Light-screening material ?

[bojan]

I need kind of a cloth, it has to be black and not transparent.. for ad hoc light screen.

I remember long time ago something like that was used for loading a film/plate in the camera in daylight (it was made like a big sock or wrap to place both hands, film and camera inside).

Any ideas? Some craft shop maybe? Black velvet?

[alw50]

A few years ago we were setting up an ad hoc darkroom, where we had to blackout a window and a door. My wife, who is expert on all things fabric, found some 100% blackout curtain at a curtain shop. We put that on rails and hooks, and it worked fine for quick setup.

At the telescope, I use the dark cloth that I had with my 4x5 camera kit, now unfortunately sold. I don't remember how I got it, but I'm fairly sure I purchased it from a camera shop. This works very well to block out the nasty lights from a neighbouring building.

The bag that you mention is a dark bag, commonly used for loading film into cassettes, into large format dark slides, or into a development tank. The latter makes it possible to easily develop 35mm and 120 format black and white film without a darkroom. I still do that occasionally, and then scan the negatives. I've had mine for a long time, but I believe that such bags are still not too hard to find.

Regards, Andrew

[bojan]

Hi Andrew,

This (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/393550924692?hash=item5ba1768b94:g: g8kAAOSwHQhhMZQf&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsOt0lHrtgld5ow PIjDN4D4W4JpEzm8kqiyztck6IuTnU%2F3W e6aZ0irQUM8QOns%2FBL%2FPg7NRj30ydJg 2SPGse3yY0lFM9bDllr0Rqte0EpOJ7NVxtL Sd9XMIdSJLX2fQcnkXFyr%2BLa4HNw95xpO iKY3B1kK9fjWmbuV5t6N3hNmJUoh8R3BoD2 s4OxverlH8EdtVufSO6vqDmFc0wMVydtm5L ysopgRpPufMYfEkFCmaU%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7 C-z_DpYA&frcectupt=true) is exactly (or very similar) what I had in mind, thank you!
Perhaps I will simply buy it instead of DIY... or not? Ebay bag is a bit too big to what I need it for.

[LonelySpoon]

When we used our laundry as a darkroom we just used builders black plastic to cover the windows. Totally blackout.

Not as foldy as cloth but can be rolled and folded anyway.

Neville
LSO

[bojan]

Maybe just a sleeve from old top will do..

[SteveInNZ]

I just bought blackout material from a fabric shop a couple of weeks ago. I think it was $18 for about 2m square. It's much lighter (in weight) than a changing bag and it has a rubber-like coating on one side. It's light-tight enough to make camera bellows.


Steve.

[pmrid]

Theatrical curtain material. I bought a few meters of this cloth a year or so ago but never used it. It’s very black, zero transparency and probably just what you want. I’ll post you a sample if you like.

[Boozlefoot]

These fellas are really handy, will do cut lengths in plain or self adhesive, probably 1.6mm will give you the blackout. Great for bearings/slides/buffers as well. Also does self adhesive discs in all manner of sizes.


https://www.jjdavies.com.au/collections/self-adhesive-felts