Converting digital file into b&w 35mm negative

Dear All,

 

Does anyone know of a lab that converts digital images (raw or jpg files) into

b&w 35mm negatives? Or is this something that I can do myself with darkroom,

computer and scanner?

 

Thanks

 

Gabriele

I'm not sure why you'd want to- seems if you were going to do it at all, you might as well use a bigger negative. Probably the easiest way is to just photograph a print with a macro lens onto B&W film. For that matter, you could photograph it off of your monitor.

Just curious, why?

I don't know of a lab that outputs to bw neg film but I've used https://www.gammatech.com/

html/home.htm to get 35mm slides from grayscale image files.

I wonder this too, but not to 35 mm size. Personally I wanted to make wet darkroom prints at home from my Pentax DL files.

 

I would make 4x5 negatives, as my enlarger can do up to 4x5, or even 8X10 and do contact prints.

 

What I was thinking is convert to grayscale, invert, and print to a transparency. I do not even know if this is possible, maybe someone else can chime in.

 

Perhaps Gabriele only has the capability to use 35mm due to the enlarger...

Rich...

 

My "why" is because I cannot make a decent B&W print on my home printer, A Canon i9000, and paper and ink gets pricey. I also have tons of photo paper to make darkroom prints.

 

I actually suck at both, but the digital printing I just can't get right. I also like the look and feel of darkroom prints.

Thanks for the great feedback, I will definitely check out Gamma Tech - as to "why" - I took great digital shots of my newborn son and would love to print some of them in my darkroom in addition to the print outs I made with my inkjet printer - Gabriele

Yes, you can do this. You convert the colour image to black and white using your favourite conversion routine (e.g., Channel Mixer). You then invert the image to create a negative and print it onto special transparency media like Pictorico High Gloss White Film. It's not quite that simple but those are the basic steps. In order to optimise the image for printing and enlarging you need to do some more work to the file in the digital darkroom by making Curves adjustments to get the contrast right. You don't even need to output to a 35mm size. You can output to, say, 8x10 and contact print that larger negative.

 

Dan Burkholder is the master at this technique. Check out his website, www.danburkholder.com for some tips and tricks. He used to have some curves available for download on his website (don't know if he still does). Do a Google search for 'making digital negatives' or something similar and you'll get a ton of hits.

yes you can... you can order a 35mm or 6x6 negative from someone like. www.dr5.com

 

if the quality is not good enough than you can look for an someone that records on a LVT recorder. It will be more expensive. Does anyone know of a lab that outputs from a LVT recorder and that doesn't charge an arm and a leg?

 

The digtal negative print out on the ink jet will only be good enough for contact printing... for that I would check out some of the books on the subject.

 

I saw a new book that just came out this year. ( web site has a sample chapter worth reading)

http://www.digital-negatives.com/

 

Dan's book is a must read...

http://www.danburkholder.com/Pages/main_pages/book_info_main_page1.htm

 

and one other book on the subject of contact printing is..

http://www.precisiondigitalnegatives.com/

 

I myself am looking for a way to get high quailty Fiber prints from my digital work flow. hense all the random info....

 

good luck /Guy