...? Preference at this stage of the planning is to roughly divide in half (to fit the sink ) and be smart with the design....

Ideas, things I may be missing....?

Cheers,

Mark

Ps I am planning to record the man parts of the build...wondering which is the best thread to post this on....?

[Graham Patterson]

Storage for small darkrooms is a significant issue. Some things do not need to live in the darkroom itself - my print washer is in a white light area just outside which is not ideal, but an 11x14 washer takes up a fair bit of space. I need to look at which items I can move out of the space since I want to convert part of the enlarger bench to a drop table. That will cost me several drawers. My space is 8'x9', central aisle.

Go as big as you can reasonably manage.