Mike, > > I beg to differ. Having taken two photograph classes > recently, everyone is > interested in digital. Why? It's new. The color > comes out sharp. And one can > print one's own prints -- that is extremely > attractive. Not just women are > interested in that. >
Yes, it's new and that's very attractive to people who haven't yet played with digital. I also agree that digital, when matured, has more given potential than film, which is cost and color consistency if the proper profile is used. But having said that, does digital's color comes out better than regular film? The answer is a yes and a no. Most people who bring their film to be processed by Wal-mart or any low priced, high capacity developer will undoubtly have prints with inconsistent quality. I knew that one Nikon rep cheated with one of his Nikon's point and shoot (a known dud) that he got his prints from a Fuji Frontier and his comparison, another competitor's camera using a low end Fuji mini lab. He then proclaimed that his point and shooter takes sharp and colorful images than the other competing brand. While it is true that it takes good pictures, the developer's machine was the reason why he's getting great shoots and not the camera.. So many people had mistaken that their digital shots were printed better than their film's counterpart. But upon closer inspection, they had to use a more dedicated digital service that use a machine that inherently prints better like the Frontier. Does that mean digital is better than film? Not really. What that means is that, the lab is doing a good job. With my Espio 928 and a Frontier Lab, I can run rings around any consumer version level zoom compact digital printed under the same lab condition. If we compare quality, let's compare apples with apples.. As for people being able to print prints by themselves. That's more hype than reality.. The problem is this.. Most cheap desktop printers you buy from Best Buy or CompUSA don't come with a RIP and a color management software like that from BEST (EFI -- Electronics For Imaging). If you want something like that added to your desktop printer, an iProof PowerRip 2000 or PowerRipx is $395. A more expensive version is $995!!! Why do you need a RIP and color management?? That is because, most people don't know that inkjet printing is an art, a technical art that requires some expertise to match the color you see on the screen to the color that's printed on paper. There is a difference. The color you see on the camera's screen is transmissive, while the color you see on paper is reflective, thus is at the mercy of the ambient light that's currently being examined under.. I have clients who thought they knew everything about color management and went ahead to print their own prints were clearly very dissapointed that the colors were not what they wanted. They went ahead, wasted $500 worth of ink, paper and time to create a custom ICC profile, only to repeat the process again if they use a different ink( being cheap for a consumer) and a different paper media (again being cheap!). What they don't realize is that different ink and different paper media requires a different ICC profile. That is why, we have services like Chromix or ICS to generate the custom profile.. The cost is about $99 a pop. Would a consumer who want to print prints themselves spend all this money just to get a 4x6 or 5x7?? Not really.. Will their prints rival that of a Frontier lab? Yes, under the guidance of a real professional with good color management background, which unfortunately, your normal jane and joe do not have.. And not to mention that, most inkjet inks and paper are not of archival quality. To be archival, you need to depend on third party inks and paper, which translates to more money.. > But mainly it's new. You are seriously > underestimating people's desire for > new toys. This is why digital is reviving people's > interest in photography, > period. It's a new technology which makes it a whole > new ball game. And that > game is attracting people new to photography or > those that have a SLR but > who haven't used it much. I have no doubts that digital is a booming sector.. Some product photographers are even given an ultimatum that if they don't shoot digital by the end of this year, the job goes to someone else who will.. The reason is basically cost.. It's not cheap to have your negs or positives scanned by a CreoScitex Eversmart you know. And not to mention that a CreoScitex Eversmart is about $40,000.. And you need an expert to provide color workflow management. All that can be done with a digital camera and a given profile. It's cheaper and it's approaching to what Creo calls it a digital workflow solution.. Basically, it means saving money.. But before digital takes off, you need a layman's solution to printing digital images consistently. Right now, you have so many software that it'll make your head spin to get good results.. In the future, I hope it'll become much simpler.. Rick... __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/
