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Thread: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

  1. #1
    Sizam's Avatar
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    Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    I currently get my (4x5) film developed at a lab which is a PITA as I have to drive there and back and its often days between when I get a chance to drop off and pick up. So I just got my 8x10 setup and am starting to think I could just do the processing in the back of the bathroom here at work.

    The bathroom has a shower room in the back of it (that nobody uses) that has a separate door to it (so it should be easy to light seal) and plumbing (shower) and floor space. What is a easy setup for 8x10 B&W processing? I don't want to take up too much space and would prefer a setup that I can just develop a few sheets at a time w/out having to waste the chemicals between uses, or at least use very little chemicals if I have to.

    And do I need a drying cabinet or any other tools? I haven't done B&W lab work for about 2 years and it was 35mm at the time. I see this 'JOBO expert drum', is that the one?

    Thanks
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  2. #2
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    I would consider a Jobo processor with an appropriate drum for either 2 or 5 8x10s at a time. You did not say how much you want to spend. (That Expert Drum is almost $300, I have 1, 2 or 3 of just about everything, but don't have one of those...yet)

    If the room can be made light tight, the most inexpensive way to process them is in trays and just hang them up on a clothes line to dry. I don't think it is easier than the Jobo, but it would be easier to collect the equipment and get it set up to do it that way. Heck, if your local store sold trays and chemicals you could be processing film tonight with that setup.

    An intermediate solution would be a developing tank.

    There are many possibilities, especially if you can 'take over' that whole shower room.

    What is your budget?

  3. #3
    Moderator Ralph Barker's Avatar
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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    If you want to do tray processing of 8x10, all you need to do is build (or find) a work surface of a convenient height, and a little ingenuity. My tray table is hinged to the wall above the toilet in the spare bathroom. When down, the front corners are supported by little stubs from the sink counter and the workframe I built over the tub for the 4x5 enlarger.

    I dry my 8x10 on film hangers I made from wire clothes hangers and small binder clips, and hang them from the shower curtain rod (sans curtain, of course).

  4. #4

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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    here is my darkroom err i mean bath room.

    note the table and the plastic hangers that i use to hand the film from the curtain rod.
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  5. #5

    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    There is additional info and a "sticky" thread on apug.org which have photos and inspiration for you. The thread is named "Darkroom portraits" and can be found here: http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/1...portraits.html. (There are some 650 darkrooms to choose from. At least a few of them ought to be similar to what you have in mind.)
    Apart from that, eddie shows you the essentials just above this answer. You don't need anything more except maybe some great pictures. Well, maybe a contact frame, a small lightbulb and some printing paper. I recon even Edward Weston would have said something like "Yes, that's about it.".
    Good luck.

    //Björn

  6. #6

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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    Jobo Expert drums are for daylight processing, so you wouldn't have to bother with lightproofing. They must be loaded in a changing tent. They can be hand rolled for b/w, so the Jobo processor is not needed.

    Trays are simpler, and cheaper, as long as it is easy to lightproof the room.

  7. #7

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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    Try to find 10x12 trays for processing 8x10. They'e wonderful, and feel "just right," where 8x10 trays are too small, and 11x14s are too big.
    Bruce Barlow
    author of "Finely Focused" and "Exercises in Photographic Composition"
    www.brucewbarlow.com

  8. #8

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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    I would tray develop by inspection, which I do in a small laundry room. I can process up to 8 sheets at a time...with a little practice. You need a sink for sure. I have a jobo too, but prefer the tray method....fewer chemicals, faster, and I like the inspection element. However, if you are really tight on space, you could load the jobo in the dark in a bathroom and develop in a larger lit room....

  9. #9

    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    Hello! You can pick up a Unicolor roller for $15 or so on E-Bay. An 11x14 print drum will go for $10 and will do two sheets of 8x10 at a time. No temperature control, unlike the Jobo. However, for B&W developing is often performed at room temperature. Most folks have fairly consistent indoor temperatures, and where corrections a couple of degrees around room temperature is needed, that change is usually fairly easy to adjust for wiht the time of development.
    There is an article on this site that discusses chrome developing with a Unicolor drum system, so even tight temperature control can be obtained fairly simply.
    Easy to use, reproducible results, inexpensive, and minimal chemical needs - perfect for one shot developing. Best regards.

    Michael A. Heald

  10. #10
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
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    Re: Developing 8x10 B&W in a bathroom, equipment?

    I process 8x10" and larger in trays, and I've done so in a few different bathrooms now.

    In my current dark/bathroom, I've got the trays set up on freestanding plastic shelves in a shower stall that is never used. You can find these shelves at places like Sears.

    I also print in there. The dry side is in a large room that we use as a study, connected to the bathroom. Rather than trying to curtain off the dry side and the bathroom, I've put up a blackout curtain that I can pull over the window of the study, so I have a big roomy space to work in. I need to add another curtain to make it dark enough to print during the day, but meanwhile I've been printing at night, and I can process film during the day with the blackout curtain pulled and the bathroom door closed.

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