Darkroom Equipment

Advice For The Darkroom Builder

Building a darkroom can be an arduous adventure, but there are some important things you should know before you begin. Before beginning you should have a budget in place based on your researching prices for the equipment you need. Try to stay within that budget, it’s easy to make comprises here and there, but before you know it you could be well over your initial estimate and swimming in debt. Decide beforehand the pieces of equipment you need and then try to get the best possible deal on each piece without sacrificing quality. It’s very hard to do but it can be done if you put in the time necessary to ensure that you have an affordable, comfortable, and fully functional darkroom suited to your needs. There are many places that sell darkroom equipment. Photography shops will be able to meet most amateur and professional photographers’ needs. There are also other places such as online auction houses that sell a wide array of photographic equipment. When dealing with online auction houses make sure that the dealer is reputable, has a strong seller rating, and has a lot of positive feedback.

What You Need To Have For Your Darkroom

There are many items that make up the complete darkroom. But there are only a handful of things you’ll need to get started. The most important piece of equipment that every darkroom must have is the enlarger. The enlarger along with its lens is basically a projector that is used to convert the negative into a positive photographic print. There are many different brands and types of enlargers available for purchase. The price range for enlargers is quite extreme and can cost as little as $200 or as much as $10,000 depending on the brand and the photographer’s needs. In most instances it’s not necessary to splash out an extraordinary amount of money on an enlarger and a reliable one can be bought in the lower end of the range. The timer is also a very important piece of darkroom equipment because it controls it is connected to the enlarger and controls the amount of time for exposures. The industry standard is the Gralab, which can be bought for $140 brand new. It may be worth your while to shop for used timers. There are plenty on the market and can be found for half the price of a brand new one. The next most important part of your burgeoning darkroom is the easel. Easel prices vary depending on the resulting photograph’s size. The best bet is to buy an adjustable size easel that will be able to frame pictures of varying sizes. These are for sale for as low as $60.00 but can also cost as much as $500 for the larger size models.