Darkroom Question.

Stan_

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Hi all,

Apologies if this is a really dumb question but being unable to have a true darkroom i am setting up equipment in a normal small room. I only plan to develop at night but my question is will night light interfere with processing if I just have a material curtain covering the window or do i need to truly black out the window ?

Also would a tiny LED also affect developing if there was one in the background when using a safe red light ?

Sorry if this is a stupid question to ask and i thank you in advance for any advice you can give.

Thanks,

Stan
 
Stan_ said:
Hi all,
I only plan to develop at night but my question is will night light interfere with processing if I just have a material curtain covering the window or do i need to truly black out the window ?

it will most likely interfere. stand in the dark room for 5 minutes then hold your hand in front of your face. if you can see it, you have too much ambient light.


Stan_ said:
Hi all,
Also would a tiny LED also affect developing if there was one in the background when using a safe red light ?

no; i use them often. as always, use in moderation.
 
if you are doing B&W, I think you will be ok, color is different though. I would do a test. Put an object (coin. or somthing) on some of your photo paper, leave it there for about 5-10min. Run paper through chemicals. See if you can tell where your cion was. If not, your fine, if you can see the outline, you will need a darker room. This is that same thing you would do to see if your safe light is really safe.
 
well, the use of a red safe light indicates b&w as color requires zero light.

paper tests aren't very accurate as manufacturer's papers vary from batch to batch and overall they vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
 
zero light??? I have a amber safe light. For color it is VERY dim, but you do not need zero light, unless you are going to use trays I guess.

Also, You will never get it perfect, so for me a paper test is much better than nothing at all. Complect darkness would be ideal, but I find that a a tiny bit does very little harm.

I guess it all depends on personal standards. any light will cause fog, but it is all about what you can see in the final print.
 
You can leave a blank sheet of paper on the easel for a minute then develope it normally to see if you are getting any fog. If you aren't getting fog, it OK. I have duct tape on all my chargers, power strips and gizmos with LEDs. Even had to block off the time on a VCR with cardboard.
 

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