Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/14

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Subject: Re: [Leica] OT: Info needed on Darkroom/Film Developing Cookbooks
From: Mike Durling <durling@cox.net>
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 21:50:40 -0400
References: <5B7962F4-B629-11D7-BD0D-000393802534@mac.com>

I have both of those books.  I got the Darkroom Cookbook about a year 
and a half ago and the Film Developing Cookbook in March.  During this 
time I spent way too many hours and $$ mixing up odd chemicals.  I have 
enjoyed most of it immensely, except when the film didn't come out.

I like the Darkroom Cookbook quite a bit.  It is well organized and has 
lots of good information on the various chemicals and processes.  I have 
to say that I was a little disappointed in the Film Developing Cookbook. 
  A lot of it is a repeat of the info in the Darkroom Cookbook.  There 
is more detail on some of the more obscure formulas.  Many of these are 
the Crawley 'FX' formulas.  In fact a lot of the book seems to be based 
on Crawley's research.  There  is some more scientific theory, but not 
as much as I had hoped.

So, get the Darkroom Cookbook.  It is a great reference and interesting 
reading.  It is newer and covers a broader range of topics.  Then if you 
are still curious, go for the Film Developing Cookbook.

Another good volume on the subject is Kodak's Elementary Photographic 
Chemistry.  This was published in several editions throughout the 20's 
and 30's.  I have one from  1936 and it is also very interesting 
reading.  A little dated and of course Kodak was always very 
conservative, but it covers the basics very well.

Mike D

Martin Howard wrote:
> 
> Amazon, in its ever-friendly suggestions and hints to relieve you of 
> more money than you had ever envisioned spending at their site, has 
> started a "buy together" feature.  Click on a book that you're 
> interested in and they suggest that you might be interested in a 
> companion book.  I'm not sure that you get either of them cheaper if you 
> buy both, but I'm also sure that Amazon is counting on few people to 
> stop and think before experiencing that warm buzz of consumerism that 
> wells up inside as you caress the "Buy both now!" button with your mouse 
> pointer.
> 
> The companion book to "The Film Developing Cookbook: Advanced Techniques 
> for Film Developing" by Anchell & Troop is "The Darkroom Cookbook" (2nd 
> ed.) by... Anchell.
> 
> For those of you who actually OWN or have READ *both* these books, could 
> you please let me know if they overlap greatly, or if they indeed are 
> complementary, as Amazon would suggest.  It seems a little unnecessary 
> to spend an additional $24.49 for the darkroom cookbook if it covers 
> pretty much the same stuff as the film developing one.
> 
> M.
> 
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In reply to: Message from Martin Howard <mvhoward@mac.com> ([Leica] OT: Info needed on Darkroom/Film Developing Cookbooks)