Amateur Photographer - UK 2019-11-15)

46 9 November 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

BASEDONLYa shortwalk
fromLondon’sVictoriaStation,
MrCadclaimstoholdthe
world’sbiggeststockofused
analogueequipment,withover
30,000items,andwalking
intotheirAladdin’sCaveit’s
easytobelieve.Weaskedthe
founder,AlexFalk,forhis
adviceonsettingupa
darkroomona modestbudget.

Filmprocessing
‘Beforeyoustartprintingyou
needtoprocessthefilm,’says
Alex.‘Ifyoudon’tgetgoodnegs
youcan’tmakea decentprint.’
Thefirststepis theroomitself.
‘Youneeda roomthatyoucan
makecompletelyblack.Stand
inthereforfiveminutes(not
oneminute)toletyoureyes
adjusttothedarktomakesure
thatit reallyis black.If you
don’thavethatspaceyou’ll
needa changingbag.
‘You’llneedtobudgetaround
£100togetyourselfstartedon
processingblack&whitefilms.
Thiswillincludethebag,two
measures,thermometer,film
clips,developingtankand
chemistrytoprocessyourfirst
10 films.Bythenyouwillhave
recouped your outlay.’

Buyingsecond-hand

darkroom equipment

Wevisitedusedanaloguephotographyspecialist

Mr Cad for some adviceonsettingupadarkroom

Enlarger

Whenchoosinganenlarger

thefirstdecisionis whichfilm

formatsyou’llwanttoprint.

If youonlyshoot35mmyour

decisionwillbeeasierandyour

outlaypotentiallyless,butif

youwanttoprintfrommedium

formatnegativesthenyoumay

needa biggerbudget.

‘Wehavea basicLucky

enlargerthatwilldo35mm

and6x6cmfor£79,’saysAlex.

‘Forsomethingbetterquality

wehavesomeJoboenlargers

withbuilt-incolourfilters,so

forMultigradeprintingyou

canjustdialinthefiltration.

TheMeoptaMeogradehasa

Multigradeheadtoo.’

Butif yourbudgetallows,

AlexrecommendsDurst.

‘Theyarealwaysindemand

becausetheyarebeautifully

madebutstillveryaffordable

andthelampsarestillreadily

available.Ifyou’rejust

printing35mmthenfor£199

youcangetyourselfsomething

likea DurstM305,butif you

wanttoprintupto6x6cm

thenyou’llneedtogoup£100

orso,duetothesizeofthe

glasscondensers.Thatwillget

you something like a Durst

705,a lovelyenlarger.Ithad

thelargestbaseboard,with

thedoubleextendingcolumn

whichenablesyoutoalso

projectdownontotheflooror

turnthehead 90 ¡andproject

ontothewall.Youcanput

multigradefiltersinthe

drawerorbeneaththelens.

However,DeVereis probably

stillthebestenlargerbrand

that’soutthere– modelslike

the 203 and 504 arestill

thestandard.’

Alexrevealsthatthebiggest

demandis for5x4and10x8

enlargers.‘Theystartat

£1,000,andwecan’tget

enoughofthem,’ he says.

Lenses

Thelensis themostimportant

purchaseinyourdarkroomkit.

‘Seta decentamountasidefor

theenlargerlens,’advisesAlex,

whohadover1,000enlarger

lensesinstockwhenwevisited.

‘Thereis nopointinhavinga

wonderfullensonyourcamera

butthenloweringthestandard

byhavingthewrongenlarger

lens.It mustbeequalinquality

toyourcameralens,otherwise

youarewastingyourmoney.’

Althoughyoucanspendless,

if you’reona tightbudgetyou

canbuya decent50mm

enlargerlensfromabout£20.

‘Somethinglikea Durst

Neonon,MinoltaRokkor,

SchneiderComponaror

RodenstockRogonar,’says

Alex.‘Thelower-pricedlenses

willgetyouwonderfulimages,

certainly up to 12x10 inches.

Butonceyoustartgoing

biggerthanthatorgetting

moreambitious,youneedto

stepuptosomethingthat’s

betterquality,likea Nikkor

50mmf/2.8,orRodenstock

Rogonon.Fortheseyou’re

lookingatthe£100mark,plus.

‘Ifyou’reusinga Hasselblad

you’llneedsomethinglikean

80mmSchneiderComponon

orRodagon.Orfor5x4,

£150willgetyoua 150mm

SchneiderCompononS.’

Thenamesareconfusingbut

theRodagonis betterthanthe

Rogonar,andtheComponon

is superiortotheComponar,

whiletheAPOCompononand

APORodagonarebetterstill.

Easel,traysandlight

‘Thereis a biggulfwitheasels,’

saysAlex.‘Therearethemetal

Gnometypemaskingframes

from£20fora 12x10in,nothing

inthemiddle,thenyouleapup

to£80-100forthewonderful

RRBeardframes.Theysetthe

standardtowhicheveryone

elsewishestheycouldmake.’

MrCadsellsused20x16trays

for£12each(you’llneedthree).

‘It’sgettinghardertofindused

20x24intraysnow,although

youcanstillgetthemnew.’

Thatleavesthesafelight.The

superiorboxsafelightscomein

twosizes(5x7or10x8)andcost

fromabout£50.‘Orwe’vegot

thebog-standardPaterson

onesforaround£16-18,’

saysAlex,witha smile.

Mr Cad had over 40 used enlargers in stock when we visited, starting at £79 Mr Cad also has around 1,000 enlarger lenses, from under £10 to £1,600

http://www.mrcad.co.uk, Tel: 020 8684 8282

Technique DARKROOM ON A BUDGET