Topic: Contact sheets - no darkroom

[choppert]

Hi de hi,

Any tips/advice for printing 35mm contact sheets without an enlarger or permanent darkroom?

Can it be done in a dark bathroom with some sort of light/torch/flash?

Thanks,



Chops

[al]

Any tips/advice for printing 35mm contact sheets without an enlarger or permanent darkroom?
Can it be done in a dark bathroom with some sort of light/torch/flash?

That's exactly how I've done it!  Place negs over the paper, sheet of glass on to to weigh it all down, then flash the bathroom light on/off for about a second. I used my red rear LED bike light as a safelight, all seemed to work OK!

[Francois]

I always use the clear negative files. You can contact print through them by putting a sheet of glass on top to keep them flat.

[This-is-damion]

Any tips/advice for printing 35mm contact sheets without an enlarger or permanent darkroom?
Can it be done in a dark bathroom with some sort of light/torch/flash?

That's exactly how I've done it!  Place negs over the paper, sheet of glass on to to weigh it all down, then flash the bathroom light on/off for about a second. I used my red rear LED bike light as a safelight, all seemed to work OK!

wow,   id love to see an example of one,  it almost sounds too simple to be true!!!

[gothamtomato]

There's a photographer I've seen, who shoots pinhole and makes tiny contact prints with an enlarger. He only has a desklamp which he flips on & off. A piece of glass on top keeps the negatives flat on the paper. And he does his printing at night, which makes it easier to make the room dark.

I'm sure it would be easy enough to do that for a contact sheet as well.

[tijeras]

Being the geeky astronomer in the bunch here...
I've used the full Moon light for 15 seconds for contacts.

Not the ideal way to do it, but a very natural experience.

 

[gothamtomato]

Being the geeky astronomer in the bunch here...
I've used the full Moon light for 15 seconds for contacts.

You win!!

[synj00]

YEah thats a win! 

Ive read people use a 15 watt light bulb hanging over the contact sheets. Just experiment with the times, cut a single sheet of photo paper into a few strips until you get the timing right and it costs just about nothing.

[Tammy]

I do all my dark work in a bathroom at night.  Before I tried using the enlarger, I was playing with paper negs in home made pinholes and developing the sheets in trays in the bathroom and then doing contact prints of them using exactly explained here- just my bathroom light flipping the switch on and off.

Made contact sheets from neg strips the same way. 

Its nearly impossible without some sort of safelight though.  Tried that too, and fumbling in the dark is no fun.

[Francois]

I used my red rear LED bike light as a safelight, all seemed to work OK!

I'm not entirely surprised since some of the more modern safelights use LED's... the only annoying thing about using a bike light is probably the blinking part 

Also, if you don't want the mess of using trays, get yourself an old color paper processing drum. You can process with minimal chemistry in broad daylight.

[choppert]

What would be the best paper for light-bulb contact sheets?

Something cheap preferably! 

[Francois]

I think just about any resin coated paper should do. Glossy will show better detail with a magnifier.

[choppert]

Has anyone a digi-snap of their lightbulb contact sheets, they could post?