Thanks for the great memories. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I used Nikkor stainless steel tanks and reels to develop 35mm and 120 film. I used an Omega B-22XL enlarger with Rodenstock Rodagon enlarging lenses to print 16x20 inch images. Wet darkroom equipment was much higher in price then. Today, prices are very reasonable.

Awsome set up!!!!!!! 👍

Ohhhh my. Mr Masdeu, you sir, are awesome. Thank you sooo much. I have to admit I'm going for color but you gave me a starting pad. And since I'm on Soc Sec, well, your starting pad is friendly, and kinda warm and fuzzy. :) All my love, pls be safe.

Can't believe you only have 637 subs! This is gold right here! Packed with information and produced really well! Subbed!

Given the column height of your B22 you could be using a 80mm lens and I guarantee you'll get shaper prints.

Good stuff! Takes me back to the 70s when I used to mess about with all this. When digital took over I never thought that film photography would continue as it has - I would like to get into all this again.

I genuinely cannot explain how entertaining this was for me. Great video, been doing prints for a while now and I really want to get a small home setup soon

Thanks for the breakdown 👍🏿 I look forward to purchasing my set-up and getting started!

Thanks for all the ideas. It's been a couple of decades or so since I had a darkroom set up. I'm only an amateur photographer. I tried switching to digital, which resulted in me gradually taking fewer and fewer pictures. Lately I haven't taken any. I have an old digital camera which I don't mind using too much. I hate taking pictures with a phone. I've been thinking about getting back into film photography, and darkroom processing. I still have all my darkroom equipment, and have found most of it. I haven't found my easel or timer yet. I'm pretty sure they're still around here somewhere. I was wondering if a sous vide machine would work well for color film processing. I've never tried developing color film. For black and white, I usually needed ice to cool things down a few degrees. I'm glad I hung on to my 35mm cameras and dark room equipment. If I get back into it, I think I'd also like to give medium format a try. I got back into vinyl record collecting a couple of years or so ago. There are so many technologies and techniques from the past that far outshine their modern day counterparts.

Thank you for sharing your very simplistic and doable setup.

I love this video, really helped me see that my darkroom goals are totally within reach! Thank you!!!

You just got yourself another subscriber. Great video. Great information. Great tribute to the tactile nature of wet film photography and good old vinyl records.

Nicely done video! You covered everything really well!

The TIME-O-LITE! Have one, love it.

I like your set up minimalistic and effective

Very informative! I already have some of the items. This is encouraging!

Thanks, I found this really helpful to get my thinking started. I've been considering getting back into shooting film and doing dark room work after an unsatisfying 15 year detour into digital. I wish I had not given away all my darkroom gear.

I did photography in high school an I loved it! I thought of switching to digital but I loved the whole process of the dark room!

great video. thanks for sharing your setup

Love seeing you again brother. Miss hanging with you and the rest of the D Co fam. Great video! Lots of Love, Peraza.

This video is amazing! You presented everything so clearly and comprehensively - I love your presentation style. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

Great vid Maurice! Hoping to set up a darkroom myself in the summer.

My guy…thanks so much for your words of wisdom. I’ve been considering getting back into shooting b&w analog prints and lacking a darkroom has been my biggest drawback. Since I won’t be able to have a dedicated space to convert, I need to look for your video on your actual setup.

I love this. I'm an experienced photographer (digital) but my father-in-law gave me a Pentax 35mm camera from about 1973. Messing around with it now and would love to be able to develop my own images. I saw other videos of dodging and burning - can't even believe that's how it was done! Thanks for the video.

Great video, haven't even ordered my darkroom stuff yet but I wanted to say that the production value in this video is pretty good and I think it deserves a shout.

I'm glad you mentioned the Anova sous vide gizmo. I've been using that for years now. It was a game changer for being able to develop color film at home.

Great job!

Excellent video mate

Dude.... You Rock! Nice video. The beauty of film..... like your negative carrier......is that you can Yankee engineer so much much of it. You don't have to buy that much factory equipment to make it work. Terrific video. Just found your channel. Thank you.

Yo great video! I love that sous vide idea, I may have to save up and try that out! I also love your camera presence and delivery, you're a fun guy to watch/listen to! Just subbed!

Dam that rolling table is awesome ! Been browsing around but the cost WOW ! $40.00 fits my budget ! Thanks

A really good illustration of how cheap and easy it is to set up a darkroom. Thanks for this video. Great work!!!

@MauriceMasdeu

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks G. I appreciate you more than you realize.

Honestly astonished you got the result at 6:09 with this setup. Gorgeous photo. Thanks for sharing.

This just happened to pop up into my suggestions and I’m so happy it did! I’ll be setting up my own bathroom darkroom soon. Thanks for all the equipment suggestions. They were great! How/where do you properly dispose your fix?

Shirt was fantastic

I want to build a darkroom at home ! I took photography back in university and I loved developing in the darkroom. I want to do one at home but I have 2 small children and I am worried about the fumes from the chemicals . Love your video .

Nice video! My current darkroom exists in a tiny walk in closet which I can barely fit into with the Beseler MXT. But we do what we gotta do for our love of photography!

Thx for the anova solution. I didn't thought there is such a thing. After some google search I found that you can buy a regular aquarium tank heater that works the same way, but is way more cheaper.

What a nice, well-balanced summary of how to start a B&W darkroom. In the US, Omega and Beseler were the two enlarger makers, and both are very good quality, although their foreign makers tended to offer more features, more compact designs and lighter weight. The B-22 is made as well as they come. So many were sold that repair parts and accessories are not hard to find. The 50mm 4.0 Nikkor lens is a bit unfortunate, being Nikon's lowest quality budget offering, when so many other, better lenses are available cheap, but if that came in the package and it works for him, so be it. The timer is a beast from the 1960s, but it will never fail. A high point is that Bestwell focusing device. Bestwell is gone, but someone else is making the same thing, all be it for about $100 new. Regardless of price, it is a bargain compared to the Patterson device, which is so bad it can make you blind using it. Speaking of Patterson, that developing tank may be all over YT, but it's a POS. A similar AP unit sells for the same price and is much better build, and as a bonus, it doesn't leak all over you. Best bargain option, buy a used steel tank with plastic top on ebay. Then spend $50 on a Hewes reel to use in it. Easy to load, no leaks, uses less chemistry.

Love it !

It's good to see a clean, cool, intelligent Black guy doing this. I tend to read the comments, most are appreciative. I have a few enlargers that I hadn't used, not selling, I will given them to close family members,, the whole set up, with this table with the trays, genius, canisters, and even the home made film carriers, way to go Wife.

@adamhymel2386

11 ай бұрын

Why even comment that he's black??? It's a good video by a good guy. That's it

@williefufu2985

11 ай бұрын

@@adamhymel2386 I”m happy to see a Cool Black Man with a good video, to answer your question. Hey, I work in critical care, I can say what I want to say. Invite us to your house for dinner.

@adamhymel2386

11 ай бұрын

@@williefufu2985 I don't even know how to respond to that 🤣🤣

@rustyshackleford4728

8 ай бұрын

What a moron!

Really enjoyed the video! It was very helpful. I am lucky, I have an old house with an unused basement coal room that is just the right size for a darkroom but is not useable for much else. I would like to make a couple of points myself. First that Omega B22 enlarger IS NOT A TOY. It is a great enlarger. I have used many enlargers and it is one of my favorites to use. Mine is the XL, which I think yours is too and I have that same sharp Nikkor enlarging lens. The enlarger really goes up high on a very rigid triangular pole and has a spring pulley system so it is a snap to use. I also have a big Beseler 4x5 enlarger, which does film down to 35mm. However, I like using the Omega for 35mm because of its ease of use. If I do 4x5, I use the Beseler. Funny, I paid $120 for my Omega too. The second point I would like to make is that many people have darkroom equipment that they no longer use because of digital and are happy to see it go to someone who is going to put it good use. I had two different people give me complete darkrooms with all the equipment. A couple of other people have given me extra equipment they had. I have 2 other enlargers sitting in the corner, which will probably never be used, along two extra sets of trays and enough film developing tanks to do ten or more rolls at once. Just put it out there that you are doing darkroom work and you will be surprised what comes your way. Also, takes photos of your friends and be generous and give them copies. Your appreciative friends will help get the word around. Finally, I want to talk about trading for equipment. I had the Beseler 4x5 enlarger that my uncle got at an estate sale way back in 1975 and gave it to me. But I never had a 4x5 camera and the enlarger sat unused for decades. Last year, I was able to trade a camera store some old lenses I had $50 invested in back in the day for a $400 Busch Pressman Model D 4x5 camera. I am retired now and really couldn't justify a $400 expenditure, but I never used the lenses I traded. So now, I am having a ball doing 35mm and 4x5. Keep up that great spirit and keep having fun!

anova machine is a must keep. you can get it as low as $60. eventually c-41/e-6 is going to raise its face. temperature control is a must for processing films and color prints. I started with cibachrome home starter kits. use market books - photographic possibilities 2nd edition by Robert Hirsch & John Valentino. a wealth of information. college/university course book. around $40, I got lucky with an unused book.

Nice vid, how do you lightproof the bathroom?

we need the video of your process!

So glad to see all of the people still using film and the beautiful, old classic cameras. I'm a new subscriber to you channel. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Nice video. I have just restored 2 enlargers and i need to start…

First I would like to say thank you for showing your skill, and I don't like how much you spent on your system having spent well over 1k for my system two and 1/2 Omega Enlarger(s) one for color and one for large format negatives and one for parts. The rest of the items prices have gone way up like color paper, etc. Keep doing what your doing, create , educate and share what you do...

Awesome video. Just finished setting up my bathroom darkroom and came across this video after the fact. I’ve been searching and piecing things together for months and your prices were pretty spot on. One piece of advise for those searching Offer Up or Craigslist, if you’re constantly looking throughout the day you might find some of this equipment for a steal. I was ready to throw $200 down for an enlarger and at the last minute came across an Omega enlarger for $50 in working condition. I also picked up some trays for $5 each at my local camera shop.

@ace.p1725

11 ай бұрын

facts offer up has some good stuff aye im planning of doing this can you give some tips in instagram or some?

Dope my du

I have a bad habit of thinking I have to have the best of the best when getting into a new hobby. I've been slowly gathering equipment to set up my own dark room and spending way to much money for something I've never even done yet! I just came across your video. Thank you for reeling me back into reality!! I'm curious what you use for a safe light and how you seal up your bathroom from light leaks though.

@williefufu2985

Жыл бұрын

I'm a black guy as well, I used to improvise a safe light with paper bag over a light bulb, it worked fine, that was many years ago, back then all of the groceries went into a paper bag, so the paper bags were easy to come by. I know, paper and a white, hot light, I never had problems with the bag catching fire, the safe light was not on very long.

My first darkroom was under our stairway when I was 8 years old. I resumed this hobby after college and then drifted away a few years later. Now, 50 years after that, I'm thinking again about taking B&W photos and developing and printing. Digital and camera phones sapped my interest in photography. Your video has helped change how I want to spend my 70s and 80s. Thank you very much!

Interesting breakdown. Would be interesting to see how cheap AF on could DIY this by removing some of the niceties . I think two of the biggest bs costs are the development tanks and that of the enlarger (granted you got an enlarging lens on yours). The crux (in my very unpopular opinion) of the problem with film development is the batshit insane process of getting exposed film onto those overpriced and overengineered reels and tanks. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been dreaming up the idea of a more efficient film development, printing and scanning system this past year and ultimately I’m still left with a bunch of ideas but also undeveloped roll of film. The dream? A $200 mini lab for automatic development of 120 and 35 film. Ideas ideas ideas… 🤷🏼‍♀️🙈

I got some red light from home Depot and then tested them in a very simple fogging test and found out that they have a configurable LED light that has a monochromatic red or at least is close enough to monochromatic that it works with ilford multigrade. So I have been doing contact prints and developing them in little takeout trays from Chinese restaurants and it actually works pretty darn well because the edges are or sunken in which allows the chemicals to get underneath and allows you to get your tongs or gloved fingers underneath it. So I've made some pretty good looking contact prints in my opinion. By the way what I've been using as a light source is actually a flash gun because any desk lamps that I have are just too bright. The flash gun is extremely easy to control the exposure on although it does not have enough fine granularity. So I can only jump in about three stop increments but it's been good enough for me.

@melody3741

11 ай бұрын

So this entire setup was I mean the trays were free and the flash gun I already have and you can use it for other things too so it's not like you're just buying it for contact prints. And also I taped up the lights on the flash gun so that it did not fog the paper. I used electrical tape but I should have used gaffer tape. So the only thing I really paid for was a gigantic tray to put everything in to prevent spills and the chemicals and paper which were about the same price as yours I got 5x7 ilford paper for a reasonable price, and then some multigrade developer, and then the stop bath and fix her I just use the same one with my film.

Nice budget setup. We have a tiny house with only one tiny bathroom, so a darkroom is not an option for me. I went the budget hybrid route.....picked up a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000ED scanner for $300 and a Canon Pixma Pro 100 printer for $100. Works out great!

@MauriceMasdeu

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a great setup for you. Do you still process the film at home?

@TwangThang57

3 жыл бұрын

@@MauriceMasdeu Yup. I've whittled my processing down to B&W film and DF96 monobath. Very happy with my results.

That Nikkor lens is an excellent lens -

@randallstewart175

2 жыл бұрын

The El-Nikkor 50mm 4.0 and its companion 75mm enlarging lens were a short term experiment by Nikon in marketing "budget" enlarging lenses. It proved to be a failed experiment. These were 4 element lenses being sold against Nikon's professional line of 6 element lenses. They were marketed to "consumers", but the fact is that they (like 4 element lenses from others) under-perform and are not that sharp for enlargements of more than 6x or so. This means that his lens can do a credible 8x10 inch print, but it's not going to cut it for larger prints. In the current used market, a good Nikkor 50mm 2.8 costs little more, and is a better lens.

That changing box is something from a one our photo setup. I ran one for four years and had one just like it.

@randallstewart175

Жыл бұрын

There are not so many of the changing boxes around because they date for the 1970s hayday of home darkrooms. New, they were much more expensive than a cheap changing bag. Their advantage for the extra cost is that they give you a fixed space to work in, rather than a bag which is collapsed on your hands and getting in the way.

@johngettis2042

Жыл бұрын

@@randallstewart175 the one they were showing appears to be the same one I had when I ran a One hour photo for Kmart from 2000-2004.

120 film is 60mm

I'm in my second year at university studying photography and I just love film I just want a darkroom at home 🏡 I'm just worried it will be 2 expensive

Thanks, I have so much more to say but I just wanted to touch base with you and your video been doing this for over 25+ years but then tragedy fell open me and I went homeless after the Army and lost my storage and ALL MY LIGHTING AND PHOTO. EQUIP. ECT ECT ESPECIALLY ALL MY ALTMAN STGE LIGTHING LIGHT FIXTURES AND CUSTOME BUILDS, ( I worked for them 25+ years ago) but recently an old photo buddy moved and gifted me her entire studio , everything cameras, enlargerner =, trays, and everything . I felt as if the spirits are giving me a chance and while looking / refreshing my noodle your the 1st vid that opened up to me , so thanks for the ideas and insight yes that's my Biz logo

How do you usually dispose of your chemicals afterwards?

@randallstewart175

Жыл бұрын

Down the drain in a city sewer system. The only thing in B&W darkroom chemicals which might present an environmental issue is used fixer, and that is because of the dissolved silver compounds in it, not the fixer itself. In the 1940-6os, when there was a high volume of B&W processing, both commercially and at home, this silver could be a problem in a public system. Even then, most commercial labs processed their used fixer to remove the silver for resale. Today, home users are so comparatively few that "down the drain" presents no problem at all. If they is giving you the willies, call your local septic provider and ask. They will probably say they don't know what you are talking about. If you are out in the boonies on your private septic system, used fixer presents a bigger issue. I'd save it and treat as a trash item. If you want to do all in, they used to, and may still, sell DIY kits to process used fixer to separate out the silver, but the market price will preclude making any money selling the silver to anyone.

I want to get into darkroom printing so bad, I hate scanning my negatives. I'm color blind so I can never tell if the edit is correct 🙃 would be nice to just print the photo as it was taken no computer

I load my films in the bathroom at night.

So many devices available to warm up your chemicals but none to cool it down. Fridge don’t count.

Dude you still making videos??

I thought the cash Ching was people bidding on my item on eBay 😂

а ещё про наши увелы типа упа,ленинград говорят древние.

Bro please, no. I can't afford more photography stuff lol

Bro, as a fellow 4x5 photographer I had to stop watching at the gynocentric opening. Women are already too pedestalized in this country as it is.

A common misconception of medium format film is that 120 is mm.....it's a code used for the film format.....google it, it's interesting. 120 film is so named because . It's a numbering standard that began with 101 and continued on until we reached 120, which “survived the test of time and is the only medium format film still being produced today.”

@kevinmonceaux2101

2 жыл бұрын

You beat me to it. :-) 35mm is 135 format film. From what I could find online, 120 format film is 60.96mm.