Portable Processing?

[dave lackey]

Okay,

One of our members, was in Vietnam many years ago during hostilies,and, as part of his duties, he used M3s and did a lot of photography, including processing. He had what he described as a military issue portable processing box that he carried into a tent, opened up several different ways and it became a work station of sorts for processing the film.

Has anyone seen anything like this or could describe it?

What I am looking for is a portable workstation either in a box or on a wheeled cart/desk/etc. to allow me to store everything needed for processing including a small workspace. The portability would allow for the whole thing to be wheeled into the closet and pulled into the home office when I am ready to begin processing.

Any ideas?

Something like this but maybe modified better for processing film....do I need a sink or wash tub? Is there such a thing?

[loquax ludens]

This one here is a portable wet plate darkroom. Not exactly what you're looking for, but it might give you some ideas.

Before I built my darkroom, I used to keep all my darkroom equipment and supplies in medium-sized cardboard box. I set up and processed in the bathroom. It wasn't a bad setup because I had an exhaust fan, a sink with running water, a shower rod that I repositioned over the bathtub to hang film, no windows, and I could easily block the minimal amount of light coming around the doorframe, especially if I kept the hall light turned off.

Of course, you don't really need a darkroom to develop roll film. You can do it in your kitchen. But the bathroom setup came in handy anyway, since it was a little used guest bathroom. Especially handy for enlarging and printing. I set up the enlarger on the vanity, and my processing trays on a board that spanned the bathtub.

[loquax ludens]

Another wetplate concept, but could be adapted pretty easily.


Here is a plastic wheeled trunk that could come in handy.

[DamenS]

or you could just go into your REAL Darkroom, and play "Apocalypse Now" loudly in the background whilst you process ... ?

[BobYIL]

Presuming you are talking about roll film, 135 and/or 120 format but not sheet film:

Why would you need a box? A large size changing bag (Patterson for instance) plus your favorite developing tank. Load your film anywhere, inside a car or a hotel room. Two brown or black PET bottles for the developer and fixer; a plastic canister for the used developer + fixer. You need a four-gallon canister of water to wash and maybe another one to collect the used water.

Drying & dust could be a problem though.