Darkroom Tip-o-the-Day, Part 1
posted by Joe V at 1:46 PM
Monday, August 17, 2009
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3 Comments:
Clever. I so far haven't tray-developed anything larger than 4x5 (in 5x7 trays), and those take up almost my entire available counter space. I recently picked up a Beseler 8x10 tank that has the advantage of minimal counter space, but is limited in the number of sheets one can do at once.
Another advantage to the vertical trays that I can think of is that it would make agitation very easy. Just gently slide the drawer in and out.
On overcoming the one-shot box camera limitation: have you played with magazine box cameras? I have a couple of Conley 4x5 magazine cameras that hold 12 negatives apiece. I've converted one to pinhole, but haven't had a lot of luck with it yet. On the other hand, one day I pretty much wasted half a box of film with the other. Taking away both the one-shot limitation and the time-consuming setup ritual of a regular field camera makes it almost *too* easy to take pictures.
Thanks for the comment. The trays rock very easy; there's enough slop in the tray slots to permit sideways as well as fore/aft movement.
Regarding the box cameras, one idea I ended up reinventing (there's nothing new under the sun) is the falling plate camera, whereby a stack of film plates is in the back of the camera; after exposure a mechanism is tripped which permits the front-most holder to fall face down into the bottom of the box. I'll post about this and other ideas in a future installment.
~Joe
Good idea, although currently the smallest prints I make are 8x10. The two problems I see here are the slopping of chemicals as the drawers are opened and closed, and the inconvenience of having to open draw, remove print, close draw, open next draw, etc. Obviously, it works for you.
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