Hi Folks,
My post isn't specifically related to large format photography, so I hope that's ok. I'm considering making a small, half-bathroom in my home a temporary darkroom - one that I can setup and take down with relative ease when I need to process film and prints. I'll be working exclusively in 35mm black and white and have very limited space. My bathroom is L-shaped (or, if you prefer, is a right angle oriented the same as the capital letter "L". The bathroom has a toilet at the end of the "top" arm of the L and a sink at the right-most end of the botom arm of the "L. Each of the arms, measured from the bottom corner is 70 inches. Each arm is 35 inches in width. There is a light fixture above the sink into which I could install a red safety bulb to replace the existing bulb. There are no windows in the bathroom and the door could easily be "sealed" to prevent light from the hallway intruding. There is a ventilation fan above the toilet and a GFCI power outlet near the sink.
So - if you had this space, how would you go about equipping a temporary darkroom? What sort of enlarger would you consider (keep in mind, it can't live in there, it must be removed and stored when not in use and it will ONLY be used to print from 35mm negatives to print sizes no larger than 8x10)?
I was thinking about something like the Beseler Printmaker 35 or the Cadet for the enlarger (my concern here is whether I want to sacrifice the quality of a larger, variable contrast enlarger in order to get the portability of one of these smaller, condenser enlargers). I'd likely use a couple folding card tables - one would straddle the toilet, the other the sink. I'd probably put the enlarger on the table over the toilet and the print developing trays on the table over the sink. With this configuration, I'd have to run an extension cable from the power outlet over to the enlarger, but that would be easy.
I would probably not print in the same sessions when I'd develop film so that I could keep those two workflows independent and keep the clutter down as much as possible. I'd process film in a 2-reel Jobo tank and changing bag.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Ben
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