Starting a Digital Darkroom...Some pointers please

<p>Hello Everyone,<br>

I have some money saved up and would like to invest into my digital darkroom. The main things I'd like to invest into are:<br>

1) Printer<br>

2) Monitor<br>

3) Color management software<br>

4) Image organization software (lightroom or aperture)<br>

Could you give me some pointers? What should I get? Thank you!<br>

-allan</p>

<p>What you get depends on what you want to do. You didn't mention the budget, but I always save to get good, reliable stuff.<br>

1) If you want a 13"(?) printer, I'd recommend the Epson 2880.<br>

2) A good IPS panel from NEC or Dell<br>

3) I use the Spyder3Pro - a review showed it produces a slighly higher color gamut than the EYE1.<br>

4) Yes, Lightroom or Aperture. Try them out and see which you like.</p>

<p>1_epson 2880 or a 3880</p>

<p>2_Dell u2410, NEC P221 or a NEC 2690wuxi.. forget Lacie (they buy from NEC and rebranded them) and Eizo are too expensive for what they offer (or dont offer vs a nec)</p>

<p>3_spider3 pro or Eye1 Display 2 (i prefer the Eye1)</p>

<p>4_2 excellent choice, again i prefer Lightroom personnaly</p>

<p> </p>

I started with an Epson R2400, 5 years ago, but if I was you, I would probably go with the Epson R3880 which can print up to a 16X20.

Photoshop CS4, CS3 even CS2(which is what I have) is a must. I know people here talk allot about Lightroom, but withouth Photoshop you are lost. You can also check out Picture Window Pro, Helicon Filter and Canon's own DPP software that comes with Canon cameras if you want a quick photo editing package.

There are also other extremly capable software packages available out there if you take the time to look. As far as Color Monitoring packages, I would go with the latest version of Eye-One which clearly outperforms The Spider.

You might need a scanner. The Epson V750 Pro does a pretty good job of scanning medium format and large format film, but when it comes to 35mm film, I would rather go with the Plustek scanner http://www.plustek.com/product/7500i_se.asp .

Of course there are better scanners out there like the discontinued Minolta and the Nikon Coolscan 5000 and 9000, but if you are not scanning allot of film on a daily basis, please save your money. Nikon has decided to discontinue these 2 models by the end of this year by the way.

Other than that, a good course in Digital Photography should help. There is no way that you can learn all this stuff on your own, unless you have allot of time on your hands, or you are Einstein.

<blockquote>

<p>I know people here talk allot about Lightroom, but withouth Photoshop you are lost.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This isn't true at all unless you can't understand Lightroom, which isn't that difficult. Plenty of people do everything in Lightroom, and with plug-ins, you can do quite a bit of what you can't do in Lightroom. </p>

<p>NEC has just come out with a new line of monitors.<br /> NEC is announcing its new PA series for the start of 2010. The LCD monitors features a LCD panel from the IPS technology. The PA series comes in four models from 23 to 30 inches.<br /> <a href="http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1260108113">New IPS PA-series from NEC - FlatpanelsHD</a><br /> Save for the best monitor, yeah, the good ones cost a lot, but you get what you pay for, buy a great monitor now, and you only have to buy it once.<br /> The Dell's are inexpensive, but way to bright, IMO.<br /> In regards to Photo Shop, CS5 has some pretty cool new features. I agree with Harry, I also think Photo Shop is a must, and to be sure, lightroom can do most of what's needed, but are many things that PS can do, that LR can't. I just couldn't be with out it.<br /> IMO If this is just a hobby, and you don't shoot hundreds of frames a day, I would start out with CS5, and down the road think about lightroom.<br>

Printers, you can't go wrong with the Epson 3880.</p>

<p>suggesting Photoshop CS4-5 to someone that start a digital darkroom make little sense... what the *normal* user want to do is darkroom.. not to learn a whole complicated software .. im sure that the OP want a pleasant start.</p>

<p>So get Lightroom, a wacom bamboo pen and touch 6x8 graphic tablet and as a bonus it come with Element 7. Those 3 things are the perfect digital darkroom starter, and probably what you will ever need in a near or far future.</p>

<p> </p>