Conversion to Digital Darkroom

[karl_almquist2]

I am giving serious thought to converting to a digital darkroom

after many years in a traditional one. I will continue to shoot

film (primarily 35mm B&W). I understand that the major components

include a film scanner, editing software and a decent printer. To

hold down costs, a possible lineup might include the following:

 

DiMAGE Dual IV scanner,

Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0,

Epson 200 photoprinter (I won't need to go direct from a camera).

 

Will I be disapointed in print quality (maximum 8 x 10) compared

with traditional prints? If so where should I upgrade?

 

Thanks - Karl Almquist

[steven_clark]

Looks like a good set to me, but you might want to swap Elements for a copy of Picture Window Pro as with B&W you will probably be wanting curves. Print quality should be adequate provided you get things worked out, but you may have trouble getting acceptable B&W tonality out of a color printer depending on how picky you are.

[beauh44]

Hi Karl, You might want to check out the HP 7960 printer if 8X10 B&W prints are your thing. I'm usually an Epson guy - still am for color - but for B&W, the HP has 'em beat IMHO. It's the only inkjet printer that, to my eye, does indeed give a traditional B&W print a run for its money. I think HP recently came out with a newer model that I'm not familiar with - you might still be able to find a 7960 out there somewhere. Epson printers mix colored ink to arrive at B&W and that causes the problems. There are work-arounds (RIPS, BO-printing) but having tried them, I still prefer the HP. Good luck!

[lskalstad]

Hi Karl, I am a relative newcomer to digital technology and like B&W too. My current setup is a Nikon CoolScan V-ED scanning Kodak BW400CN Chromogenic film, Photoline 32 editing program, "16 bit" with a PowerRetouche plugin called B&W STUDIO that emulates Filters, Film types and paper grades. Karl, Since your film scanner can output at either 8 or 16 bit, You may want to consider an editing program that can work in the 16 bit enviroment, the extra depth is a real plus for heavy editing. Also Kodak has a relativly new B&W silver base paper that is especially designed for lightjet printers. A service called MPIX, at ww.mpix.com accepts uploads for printing on this paper which has become my favorite.

[christian hilmersen www.]

I am disapointed by the quality of my digital prints. I use nikon coolscan V and epson 2200 and mostly ilford delta 100/400 film. Darkroom prints seem to be much smoother with a nicer tonality. With delta 400, the scans seems sharper and the end result from scanning/printing is probably better than the darkroom results. With delta 100 the resolution I get in the darkroom is a lot better than what I get with film, and I have less grain.

 

To get the look I want in the darkroom I print contrasty and burn the highlights with grade 0.5 - it is a though process.

 

But to be honest - when the prints are behind glass and viewed from an arm-lengths distance it is hard/impossible to tell the difference. The tonality is a little differnt. I enlarge to 30x45cm.

[robert_k1]

"I am giving serious thought to converting to a digital darkroom after many years in a traditional one."

 

You are doing the right thing by asking questions first before converting. Even after extensive research before converting, I now realize that I failed to ask the right questions: what is the learning curve and what is its cost.

 

If you are experienced in a traditional darkroom, you have a distinct advantage. Ask yourself after the equipment cost, how did you learn to develop and print and what effort did it take. Getting to the same stage of expertise and producing the equivalent quality in a digital darkroom will take similar, and arguably significant more, efforts.

 

There are numerous digital darkroom "how to" books ($$) and workshops ($$$$) out there. But these are not that costly compared to the time one would have to spend going through the learning curve. More money can be made, but not time.

 

It is important to be prepared before diving in. Here are some of my posts on this:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00B1tW

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00AecI

[mattb1]

I would suggest an HP printer. I loved my old Epson for color, but never got an acceptable B&W print. Now I have a huge expensive HP and I'm almost printing as much B&W as color. The issue for me now is dust on traditional B&W film.

 

Also, the Nikon scanners can adjust the intensity of the light source, called analog gain. This can be of significant help in 'problem' photos, and some artistic license. I'm still figuring out B&W scanning, so I can't tell you much. You may have a lot of research to tell what equipment would be best for you. You may want to look at buying a good scanner first and having someone else print for you until you can afford a great printer. It took me a couple of years to save up to the point I'm at now, but its great.