Who makes a decent changing bag?

[nelsonfoto]

Perusing eBay for a good-but-affordable changing bag - any ideas?

[mdcarma]

Tell your lovely bride to keep that shirt down. :mrgreen:

[Glenn Thoreson]

Craig, if compactness is not a big issue, look for one of those dark boxes the mini-labs use. Much more pleasant to work with. They be listed in the darkroom equipment section on the 'bay and often are pretty durn cheep.

[sandeha]

Try a Konica.  Come in three sizes, I think - bigger is better.  Look out for a giant lampshade frame to bend into shape and stuff inside.

[ImageMaker]

I don't know that there's a bunch of difference in brands, nor do I know what brand mine is -- but it's the biggest size that doesn't have a frame or rigid box.  I've been doing everything in it, including measuring and cutting film strips to load Minolta 16 cassettes, for the past couple years; I can't/won't do processes in it that call for liquids, but otherwise it's been good enough for anything I've wanted to do.

Now I have a darkroom available (takes a few minutes to block the window, is all), so I can do all my film loading on a flat surface, and it's a little easier, but not much so (the counter is a little lower than I'd like).  Biggest thing is, I have the option to do stuff in trays, or drop a reel of film into a tank already filled with developer (though I haven't even noticed fill time being a big issue).  Secondary, a film slitter is a LOT easier to use on a flat surface than in a bag, but that's only an issue if you shoot odd formats like 16 mm.

[connealy]

What kind of film slitter are you using to make the 16mm?

[nelsonfoto]

I think I have a good line on a box. Thanks, guys.

[mdcarma]

Oh, sorry Craig.  My girlfriend just got a job (yippee) managing a Motherhood & Maternity store.  

I'm surprised, I guess I do listen when she talks.  :mrgreen:

[ImageMaker]

Mike, I'm not using a slitter yet.  I do plan to make one soon, as I'd really rather be able to shoot faster film than the microfilms I've been using in my Minoltas for the past couple years.  Most likely I'll build up a spool-to-spool flatbed type to cut four equal strips from 120 (15.25 mm wide, close enough), and come up with a way to divide those strips exactly in half; that will get me eight strips a few inches shorter than a standard Minolta 16 film (standard is 18 inches; I routinely get 25 exposures on 21 inches).  With careful loading and a good watch on the counter, there's no reason one couldn't shoot right to the end of the film and get 20 shots on a 15 inch strip.  That would make a Minolta 16 roll of Pro 100 cost about 16 cents, and I could shoot it at EI 200 easily enough without anything more exotic then Diafine -- even in HC-110, I can get EI 200 with pretty good shadow detail using my high dilution, low agitation, long soak routine.  If I need more speed, I could go as high as EI 1600 with semi-acceptable grain using Tri-X and Diafine...