vision problems under safelight

Hi,

I'm a 42yo male who has worn glasses most of his adult life
(near-sightedness, coupled with astygmatism). I hadn't used my darkroom
setup at home for about a year, until the other night. I had a problem
keeping my eyes focused on the images in the chemicals, under one of those
amber big bulb safelights. I've used the lamp for a couple of years, and it
seems to be as bright as it was new.

The problem was that everything would greadually become darker, until I had
to get out of the room to regain my sight. I know I'm getting old, but what
does this typify? Are there any eye docs in the house? Is this common? It
was disconcerting at best, and quite frankly, a little scary. I suppose I
could boost the the amount of safelight to accomodate this, but what might
these symptoms be telling me???

Thanks for any help....

"mm" wrote in message
...
[...]
The problem was that everything would greadually become darker, until I
had
to get out of the room to regain my sight. I know I'm getting old, but
what
does this typify? Are there any eye docs in the house? Is this common? It
was disconcerting at best, and quite frankly, a little scary. I suppose I
could boost the the amount of safelight to accomodate this, but what might
these symptoms be telling me???

They are telling you to see a doctor! I've got twenty years on you, and I
have serious astigmatism and haven't experienced that.

"mm" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm a 42yo male who has worn glasses most of his adult
life
(near-sightedness, coupled with astygmatism). I hadn't
used my darkroom
setup at home for about a year, until the other night. I
had a problem
keeping my eyes focused on the images in the chemicals,
under one of those
amber big bulb safelights. I've used the lamp for a couple
of years, and it
seems to be as bright as it was new.

The problem was that everything would greadually become
darker, until I had
to get out of the room to regain my sight. I know I'm
getting old, but what
does this typify? Are there any eye docs in the house? Is
this common? It
was disconcerting at best, and quite frankly, a little
scary. I suppose I
could boost the the amount of safelight to accomodate
this, but what might
these symptoms be telling me???

Thanks for any help....

I agree with the other answer. Get to a opthalmologist.
This is not normal.


--
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 12:31:41 -0800, "mm" wrote:

Hi,

I'm a 42yo male who has worn glasses most of his adult life
(near-sightedness, coupled with astygmatism). I hadn't used my darkroom
setup at home for about a year, until the other night. I had a problem
keeping my eyes focused on the images in the chemicals, under one of those
amber big bulb safelights. I've used the lamp for a couple of years, and it
seems to be as bright as it was new.

The problem was that everything would greadually become darker, until I had
to get out of the room to regain my sight. I know I'm getting old, but what
does this typify? Are there any eye docs in the house? Is this common? It
was disconcerting at best, and quite frankly, a little scary. I suppose I
could boost the the amount of safelight to accomodate this, but what might
these symptoms be telling me???

Thanks for any help....




feb204 from Lloyd Erlick,

Your symptoms are telling you to go pay good money to an
opthalmologist. It will be a huge bargain no matter what they charge
to tell you there's no problem. If there is a problem, it won't get
solved on Usenet! Delay is unwise, because as we all know, medical
conditions sometimes proceed quickly and painlessly.

I've paid a lot of attention to my eyesight as I've aged under the
safelight. In my case, eyestrain is mostly caused by trying too hard
to see where there just isn't enough light. That came from a
relatively bright safelight. When I was younger, I could see (although
I think I was still straining my eyes dong it). Now it hurts after a
while, and I find that by keeping my darkroom nearly dark, just a dim
red light for orientation, I don't try to see the image come up (one
of life's pleasures foregone) and I don't strain at all. And looking
at the projected image in the dark is a no-no too, unless it's
necessary. That's another thing I used to enjoy...

A baseball cap is eyestrain control device number one.

regards,
--le
_______________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326

http://www.heylloyd.com
_______________________________________

wrote

When I was younger, I could see (although
I think I was still straining my eyes dong it). Now it hurts after a
while, and I find that by keeping my darkroom nearly dark, just a dim
red light for orientation, I don't try to see the image come up (one
of life's pleasures foregone) and I don't strain at all. And looking
at the projected image in the dark is a no-no too, unless it's
necessary. That's another thing I used to enjoy...

A baseball cap is eyestrain control device number one.

Is anyone's darkroom setting so set in concrete that radical changes
in lighting can not be tried?
Many years ago, in the 50s, there was an in town, photography store,
studio, laboratory. Portraits and some outside work were there work.
The lab's processing area was amazedly brightly lit. There were four
large hanging safe lights. Three were over a lengthy resined plywood
walk-around sink. The fourth, perhaps brighter yet, was over a wall
sink. That one may have been used for inspection.
That lab was a Graded Paper laboratory; could'nt really call it a
darkroom.
Recalling all that, a couple of years ago I began a switch to graded
paper. I've now a rather bright yellow lit lab. Fog tests have showen
that the wattage can be further uped. Dan

I do not have a choice of graded papers, so I went the red LED way (real
red, not orange).
I feel I have plenty of light, more than I used to have with red bulbs
(never tried a Kodak or Ilford filter), and no fog after 10 min.

Jorge



(Dan Quinn) wrote in
om:

Recalling all that, a couple of years ago I began a switch to graded
paper. I've now a rather bright yellow lit lab. Fog tests have showen
that the wattage can be further uped. Dan

Jorge Omar wrote

I do not have a choice of graded papers, so I went the red LED way (real
red, not orange).
I feel I have plenty of light, more than I used to have with red bulbs
(never tried a Kodak or Ilford filter), and no fog after 10 min.

If you are talking projection speed paper then here in the
USA we've no option but to import because Kodak, the only surviving
domestic producer of print paper, supplies only VC. We have a choice of
graded paper here because it is imported by distributors. You must not
have any distributors.
My yen for a lighter, brighter darkroom is due to having been spoiled
at an early age. Few have had the opportunity to be so spoiled and
fewer still will have that opportunity in the future. Dan

Dan Quinn wrote
Recalling all that, a couple of years ago I began a switch to graded
paper. I've now a rather bright yellow lit lab. Fog tests have showen
that the wattage can be further uped. Dan

In article ,
wrote:

Your symptoms are telling you to go pay good money to an
opthalmologist. It will be a huge bargain no matter what they charge
to tell you there's no problem. If there is a problem, it won't get
solved on Usenet! Delay is unwise, because as we all know, medical
conditions sometimes proceed quickly and painlessly.

Agreed and amplified.

I know quite a bit about eye problems; in addition to the usual
nearsightedness and astigmatism, I also suffer from glaucoma, corneal
dystrophy, and serous retinopathy. MY vision doesn't do that, nor does
any condition I heard about researching my diagnoses.

Consult an opthamologist. Do it now.

"mm" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I'm a 42yo male who has worn glasses most of his adult life
(near-sightedness, coupled with astygmatism). I hadn't used my darkroom
setup at home for about a year, until the other night. I had a problem
keeping my eyes focused on the images in the chemicals, under one of those
amber big bulb safelights. I've used the lamp for a couple of years, and it
seems to be as bright as it was new.

The problem was that everything would greadually become darker, until I had
to get out of the room to regain my sight. I know I'm getting old, but what
does this typify? Are there any eye docs in the house? Is this common? It
was disconcerting at best, and quite frankly, a little scary. I suppose I
could boost the the amount of safelight to accomodate this, but what might
these symptoms be telling me???

Thanks for any help....

1. Go to an eye doctor.

2. Get a Kodak 10 x 12 safelight, OC filter, and a long 40 watt bulb.

Night blindness:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/003039.htm

If you are lucky you just need to eat more carrots.

Other reasons are cataracts, retinitis pigmentosa or sometimes
no particular reason at all.

--
Nick Lindan