Good Film Development Timer?

[Frank Petronio]

I'm setting up my film-only darkroom and wondering what to get for a nice timer to do tray processing with? I could get the standard GraLab but are there other good options? It would be nice to have something legible but not fogging... I don't have a lot of space to keep the timer far away from the film itself.

[Ari]

I use a wristwatch.

[Frank Petronio]

What are those?

[Mark Woods]

I have a digital clock with red numbers with a number of red filter over the front. It's only visible in the dark and only when one looks directly at it.

[mpirie]

I can recommend the RH Designs Process timer.

It uses red LED's which can be dimmed and is programmable with 9 steps for 9 different programmes.

It also has audible warnings for each 30 seconds and a the countdown for the last 10 seconds.

Mike

[Greg Lockrey]

Metronome

[urs0polar]

iphone + massive dev chart app ... it gives you sounds to indicate when to agitate. it works great for roll and rotary, not sure for tray development as I've never done that.

[SW Rick]

iphone + massive dev chart app ... it gives you sounds to indicate when to agitate. it works great for roll and rotary, not sure for tray development as I've never done that.

+1

[Collas]

I have a digital clock with red numbers with a number of red filter over the front. It's only visible in the dark and only when one looks directly at it.

And it can be set up to compensate for temperature variation and factorial development.

Nick

[chassis]

I use something like this for print processing:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3766193

The LCD can be seen under safelights.

[Mark Sampson]

Frank-
It would have to be a very small darkroom with a very new GraLab for fogging to be a problem. My trouble in recent years was that the old Gra-Lab got so dim that it was almost impossible to see from 4 feet away, after a couple of minutes.
I'd like to have had one of the Zone VI compensating timers but I wouldn't spend the money when they were available... now, for the time being, Praus does my 4x5.

[David Aimone]

If you don't want to get an iPhone, I have an iPod touch and use the Massive Development Chart. There are also numerous other useful photo related apps for free or cheap. The iPod touch is the iPhone without the phone (except that you can make calls from a wifi connection with an added app.

Truly, my iPod touch is the ultimate swiss army knife of the 21st century. I even have an app that helps me level my cameras in the field, determines pinhole exposures, calculates mat cutting, and so on...

...and there's no data plan necessary!


iphone + massive dev chart app ... it gives you sounds to indicate when to agitate. it works great for roll and rotary, not sure for tray development as I've never done that.

[Frank Petronio]

OK I am doing film-only and need something I can see in the dark without risk of fogging open film. NO SAFELIGHT. I don't want to rely on alarms because I sometimes goof with setting them.

I don't want to spend $200 on a fancy enlarging timer or get a Touch for simple darkroom work.

Sounds like a Gralab unless someone has a better idea.

[Keith Pitman]

If you don't want to get an iPhone, I have an iPod touch and use the Massive Development Chart. There are also numerous other useful photo related apps for free or cheap. The iPod touch is the iPhone without the phone (except that you can make calls from a wifi connection with an added app.

Truly, my iPod touch is the ultimate swiss army knife of the 21st century. I even have an app that helps me level my cameras in the field, determines pinhole exposures, calculates mat cutting, and so on...

...and there's no data plan necessary!

What app lets you use an IPod as a wi-fi phone?

[Colin Graham]

I've never noticed any fogging with a Gra Lab 300 in my 10'x10' closet er darkroom. I work mainly with b&w film in open trays, but some C-41 loading and unloading too without issues. I have a gooseneck lamp next to the timer to charge the phosphors right before using the timer so it can get fairly bright, though it does fade quickly.

[David Aimone]

What app lets you use an IPod as a wi-fi phone?

talkatone

[Matus Kalisky]

I had exactly the same problems until I did not start to use Jobo drums for 4x5", but I guess you are working with trays and therefore need complete darkness. I can imagine following solutions:

1) Use night vision (Ken Lee could comment on that, as far as I know he uses one) and on that case a mechanical or digital stopwatch of some kind could work.

2) You could use tones (maybe some king of timer-software for smartphones or computer) or music of well defined length to get your times

3) Use a mechanical stop-watch (wristwatch) that uses actively powered (tritium is most common) or long-lasting fluorescence (super-luminova on divers watches) markers on the dial that are bright enough to read but certainly not bright enough to fog anything.

4) some clever app for a smartphone that keep the screen on close to 0 luminance (never hear of one though) and displays the timer.

With my brief (and expensive) experience with the world of mechanical watches I would say that the solution (3) would be the most expensive one.

I probably did not help you much though ...

[Ari]

Get a cassette player, and record yourself ringing a bell every 30s or minute.
Play the cassette in the darkroom when you develop film.
It's also the perfect opportunity to learn Mandarin subliminally.
And wear a wristwatch! :)

[wclark5179]

I have the Radio Shack timer as recommended by chassis. Mine has a clip on the back with a magnet and I use the magnet to place the timer on the lid an empty spaghetti sauce jar which raises it up and more easily seen. I place it near a safelight because it has a liquid crystal readout.

If you're developing film in a tray something else may work better but for prints and tank film developing it works very well for me.

I find the battery lasts at least a year.

Hope this helps you!

[sdynes]

+1 for the Massive Dev iPhone app. I've been developing in trays, and have found it useful.

Pros (in addition to what others have posted):
- Can set split development times if you're doing N/N-1 development in the same tray
- Easy to set up for e.g. 10 sec agitation every minute - gives you a 5-sec warning as well
- Just a touch to start timing the next phase.
- +1 for temp compensation

Cons:
- have to remember to turn the autobright/screenlock off and the airplane mode on (so nobody calls and turns the phone into a blinding beacon...)
- Even in dim green mode can seem pretty bright...
- Having to tap the phone with a wet finger to start timing.

I spent some time looking for the right timing device; this is what I found, and it is fine.

[Mark Woods]

Hey Frank. Like I said, a cheap red digital clock with a number of red or ND filters over the screen works great. I've never had a problem with fogging the film from this device. Plus, I don't have to set it. I use some old timers that my dad had in his studio for the actual timing. (They can be rigged with a string so you can pull the arm by waving your hand where the string is.) The clock is for agitation purposes.

[Frank Petronio]

That does seem like the best = gotta find one displaying seconds... thanks

[Pawlowski6132]

Metronome

You'd Lose track.

[ic-racer]

Nothing can match the standard Graylab. Easy to set and easy to see. Easy to anticipate when you are coming up on the end of the process. I'm always late watching a digital readout clock because at 9:58 I still think I have an hour to get where I need to be....

[cyrus]

For processing film I use a talking timer that counts down the minutes when there's 10 min left, and seconds when there's 10 sec left. They're cheap and I've distributed a few all over the place for when I need to time something. There's no light emission just the voice counting down.

Something like this model (http://www.amazon.com/distributed-by-Dynamic-Living-com-Compact-Talking/dp/B0007LNEO6/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327893048&sr=8-2-spell)

[UberSquid]

For processing film I use a talking timer that counts down the minutes when there's 10 min left, and seconds when there's 10 sec left. They're cheap and I've distributed a few all over the place for when I need to time something. There's no light emission just the voice counting down.

Something like this model (http://www.amazon.com/distributed-by-Dynamic-Living-com-Compact-Talking/dp/B0007LNEO6/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327893048&sr=8-2-spell)

I really like this idea!

The other day I started the metronome, turned the lights of, dropped four sheets of film into the developer tray, started the timer and went through my usual agitation routine. I realized that I had been sitting there a bit too long when I was a minute and a half past when I should have pulled the negatives. Thankfully I have duplicates. It would be nice to have some kind of feedback to ensure that the timer was running while groping around in the dark. I'll have to look into one of these.

[SamReeves]

Get a cassette player, and record yourself ringing a bell every 30s or minute.
Play the cassette in the darkroom when you develop film.
It's also the perfect opportunity to learn Mandarin subliminally.
And wear a wristwatch! :)

LMAO!!! :D

[urs0polar]

+1 for the Massive Dev iPhone app. I've been developing in trays, and have found it useful.

Pros (in addition to what others have posted):
- Can set split development times if you're doing N/N-1 development in the same tray
- Easy to set up for e.g. 10 sec agitation every minute - gives you a 5-sec warning as well
- Just a touch to start timing the next phase.
- +1 for temp compensation

Cons:
- have to remember to turn the autobright/screenlock off and the airplane mode on (so nobody calls and turns the phone into a blinding beacon...)
- Even in dim green mode can seem pretty bright...
- Having to tap the phone with a wet finger to start timing.

I spent some time looking for the right timing device; this is what I found, and it is fine.

In the dim green/red mode, you can turn it upside down, so the screen is down and you still hear the tones out the bottom. I know you still have to pick it up to start the stop bath, but at least that's a bit darker...

For the wet finger problem, I put my iphone in a ziplock sandwich bag. It doesn't attenuate the sound very much at all, and the touch screen still works just great through the plastic, and the phone doesn't smell like fixer afterwards.

I never thought about airplane mode, but that's a really good idea... even though I use a jobo on a beseler base, it could still mess things up time-wise to have someone call. Thanks for the tip!

[Doremus Scudder]

Frank,

The Gra-lab is standard and will not fog film unless they are really close and really new (read bright) and they are cheap. If you have a concern, then just rig a baffle or move it farther away.

That said, if you can pick up a Zone VI compensating developing timer with a good temperature probe, that would be sweet. I won't part with mine!

And, FWIW, in my darkroom here in Vienna (bare-bones here in Europe), I use a metronome and a digital oven timer to tray develop. The metronome gives me seconds to base my agitation on, the oven timer counts down total time and beeps at the end of developing time. Works just fine.

Best,

Doremus

[Chris Strobel]

I tray develop 4x5 and 8x10 using the talking timer from here:
http://www.talkingtimer.com/

And a golfing metronome.No backlights, no fogging, no muss no fuss.

Cheers,

Chris

[cyrus]

I tray develop 4x5 and 8x10 using the talking timer from here:
http://www.talkingtimer.com/

And a golfing metronome.No backlights, no fogging, no muss no fuss.

Cheers,

Chris

LOL - this looks like actually the same timer as I mentioned (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showpost.php?p=839730&postcount=25) and linked to on Amazon, except with a different brand name (and silver instead of white)

The only "problem" I've encountered using these timers (I have accumulated multiple versions over time, all different brands but all are the same timer) is that there is a possibility of confusing the "start timer" button in the dark with another button. So there are some anxious moments of second-guessing myself until the first "X minutes remaining" voice is heard from the timer. To resolve this, I made some notches in the "start timer" button so I'm sure I'm pressing the right button to start the timer in the dark. I wish the manufacturers would distinguish the start button on these things better than the other buttons.

[rdenney]

I've never noticed any fogging with a Gra Lab 300 in my 10'x10' closet er darkroom. I work mainly with b&w film in open trays, but some C-41 loading and unloading too without issues. I have a gooseneck lamp next to the timer to charge the phosphors right before using the timer so it can get fairly bright, though it does fade quickly.

My darkroom was smaller than that by a ways, and I never had a fogging problem, either. My Gralab timer was on a shelf above the sink, and I processed film in hangers and open deep tanks. I never had a problem.

I might use the Massive Development Chart on my iPhone to determine the time, but I would use a Gralab to time it. The iPhone display is rather bright, and puts out white light even when displaying "black". I'm more afraid of it than I would be of the luminescent materials on the Gralab.

Rick "not to mention not really wanting to touch an iPhone with a developer-laden finger" Denney

[Bill Burk]

Curt Palm's CompnTemp has been great for me. I might grumble that I had to replace the 2 dollar laptop with another junker when it died New Year's day. But hardware-wise it is just a USB probe, a clamp from Alan Ross and an old laptop. The laptop is up high outside the darkroom behind a window made out of an amberlith filter. I have a dark flap to drop over it when developing film. Start/Stop chime gives positive feedback in the dark that the timer is running, and I use the "multiple print" feature to chime several times at the end.

It is very nice being able to knock the variable "temperature" out of the process.

[cyrus]

Rick "not to mention not really wanting to touch an iPhone with a developer-laden finger" Denney

For my talking timers, I wrap them in a single sheet of cling wrap to avoid contamination with chemicals. It works on iphones.

[Scott Walker]

I am overly paranoid about light so I have always been wary of the GraLab. In the past I would cover it and peek at it now and then and use a metronome. I later made a cassette recording sounding off at 30 second intervals which I used in conjunction with the GraLab timer and really only used the GraLab for the buzzer at the end. I found this worked very well.

Recently with the advantage of the iPhone and all the wonderful apps, I have made a new recording that is superior to anything I used in the past.

I get everything ready to go then cover the film I am about to develop, turn the recording on the iPhone on, minimize the app so it goes dark. I then collect my film and get ready to put it in the developer. The recording counts down 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, 5 seconds, and start. At the start point the massive development chart app takes over which gives audible indicators for exact time and duration for agitation. I also used a voice over that counts up on every minute, telling which minute I am at. I also added a voice over for each 30 second mark. For me this is far superior to watching the GraLab because I lose focus easily and tend to daydream forgetting why I am staring at the clock, which is not good for consistent results.

To make the recording I used the app voice memos and app massive development chart along with a watch. I started by opening massive development chart and found a film, developer, time combination that gave me desirable agitation times and intervals and lasted 20 minutes. I minimized the app and opened voice memos and started a recording watching the second hand on my watch I started the recording by saying 30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, 5 seconds, and start. During this countdown I minimized the voice memos app (it keeps on recording) and opened the massive app again. Once I had counted down to start I simply pushed the start button for the development cycle on the massive app, voice memo records all the audible information as massive counts up to completion of the development cycle. At the 30 second mark I said 30 seconds and 1 minute at the 1 minute mark, 2 minutes at the 2 minute mark and so on until it ended at 20 minutes. I counted the minutes up so I would know exactly where I was for time so I could use the recording for all films that I use as well as for normal +/- developing. I have discovered that I can now process film requiring different development times at the same time because it is easy to remove 1 or 2 sheets any given time before the others.

I made a second identical recording except it has a countdown for a 5 minute water bath before development.

The recordings take a bit of time 20 minutes and 30 seconds to be exact and 25 minutes and 30 seconds for the water bath version. but once done they are as easy to use as the GraLab, far more versatile, and way more acurate because you get an audible reminder at exact times to start and stop agitation throughout the entire development cycle.

[Allen in Montreal]

Frank,

The iPhone app from Massive isn't there yet, needs a few tweaks.
You have to touch it after each stage, they are working on a auto run and being able to name the stages as you wish and add stages (too few right now). Then it will be a great app. plug it in the sound system, tunes and timer all in one! :)


For 40 bucks, buy a used CP Touch Timer.
9 stage programmable.

Hit
processing 1 enter (set time) hit enter (after each command)
repeat 2 , 3 etc

1) Presoak
2) process
3) stop
4) fix one
5) rinse
6) fix 2
7) rinse
8) Hypo clear
9) Wash



or what ever method you use.

I have 2, they are great,
shit, maybe I should buy a spare before posting this?? :D :D

They are actually a pain in the ass the first few times you do it, but then it is a no brainer.

Scott's voice memo idea is cool too, throw some humor in your recording and watch (listen to) people react in the dark. I like it Scott!

[Frank Petronio]

I think I want an app with Uma Thurman telling me to shuffle and agitate, I could speak to Siri on my iPhone 5 and tell it I want to develop TXP with one liter of HC100 dilution B at 70 degrees and it would do everything else on my commands. Why touch it when it responds to voice?

[Tim Meisburger]

No one has mentioned the f-stop timer. I thought it was fairly popular, but I guess not...

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Check out the CompNTemp timer at curtpalm.com

[Wayne]

I use a Gra-Lab when developing film in trays. I had to put glow in the dark paint on it so I could see it at all. But I do keep it about 5 feet away from me and the trays.