Darkroom work. In the broadest sense. There are people here trying to get started with developing 35mm film, people busy with alternative processes, professional darkroom workers, etcetera. There are many many topics which are discussed: materials, technique, equipment, etcetera. There are some questions, however, which are better discussed in other groups, like the quality of films ( rec.photo.film+labs) and buying/selling equipment ( rec.photo.marketplace).
Here's the newsgroups line and the charter of rec.photo.darkroom:
rec.photo.darkroom Developing, printing and other darkroom issuesBy the way, all the charters for the rec.photo groups are available on Photo.net. Read them, before you post...This newsgroup will contain postings related to all aspects of photographic darkroom use. As such it will cover subjects such as the developing of slide and negative film, photographic printing from negatives and slides, photographic toning processes and alternative chemistry. This newsgroup specifically does *NOT* permit the posting of commercial advertisments for products or services, even if they are related to photography.
I'm going to introduce a new saying on the rec.photo newsgroups: Use The Link, Luke ;-).
The Link is The Guide to rec.photo FAQs, and is simply a huge collection of pointers to other places. If you have any interest in photography, you should definitely bookmark this place.
``YMMV'' is a well-known Usenetism to indicate that what works for me, may not work for you. This is especially true in photography. Although all photographic processes are subject to the laws of physics and chemistry, there is such a large variation of factors you need to take into account that it is impossible to say how something will work out exactly in somebody else's darkroom. Add to that personal preferences - what I call fine grain is horrible, golf-ball grain to the next guy - and you'll understand that the only way to find out is to experiment.
Especially questions containing the words ``will ... make a difference?'' are subject to this: probably, somebody with a well-equipped lab having access to advanced measuring instruments will always find a difference. But this does not matter. What matters, is whether you will see a difference. So, rather than ask the Net, you might as well see for yourself, because you're likely to get vague answers anyway.
Test And Experiment, you can only learn from it.