Holy moly! There's a darkroom in my lab!

[MelanieC]

I work in a genetics lab. There's a door on the right that I pass by every day when I come into the lab that I never paid attention to. This is even more striking when you consider the fact that the door is almost always open.

Today I looked in there and realized that there is an enlarger in the room.

This darkroom is not meant for normal photographic development (it's for pictures of gels and stuff) and it hasn't been used for a very long time as far as I know, although it seems to have been maintained. I still intend to develop my own film at home in my bathroom, but now I am thinking I can print my own using the enlarger here, if it is the right kind of enlarger.

The brand name is "Fotodyne." If you guys can tell me what characteristics I need to look for to ensure that this is a normal garden-variety print enlarger I am golden. I will bring my digital camera to work tomorrow and take some pictures of it for good measure.

Color me excited.

[markinlondon]

That's a coincidence, Melanie. I used to process x-ray film when I worked in a genetics lab 20-odd years back. I've never heard of a Fotodyne enlarger, but most enlargers are quite similar, it's having the right negative holders and light source for the format that counts.

Mark

[R Alan]

If they don't have the right size negative carrier, you can always make one out of some dark mat board to fit your film size. hope to see the pics of it.

Roy

[MelanieC]

I've been under the weather so I forgot to bring my digital camera with me to work today (I had the Leica with me of course -- here's one situation I wish I'd brought the digital P&S instead!). Can't find a picture of a Fotodyne enlarger online either, although the other hits I get indicate that it might not work for general photo printing. It seems to be a lab equipment company.

Along these lines, I recently scavenged an interesting camera from a now-defunct lab. It's a Polaroid meant for photographing gels that has a big rectangular hood you put down over the gel, a handle/stock that looks like it belongs on a gun, and a trigger to trip the shutter. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but it sure looks like fun if I can figure it out. From the same lab I also scavenged a huge magnifying glass that saved me the $100 I would have had to spend on a decent loupe. Thank you, science.

[Wayne R. Scott]

Melanie,

I think you may be right about the Fotodyne. Seems to me they were transilluminators for studying cells.

Wayne