My DIY Darkroom.

As we all know, 2020 has been a pretty rough year. I’ve accumulated a couple of things during this pandemic, one being a beautiful, relatively small enlarger. The Omega B-600 is definitely the staple of my “darkroom.” I missed printing in the darkroom at school and stumbled upon this enlarger via Craigslist one night. I drove all the way out to the city from Queens to pick it up. The enlarger came with a couple of accessories including safelights, a changing bag and a couple of stainless steel developing tanks.

Now that I’ve acquired the enlarger, it was only the beginning of my quest for a proper analog printing set up. I did a bunch of research and from previous experience, I brainstormed what else I needed to create proper prints. I converted the other side of my room, which was a Photography section already (editing, scanning shooting) into what is now my “darkroom” I cannot wait to test out 11x14 on this thing - more to come on that soon!

A quick guide on how I develop film at home

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• ADOX ADONAL - Rodinal @ 1:25, total of 6 minutes develop time.
  
  These are instructions for a small 2 reel Paterson developing tank. Only one reel if you’re developing 120 film.

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  For one reel of 120 film, I’m using 600 mL of solution. In order for me to obtain a total of 600 mL, mix in 23-24 mL of Rodinal + 577 mL of water. (rodinal)

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  Once the developer is in, agitate for the first 30 seconds, after that, agitate 10 seconds at every minute for a total of 6 minutes.

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  Wash with stop bath for 30 seconds, pour stop bath in, agitate for the 30 second duration. (stop bath)

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  Fix for 5 minutes. Agitate for 15 seconds every minute for a total of 5 minutes. (fixer)

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  Fill tank with water, agitate 5 times, empty, agitate 10 times, empty, agitate 20 times once emptied add a bit of ilfotol (ilfotol ) and agitate 5 times.

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  Hang up to dry somewhere that’s not prone to dust, you can do this with clothes pins in your closet.

  And just like that, you’ve developed black and white film at home!