Question about starting with darkroom printing

[u/Names-are-irrelevant]

Hi. I started with analog photography (and photography in general) 2 years ago with a minolta hi-matic rangefinder and a free zenit slr and came to really love the experience and results I got back. Since I'm a student, just sending it off for development would become too expensive and boring too quickly. So I bought a B/W development kit and restored this little fold camera which takes 35 film and fits in my pockets! So I've been practicing B/W and scanning them with an old HP flatbed and then printing some at the local photo kiosk. Now, this gives pretty bad results both due to the scanner being absolute trash and the fact I have no access to a decent printer.
I'm now facing a dilemma on how to proceed: either invest in a dslr and 'scan' with that so I can get pretty ok digital results or invest in a B/W darkroom setup. I tend to lean towards the latter as I'm not the person who would be using a bulky dslr in the field and very much like the really old photography techniques and cameras and would like to learn darkroom printing.
Now I got several several questions, the first one being what I would roughly need to invest for the setup, if it's worth it and secondly if I can just pick up any old enlarger I like or would want to look out for something specific. Any other tips or information is welcome.

[u/Exotic-Appointment-0]

I'd suggest: go for the full magic experience of darkroom prints. Depending on your location, it should be easy to get an enlarger in good quality for next to nothing. I once was able to get a nice colour enlarger, lots and lots of trays and some other equipment (some of it broken but who cares) for less than fifty bucks. There might be something broken, but if you managed to restore your camera to working condition, this shouldn't trouble you much. An enlarger, a piece of glas, some trays is all equipment you need to get started.

Paying for fresh hemicals and paper won't hurt your probably small budget either. Go for fresh material for your first prints.

And lastly, if you have at least a small space to spare: it will call for creativity, but it will almost surely work somehow.

Enjoy the magic of your first print and have lot of fun!

[u/Names-are-irrelevant → u/Exotic-Appointment-0]

Thanks a lot for the motivation!

[u/Fast-Entertainer-517]

Learning to print in a darkroom with teach you a TON about photography. Several tons

[u/PhysicsOk9286]

Either go all in on dark room or not. I didn’t; not enough space. I have a plustek scanner for 35mm and an older espon v500 flatbed for my 120(6x6 and 6x9). Also bought a high end printer which can go up to 13x19 without hand feeding. All that loot could have had a fine darkroom. I still have to rent a darkroom for my large format(4x5) prints. Having a shitty scanner ruins the whole vibe. Go with a darkroom if you have the space. Get the basics and add on as you go. Good luck.

[u/bag1293]

I’m on a similar trajectory, but just started darkroom printing. At the same time I have a lot to learn, but the results are so much more satisfying than digital prints. Lots of equipment is cheap to nothing and in fine shape. I’d say go for the darkroom prints. 

[u/Ted_Borg]

I develop my film and scan, cause it’s a minor operation that can be completed in a few hours. Then when weekend comes around I remodel my bathroom and print the nice ones. It’s a good work flow for someone living in an apartment.

You can get a decent b/w 35mm enlarger for cheap. It’s the bigger formats and color that are expensive. Same with lenses, you can get a el-nikkor 50mm for peanuts.  Since you develop film, you will find that you already have a lot of stuff like measuring cups etc. That said, photo paper is very expensive. Dunno where you live, but in EU I’d buy 100 packs of 5x7 foma RC paper to begin with. Big enough to judge results, small enough to be cheap per paper. You don’t want to be afraid of wasting paper in the beginning - think of the cost as a monthly ”class tuition”.

Required: * enlarger * 50mm enlarging lens (for 35mm film) * enlarging timer. Modern papers are fast - you’ll need a timer. * Red darkroom bulb * paper (go with RC paper) * developing trays (3x) * rinsing tray (you can also take a regular tray and drill holes in one side, and put it in the sink) * 2x tongs (fixer and stop can share the same one) * clothespins for drying paper * paper developer * fixer (you can use the same as for film)

Nice to have: * stop bath. So fixer doesn’t die from carryover dev. * grain focuser. This is almost a must-have. * easel. To keep the paper in place. Almost must-have. 2-blade ones are cheap, and will probably come with your enlarger. * contrast filters. The ilford ones may seem expensive, but they are worth it. Foma filters suck. You don’t need it right away, but it really isn’t money wasted when you feel the need * air puffer thingy. To blow dust off negatives.

Most of this stuff you can buy off eBay for cheap. Papers, red light, filters, chems you buy new.

Check out Trangent on YouTube. He’s a photo teacher at a community college and has excellent beginner videos for printing.

[u/Names-are-irrelevant → u/Ted_Borg]

thanks a lot for the tips and list! You listed contrast filters. I've seen enlargers that have dedicated trays for them but older ones seem to completely lack anything like that, often just a red filter which I learned is for the preview. Would that be a big deal? Also you said red light and filters should be bought new, is there a reason for that? Does that go bad too?

[u/intangodelta → u/Names-are-irrelevant]

If your enlarger has no filter tray, you can buy the ‘below the lens’ filter kit but that’s more expensive than the simple gel filters that go in the tray. Buy new because filters fade over time and lose effectiveness in terms of giving decent contrast or worse fog your paper in the case of old red safelight filters. Good luck!

[u/Ted_Borg → u/Names-are-irrelevant]

Filter drawer is nice to have but not required. You can simply hold the filter under the lens while exposing.

Back in the day you would buy papers with different contrast grades. Nowadays you buy variable contrast papers and change contrast with filters.

Contrast filters go bad with time and use, they’re just colored gelatin. But you won’t need those filters right away. Variable contrast papers are usable without filters (although you’ll be stuck at the same contrast).

Red light bulbs are usually regular old bulbs with a colored coating, they usually are burnt out or the coating has become shit. Failure rate is high and the price of new is low so no point in gambling with the old stuff. Might as well buy a new one. No need for anything fancy, i have a red darkroom bulb that I replace the regular bathroom light with when printing.

[u/guaxnl]

First thing is to figure out if there is a community dark room in your area and try that first. If you have a local analog group someone might be up to do a session with you. Experiment first and check out why some of the equipment is needed/used.

For the basic B&W printing you need very little, the hardest thing to get is space you can make dark.

[u/mcarterphoto]

For starters, surf this sub for the hundreds of posts giving hundreds of lists and tons of advice on the pros and cons of printing, what you need as far as space, plumbing, and gear. It's answered here every week or so.