The Darkroom Cookbook (Alternative Process Photography)

You have to love it - the book is the only subject matter of its type to my knowledge currently in print. It is also unique in assembling all of this information in one place. I got the 1st edition many years ago.. Each subsequent edition and this latest is a marginal improvement, partly as to additional information of marginal usage, but also with better organization and indexing. Anyone wanting to compound their own conventional types of photo chemistry [black & white] could probably do just as well with any edition. Note that the information on "alternative processes" varies from sufficient down to minimal - you may have to fall back on the internet to fill out your knowledge of some of the more uncommonly used processes. If you get into such oddities, you will be doing that anyway. This not a beginner's guide to DIY film developing. There are many "how to do it" books out there, and most all of them are a better education for the newbe to film processing techniques.

5 stars for Kindle version. The book has seen major update to previous version, which I waited out and am glad I did. Kindle version viewed on any high resolution screen is going to be great for any purchaser (not sure about paperwhite, but that is my quibble with that device once I started using a good tablet, the damn thing is just way too slow). Having said that, why is this book NOT published in ring binding version? A hardback would help keeping pages together, but paperback for a darkroom cookbook that is to be flipped all over all the time? This is a major flaw of this publication and hard to understand.

As a necessary companion to The Film Developing Cookbook, this book adds a wealth of thought-provoking information on the wet printing process. You cannot overestimate it’s value.

Such a great reference book. A must have for anyone working in the darkroom

This is a great book for anyone who is into traditional black & white film photography. With not too many different chemicals you can make a pretty wide range of the recipes in here. For me, finding the Defender 55D paper developer recipe was worth the price alone! I love the tones it gives.

If you develop you need this book, period. It's comprehensive, easy to understand, and can take a complete newbie from a to z easily. Everything is covered in this book including stand development, pyro, two bath, one bath, and a lot lot lot more.

I had an older edition of this book which I found indispensable. This new edition has so much new information and chapters by renowned photographers that I would now rate this book as absolutely essential reading for any darkroom worker. I really like the authors strong emphasis on darkroom safety. Would give it 6 stars if I could!

Whether you're a complete geek about photography or have just enough curiosity about historic imaging processes to want to learn this book is one of the ultimate resources. I can't recommend The Darkroom Cookbook high enough.

good

Das Darkroom Cookbook ist längst ein Klassiker.In kaum einem anderen Werk finden sich derart viele Rezepte für Entwickler, Fixierer, Toner etc. für die analoge Fotografie wie hier.Die vierte Auflage ist neu überarbeitet und beeinhaltet auch aktuelle Filme und Chemikalien.Dennoch liegt der Schwerpunkt der Produkte klar auf dem englischsprachigen Markt.Wer das Maximum aus seinen Silbergelantinebildern herausholen möchte, ist hier genau richtig.Leider gibt es das Buch auch nur in englischer Sprache, was schade ist.Schade ist auch, dass ein derart teures Buch mit so vielen Seiten nicht auf alternative Prozesse eingeht.So fehlen auch die entsprechenden Rezepte.Unterm Strich:Kein Schnäppchenpreis, aber für denjenigen, der genau das sucht, ist das Darkroom Cookbook in der vierten Auflage genau das Richtige.

Great value for both amateurs and pro. Very well explained all the processes and chemicals. Very well structured in chapters. All formulas are ready to make. Very recommended

El vademécum del laboratorio fotográfico analógico: todo lo que necesitas saber sobre revelado y positivado, junto con la obra de Ansel Adams, es una obra imprescindible, escrita de modo muy didáctico y entretenido. Estupendo

Im großen und ganzen ist es ein feines Buch bzw.Nachschlagewerk für alle besessenen analog Fotografen.Ein paar kleine Fehler wie die Namensänderung von Willi Beutler fallen nicht ins Gewicht.Das hier aufgeführte Entwickler-Rezept vom 510 Pyro ist nicht das aktuelle von 2013 .Dennoch lohnt sich der Kauf für alle die ihre Fotochemie selbst anmischen.