From: Randall Webb (randall.webb@lineone.net)
Date: 03/09/01-09:00:59 PM Z
----- Original Message -----
From: Dave Rose <photo@wir.net>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 6:22 AM
Subject: Poor man's densitometer
> Years ago I constructed a 'poor man's densitometer' using my Gossen Luna
Pro
> SBC light meter. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I think I can go one further than the cowboy from Big Wonderful Wyoming .
Afew years ago I bought a densitometer at a camera fair in Bristol ( not far
from Fox Talbots house). It worked OK at first and I measured a lot of
negatives until I got bored. I saved me from further boredom by having a
nervous breakdown and was showing base fog at 4.7, so I rang the makers in
Italy and found myself tallking to the owner. He said he would recommend me
to his agents in UK and would send me an instruction booklet. If you need an
instruction booklet for a densitometer you've probably got the wrong one
anyway. His agents in UK were located in the arse-end of nowhere so I
did'nt bother.Shortly afterwards my little Mac powerbook died. But before it
did so it played a hymn so we assumed it went to heaven. They are now both
resting peacefully under a pile of books in my attic.
We all know that Fox Talbot played around with primitive densitometers and
gave them up as being of little use. I now use the seriously impoverished
man's densitometer. It consists of an ordinary 100watt lightbulb on my
darkroom wall. Hold your neg up to it and if it looks right it is probably
right.If its a lith neg you won't see much as it should have an end density
of a brick wall. You don't HAVE to use any particular nett density for any
process. You can use a 0.9 neg for pd and 3.5 for a gum print. There aint no
rules. My " densitometer" cost about$1.30 and when it fails, I buy another
one. But don't take too much notice of me. I use a camera whose shutter is a
folded up focussing cloth held over the lens. ( Black side towards the
lens!)
Randall Webb
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