Aging Photographer in New Age

<p>Not sure whether this is the best place place to post two questions, which I hope will meet with some sympathy among "argentine" photographers happy to adjust to the digital world but not particularly knowledgeable about how to do so. As an amateur for years I have taken BW in 35mm and 120 medium format, often developing myself. Now, thanks to family, I am the owner of a high-end printer that can apparently deliver BW prints up to 13x19. So, simply said, what do I need to go from my BW negative to a final print on this machine. I assume that I need to digitize the negatives. Who can do that? And is there any particular software program that I will need other than what is provided by the printer? </p>

<p>"Argentine" photographers? I'm from Argentina, I work with languages, and it still took me a moment to realize that you're talking about silver-based photography. Your description of your printer is rather obscure too. Knowing what printer you have, and what software came with it, might help someone answer your questions.</p>

<p>Joseph, you'll need a scanner to make digital files from your negatives, preferably a model that can handle both 35mm and medium format. There are many models from Epson, Nikon and other manufacturers. My own Minolta scanner is very old so I'll leave it to someone else to recommend a more current model.</p>

<p>Scanning b&w negatives is a bit different from scanning color negatives and slides. The physical process is the same but some adjustments are needed to get the best results. Feel free to join us on photo.net's <a href="../black-and-white-photo-film-processing-forum/"><strong>B&W Photo - Film & Processing Forum</strong> </a> where we are happy to discuss techniques specifically for getting the best results from scanning b&w film. Or, try the <a href="../digital-darkroom-forum/"><strong>Digital Darkroom Forum</strong> </a> for more in-depth information about scanning, digital editing and printing.</p>

<p>I thought argentine might have refered to hair colour.</p>

<p>Joseph. Just about anything in photography you can make or buy. You can make or buy scanning. If you can read a b&w neg well enough to know whether you really want to print it, you can send your negs out to be scanned. You'll need to match the size and quality of a scan to your purpose. You might particularly want to consider that route because</p>

 

<ul>

<li>You might want to limit your capital investment till you see whether you can produce prints you really like on your new printer. You don't want to buy a film scanner and then discover you want to stay with conventional b&w printing.</li>

<li>If you are printing from a scan, and especially if you prefer to print large, then you're probably going to need a film scanner. The problem is that these are expensive and are mostly size specific. A cheaper flatbed scanner would do both sizes, but maybe not at the quality you'd want to print, especially on 35mm. A lab or bureau will have several scanners and can handle multiple formats.</li>

<li>Scanning is pretty dull, repetitive work. It is not fun. For some years I had an expensive film scanner and I still sent work out because I just didn't want to spend days behind a scanner. Putting the work out avoids this and the learning curve.</li>

</ul>

<p>You're going to need some means of adjusting your scan so what you see on screen is what you want to print. Photoshop is one way of doing this, thought the cut down and much cheaper "Elements" may well be all you need. Again there's a learning curve here. </p>

<p>You're going to want to calibrate your computer screen and printer so what you see on screen and what comes of your printer look materially the same. There are lots of these. I use an X-Rite model, but I imagine others work as well.</p>

<p>You're going to need to decide what sort of paper(s) you want to print on and make sure you get and use profiles for each of them appropriate to your printer. These aren't hard to get.</p>

<p>Lastly and indeed mostly you're going to need time. Time to research and decide what to buy; time to get up the learning curve with each of them, and the patience to understand that not everything will work first time.</p>

<p>Many thanks for the thoughtful answers, particularly by David. You have surfaced a number of questions which I will ponder. I think that you are correct in saying that, in my case, it may make the most sense to have my BW negatives scanned by a professional service rather than invest in a costly 35/120 scanner (I see that the Nikon 9000 is not cheap). Based on what Lex has said, the matters of scan adjustment, screen calibration and paper choice might best be topics to addressed in other more specific forums. Sorry to Hector about the confusion regarding the adjective "argentine". Yes, I was hoping to use it with a double sense: silver-film related, and silvering hair, as Pete observed. My spouse told me years ago to stop trying to be funny with words. She also told me to stop buying expensive camrea equipment when the results were so disappointing. But some photo nuts do not change! Happy Christmas. </p>

<p>Joseph. Both Lex and David have given you very good answers as they always do. Both are far more knowlegable than myself and I could not offer any more than they have said. I was into photography many years ago with film of course and then left coming back some 30 years later. How things have changed! I find the DVD recorders a problem and can't even operate the features on the latest mobile phones.<br>

I went digital and bought a D300 and lots of glass. Thought overcomplicated modern technology. No soul etc etc. So bought a Nikon F6 film camera.I had the same questions/problems as you.I then had chance to sell the F6 at a small profit because they are no longer made. I did so knowing where I could buy another. I bought that and again has chance to sell at a small profit again knowing where I could get another. I got the other which when it arrived fron the States to me here in the UK was not as -&- said new but in fact well used. They have appologised - It was a return that got mixed up with new stock. So it's just before Christmas and I was lacking a camera. I again went digital and bought a Nikon D700 which is more like a 35mm film camera in look and feel. A great guy in the shop about my age (old!) spent a good couple of hours with me and the end result is I am now digital! Camera set in manual so it's really just like the old days with ttl metering. Plug into the PC. Simple package. Play around a little or just basic adjustmets and print out - job done. Of course I have a lot to learn and the camera can do far more than I need at the moment but I have already started 'playing' around with it and it does way more than film a whole lot easier and quicker and you still have control over the end result. Joseph I have every respect for what you want to do and of course it can be done. This is certainly the best place to get advice. But perhaps...just maybe.....could it be time to try the other side. Whatever you do I wish you all the best.</p>

<p>A comment about "aging". We have a saying here in the Rockies:<br>

"You don't stop doing things because you get old; you get old because you stop doing things."<br>

We have a ski instructor at Taos who retired as an anesthesiologist when he was about 60. That's 24 years ago and he has turn away crowds lined up for his classes.</p>

<p>I had to look it up:<br>

 

<p>ar⋅gen⋅tine1   [ahr-juhn-tin, -tahyn]<br>

–adjective<br>

1. pertaining to or resembling silver.<br>

–noun<br>

2. a silvery substance, esp. one obtained from fish scales, used in making imitation pearls.<br>

Origin: <br>

1400–50; late ME (< AF) < L argentīnus silvery. </p>

</p>

<p>I am assuming you already received excellent answers about a top notch film scanner for your home office and learning PS CS4 with an archival, top quality inkjet printer (I recommend Epson).</p>

<p>Yes, Gordon, I could not agree more My father, who is close to 90 and has used an M3 since 1954 has a very similar saying, if in a different key: "The picture reveals the attitude."<br>

Graham, the D70 looks very tempting for all of its approachability, and I presume that I will cross over to the other side with such a camera before long. I appreciate the advice. <br>

I did follow David Henderson's guidance and was able to puchase and download Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac. For a very reasonable price it seems to be the right entry pathway for the serious amateur.<br>

The printer I purchased is an HP B8850, possibly not quite on par with similar Epson models, but designed locally here where I live and I was able to find one for a fab price. <br>

And sorry to have deflected the focus of my request wih the use of the term "argentine". I am originally from France where film and digital photography are respectively labeled "photographie argentique et numérique". I suspect that the words "argentic" and "argentical" exist in the OED but, Ken, cannot confirm. Because of this deflection, viewers who converse in French on this site might be interested in the following link, which seems to have been inspired by Photonet.<br>

http://35mm-compact.com/photographie.htm<br>

This is certainly a forum deserving of its name, allowing talk about photography, language and geriatrics all at once.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thus we now know why the Element Silver has a symbol of "Ag" :)<br>

<br /> Tierra Argentnia; Land of Silver<br>

<br /> argentum; a 2nd declension neuter noun in Latin<br>

<br /> Then we go back to the old Greek too<br>

<br /> <a href="http://www.davidrsear.com/academy/roman_legends.html">triumvir auro argento aere flando feriundo</a></p>

<p>Argentine photographers! What a COOL ancient alternative to the trendy "ANALOG" term I hate when folks want to use it in place of "FILM"!</p>