Needing advice on a new timer

[lenser]

New or used, that is.

I am wanting better repeatability than my trusty old Time-o-lite, so obviously a digital upgrade is needed.

Looking at Beseler, Omega, Zone VI, and Gralab models. I would appreciate opinions on which is simplest and best to use for accuracy plus current availability of repair services and parts.

Thanks.
Tim

[Brian Ellis]

I liked using a digital metronome which I started doing after attending Paula Chamlee and Michael Smith's workshop. Cover the paper with a piece of mat board, start the timer and simultaneously pull the mat board, count off the time, replace the mat board. Works well, can't get much simpler, very consistent, costs about $15. Before that I used a Metrolight or Metrolux(?). It was nice too but cost about $350 and I don't think they're made any more.

[Bill Burk]

I guess you'll be checking out RH Designs?

[lenser]

Guess I will, Bill. Especially since you've just given me a company I had never heard of. Thanks for the clue-in.

Tim

[jeroldharter]

RH Designs Stopclock Pro is certainly not the simplest but clearly the best for me. I could not work without it at this point. You might check out Darkroom Automations timer which is similar.

[Jon Shiu]

I like LPL ET-500 timer with foot switch. Simple easy to use electronic timer.

Jon

[banjo]

I did not like Gralab 454 or some thing like
I like to have one with a read out so I can see how more time is lift

[Doremus Scudder]

Lenser,

I second the metronome suggestion. Being a musician, and therefore used to counting measures of rest, etc., I find it the most intuitive and low-tech solution. Metronome counting technique is, however, a bit different from most timers.

I usually set the metronome to 120bpm (two beats per second). I start the metronome, hold a card under the lens and step on the footswitch to turn on the enlarger light. I count, "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & off" for a four second exposure (actually, my exposures are usually in the neighborhood of 30 seconds, shorter for the sake of example here), replacing the card under the lens on the "off."

You can keep your eyes on your work easily with this method, making dodging and burning easier visually (just don't lose count). Burning is really easy, but dodging can be a bit dodgy at times :-) One has to remember things like, "dodge this shadow from counts 2 thru 5, move to the rock over here and dodge for counts 6-9" etc.

I approximate f-stop timers by using percentage calculations for test strips and for dodging and burning and subsequent scaling up and down. Test strips are easy at approximate 20% intervals. I count to 10 and then start covering stripes, counting 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 for a strip with 10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 24, 29, 35, and 42 seconds (add 8 for 50 seconds if you need). Dodging and burning is noted as a percentage of the base exposure as well as in actual time so that if I make the print again at a later date or want to make a different size, I can test for the base exposure and then extrapolate the new dodging and burning times easily.

An accurate quartz metronome is fairly cheap compared to fancy timers and readily available; buy a new one if it breaks (which it won't); spend what you save on film :-)

Hope this helps,

Doremus Scudder

[Peter De Smidt]

RH Designs Stopclock Pro is certainly not the simplest but clearly the best for me. I could not work without it at this point. You might check out Darkroom Automations timer which is similar.

I agree. My stop clock pro is my best piece of darkroom gear. Make sure to get a foot switch.

[Heespharm]

I have a beseler digital timer with foot switch... Love it better than my gralab digital but no audible metronome

[aduncanson]

I like my RH Designs timer very much. However, before buying it, I downloaded the f-Stop dial for a standard Graylab timer from the Darkroom Automation web page. (Sorry, the link is still there on the "Support Files (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/support/index.htm)" page, but I can't get it to work.) This is a .pdf file that you print and install by taping it over the face of your Graylab. After getting used to thinking of, and recording, exposure time in stops (relative to 1 second), I miss that capability.

I wish the RH Designs timer would display exposure time this way - as does the Darkroom Automation f-Stop Timer (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/fst.htm). Yesterday I printed a couple of proof sheets of 120 rolls. The exposure time was... I guess, 4.362 seconds. 2.1 stops is certainly more memorable and easier to repeat.

[jeroldharter]

...
I wish the RH Designs timer would display exposure time this way - as does the Darkroom Automation f-Stop Timer (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/fst.htm). Yesterday I printed a couple of proof sheets of 120 rolls. The exposure time was... I guess, 4.362 seconds. 2.1 stops is certainly more memorable and easier to repeat.

I agree, but I wish that each timer, RH Designs and Darkroom Automations, displayed both. I would like the f-stop display for conceptual reasons when thinking through a print, but I like the seconds display so I know clearly how long a step will take. Probably too much bother and needless expense though as either approach is workable. I think the RH approach with seconds is more natural to printers converting from a regular timer while the DA approach is better for printers already committed to f-stop timers.

If you are considering a new timer, definitely give an f-stop timer a test drive, even if just using the Gra-lab dial mentioned or a table like one shown in the link below.

Here is an informational link:

http://www.tmax100.com/photo/pdf/fstoptiming.pdf

[John Koehrer]

I like my RH Designs timer very much. However, before buying it, I downloaded the f-Stop dial for a standard Graylab timer from the Darkroom Automation web page. (Sorry, the link is still there on the "Support Files (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/support/index.htm)" page, but I can't get it to work.) This is a .pdf file that you print and install by taping it over the face of your Graylab. After getting used to thinking of, and recording, exposure time in stops (relative to 1 second), I miss that capability.

I wish the RH Designs timer would display exposure time this way - as does the Darkroom Automation f-Stop Timer (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/fst.htm). Yesterday I printed a couple of proof sheets of 120 rolls. The exposure time was... I guess, 4.362 seconds. 2.1 stops is certainly more memorable and easier to repeat.

'Tis working for me =@)

[cyrus]

The accuracy of a digital timer is not an issue, they are all far more accurate than necessary (computer chips!) Unless you're using a special enlarger that requires hi power or are interested in f stop timers, any standard digital timer you mentioned should do. Get one with a foot switch so you're hands are free to dodge and burn, and see if you like the ergonomics and adjust brightness . The problem with used timers is that the connections for the buttons may have been worn out or corroded. I had one that would mysteriously switch from tenth of seconds to full seconds. Problem went away when I opened it up and cleaned the connections.

[cyrus]

Your hands not you're hands. Darned "spell check"

[John Koehrer]

Some cold light heads will kill off a digital timer. Run a relay from the timer and the light source from the relay.

[nolindan]

the f-Stop dial for a standard Graylab timer from the Darkroom Automation web page. (Sorry, the link is still there on the "Support Files (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/support/index.htm)" page, but I can't get it to work.)

The dial is here ...
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/support/grastops.pdf
What's not working? There have been some problems with files showing up with 'Star Trek' fonts, I thought I fixed them all...

As to displaying stops and seconds at the same time - it is easy, if one is of a binary bent of mind, to convert stops to seconds. It is the old powers of two sequence: 1, 2, 4, 6, 16, 32... 0 stops = 1 second, 1 stop = 2 seconds, 2 stops = 4 seconds, 3 stops = 8 seconds.

Modern digital timers have no problems with cold light heads. Certainly Darkroom Automation's don't.

--
Nicholas Lindan
Darkroom Automation (http://www.darkroomautomation.com/da-main.htm)

[dap]

The old kearsarge range used to be my favorites. I also liked Lektra timers - very spartan but bombproof. Kearsarges have digital displays, but the vast majority of Lektras do not. Neither company is still in business as far as I can tell. Both can be had relatively cheaply on the second hand market.


That being said - if you have the cash to spare you might want to consider one of the f-stop timers. There is something to be said for supporting a company that still makes products for darkroom users.

[Helcio J Tagliolatto]

After years using an audible repeating timer from Beseler ( a sugestion from Tom Fuller more than 20 years ago) I've just bougth, from one of the LF forum's member, a Metrolux II.
From another member's sugestion I've bougth the RH Design's Compensating Process Timer, really a gem that substitutes my 32 years old Gralab300. The 300 is now in my kitchen.

[JohnN]

I used to use a Tiktok, then I went to a Metrolux II.

RH Designs Analyser Pro. Best timer on the market; best bang for the buck.

There's nothing else that comes close, IMHO. For exactness, I use this. worth every penny.

[Rick A]

I use a Gralab 525 Scientific digital with footswitch. It has dual channels and a bunch of other modes and memory settings. My daughter has a Gralab 505 with footswitch. Very simple and uncomplicated timer, I think I'll trade her. I still have several analog timers, Gralab 300's and Tim-O-Lites, I still use for processing.