Ok, here is one thing I haven't been able to figure out on my own.
If you need complete darkness when tray processing, how do you time it.
Ok, here is one thing I haven't been able to figure out on my own.
If you need complete darkness when tray processing, how do you time it.
Use a timer with a buzzer that goes off when the time is complete.
I just point mine away from the trays and keep it a couple of feet away.... as long as there is nothing for the dial to bounce off of it shouldn't be a problem. I am developing for 20-30 minutes with this technique. no fog noticed.
I also keep my timer below the lip of my sink and keep it a couple of feet away.
I am doing mostly minimal agitation with Pryocat HD in a black slosher tray.
I can never even see the faintest outline of my trays or sink with this method, even after my eyes have adjusted to the light for 30 minutes.
I do find other small light leaks in my darkroom.
My timer is ages old so I'm pretty sure the dial is less luminescent that it was when it was new.
Robert Oliver
You rarely need utter total complete darkness. Maybe with the fastest super speed films... I have timers with glowing phosphorescent numbers and have never known them to cause a problem. I just don't do work with fresh film right in front of them. I move a ways away.
"Voice Craft" talking timer; $20 from my local electronics store.
Photography:first utterance. Sir John Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society. "...Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation,..".
When I first started tray developing 4x5 film (not that long ago!) I brought an ipod into the dark with me, sealed inside a plastic ziplock bag, and set up with a playlist of three songs that just slightly exceeded my development time. I calculated the length of the first two songs and then found the point in the third song that matched up with the end of my development time. Then I just made sure I was clear on which part of the song to stop at and used that as a timer. I got a bit sick of those songs over the month before I got a daylight safe tank (development ended at the lyric "As the big freighters go it was bigger than most, with a crew and good captain well seasoned." from Gordon Lightfoot's wreck of the edmund fitzgerald ).
There are mechanical, wind-up spring timers which can be preset to a certain time. The preset is just a stop to prevent you from winding past your desired time. These work fine in the dark and it's what I use now (generally in the light, but anyway). You just set it up ahead of time and then in the dark you just wind until it stops at your preset and then wait for the bell when its done.
So, as usual its not as complicated as I try to make it.
Thanks a lot guys.
I too have my voice recorded. I find it helps keep agitations consistent as well.
All the best,
Rob
I use a $15.00 metronome.
Greg Lockrey
Wealth is a state of mind.
Money is just a tool.
Happiness is pedaling +25mph on a smooth road.
I use a GRA LAB 900 process timer which allows the timer display to be turned off. The timer has 8 programmable steps, with or without a metronome and can be started or stopped with a foot switch. They can be purchased off eBay for $50 to $75.
HeathKit Electronics used to sell a wonderfull programable process timer but they have been out of business for years. Every once in a while these will appear on eBay and usually fetch about $100.
Don Bryant
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