On Fri, 30 Jan 2004 09:06:46 +0200, you wrote: > >It might be a good idea to clean some area in the basement and >offer to take away that old and useless "film only" processor >for free when they start to throw them out. Now that would be >a good thing to do... >
I think the notion of getting a film processor cheap as it becomes outmoded has to be balanced with the cost of keeping if filled with usable chemistry. But there should be lots of bargains, at least at printing equipment dealers, for certain darkroom accessories like safe lights, timers, large film cutters, vacuum contact frames, etc. I threw out a fully functional roller transport processor about five years ago. We used it to process litho film. It had three temperature controlled tanks with replenishment, plus in-line water wash and dryer. It was designed to handle sheet or cartridge film from 8" to 24" wide by 10" min length up to 250' or so. It was a production machine, with six gallon tanks. As we gradually processed fewer and fewer negs during our switch to direct-to-plate, the cost of keeping it filled with fresh chemistry became prohibitive on a per-neg basis. I tried to sell or give it away in several venues, but got no takers. It was 3' wide, 6' long, and 3.5' tall, plus two large replenishment tanks, and weighed three hundred pounds or so empty, and required a minimum film size of 8x10 plus umpteen gallons of chemistry, so I didn't think about taking it home. There have been hundreds of perfectly good machines thrown away in the printing industry in the past five years. Huge flatbed through-the-wall process cameras, excellent small-footprint vertical cameras, small and large roller processors, tanks, trays, safe lights, light tables, stripping tables, many other things used only in a film-based production work flow. All gone to the landfill, or in some cases sold for a pittance to printing equipment dealers where they now gather dust. I rescued the lenses off my last process camera, for old times sake, plus a digital timer/meter and light from a contact frame. Reminders of a different era in the printing business. -- John Mustarde www.photolin.com
