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Old 18-09-2022, 10:31 AM
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Question Light-screening material ?

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?
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Old 18-09-2022, 12:27 PM
alw50 (Andrew)
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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
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Old 18-09-2022, 03:22 PM
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Hi Andrew,

This 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.

Last edited by bojan; 18-09-2022 at 03:55 PM.
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Old 18-09-2022, 03:47 PM
LonelySpoon (Neville)
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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
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Old 18-09-2022, 04:04 PM
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Maybe just a sleeve from old top will do..
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Old 23-09-2022, 09:47 AM
SteveInNZ
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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.
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Old 27-09-2022, 12:00 PM
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pmrid (Peter)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bojan View Post
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?
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.
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  #8  
Old 12-11-2022, 07:03 PM
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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/collecti...adhesive-felts
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