Darkroom printer here. This is one of my joys in life. Dumped all my digital cameras because printing my photographs gets me off the computer and the tangibility solidifies the work as important for me.
You can actually get away with printing without all of this equipment just to give it a try. I used to print 4x5 contact prints with nothing more than the light in the bathroom and a piece of photo paper.
To this day there remains nothing more magical to me then seeing the silver in the developer slowly produce an image on a page. Happy printing to anyone starting out.
Edit: Also of note that depending on your volume if you develop and print at home it can actually be cheaper than chasing the latest sensor every few years. I just barely crest what it would cost me with sensor upgrades to 2 bodies every few years this way because I am a pretty low volume shooter (2-300 rolls of HP5 a year).
You can actually get away with printing without all of this equipment just to give it a try. I used to print 4x5 contact prints with nothing more than the light in the bathroom and a piece of photo paper.
To this day there remains nothing more magical to me then seeing the silver in the developer slowly produce an image on a page. Happy printing to anyone starting out.
Edit: Also of note that depending on your volume if you develop and print at home it can actually be cheaper than chasing the latest sensor every few years. I just barely crest what it would cost me with sensor upgrades to 2 bodies every few years this way because I am a pretty low volume shooter (2-300 rolls of HP5 a year).