Since no body has been maintaining the darkroom, I'll bet someone has
"borrowed" key pieces of equipment on long term loan. Here
are some things that should still be in place.
Film developing:
a really great thermometer (without bubbles inside, since this is a club type
of darkroom it will probably have a stainless steel
frame marks within a single degree, so you can reliably read 68.2 F for
example.)
reel and tank
(if it's stainless steel, you should have a lid and a cap for the lid)
timer with a working buzzer (for film processing, like a Graylab 300)
running water with a steady warm water supply (Many darkrooms have a special
regulator to hold a constant temperature and the guts
go bad with mineral buildup. Find out if you can trust it before your first
roll is in play.)
Printing:
1. Enlarger
2. Condensor
3. 35mm negative carrier
4. 50mm lens to fit the lensboard
5. Easel (A thing to hold your paper, it looks like a picture frame)
6. Grain enlarger
If *ANY* of these things are missing, you'll have to assess whether you want to
put your own money into someone else'es darkroom.
Everyone of these are non-trivial in function nor in cost.
You might have to mail-order the Illford materials. That's good news. If the
darkroom hasn't been kept up, you'll want to clean
everything.
If no one has kept it up, there are dust balls everywhere and you can't print
in a dusty darkroom. Printing from miniature
negatives (which is what the f/64 Group called 35mm) requires a thoroughly
sober attention to cleanliness.
I'd temporarily remove the enlarger(s) and clean everything. Reach into the
corners of the ceiling and walls with a broom first to
clean out the cobwebs. Unless it's been covered, disassemble and clean the
inside of the enlarger(s). Take a boom box to make the
time go by quicker. Darkroom work is time consuming, even before you start as
you can see.
Keep us informed, eh, Nils?
Lama
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