Hi there Mike! Many thanks for your suggestions. The primary reasons I have never taken to processing my own films are aged 12 mths, 4 and 6. (Yep, the 12mth old is the reason for my "disappearance" from the list, sorry guys, if I didn't fill you in on her impending arrival at the time!). The need to lock myself away in a dark room for many hours at a time, is just all too difficult - my 4 and 6 year olds would succeed in trashing my house, killing each other and painting the walls with vegemite. However, working on the 'puter is not such an issue as I actually get to WATCH them trashing my house, killing each other and painting the walls with vegemite! Also, with young kids in the house, the idea of lots of chemicals in vicinity isn't too appealing.
I have on many occasions however, considered at least developing my own film and just scanning the negs. At the moment I do all of my work in Photoshop (usually scanned from 5x7s), upload it via ftp to my pro lab and then they send it out to me. I don't think I would ever actually consider printing them myself, the ftp works really well, and the results are lovely. Have just had a guy really pushing for me to use his lab, by offering really cheap roll scans (18mb files and using Digital ICE) with processing. This all sounds great to me, as it is less scanning for me and I am forever fighting with my scanner to keep it dust/finger print free. HOWEVER, the luxury of having a digital body where it comes straight from the camera, eliminating all need for any scanning, is just all too inviting. It is all a matter of $$$$ and quality though, and whether I need those Elinchrom Monoblocs more than I do the D-ist. Then, as I am sure you have all discussed in my absence, it also raises the issue of lens compatibility/focal lengths, and I am not sure if I am ready to change my entire collection just at the moment. I have a few new favourites that I am really enjoying playing with at the moment. Mind you my ever-expanding behind would probably appreciate the Monoblocs, as I seem to really be wearing a good seat into my computer chair these days.... ----- Original Message ----- From: "mike wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 7:51 AM Subject: Re: An observation re Pentax for sale Hi, Tanya Mayer - Photographic Artist wrote: > > Also, my nearest photolab is 3 hours away and currently I send EVERYTHING > away, which to a very impatient > woman, is an absolute nightmare. Digital, in this instance, would be > absolute bliss. Why do you not process your own? At the most, �200 for a Jobo processor and tanks to process up to five at a time. �15 to process 10 C-41 36exp films. Probably cheaper if you are buying inquantity and tax deductible. Or you could go the whole hog and buy one of the Jobo ATL series autoprocessors. If you go digital you will, in your situation, be spending more, not less time in front of a screen and you will need to invest in a high-end printer (or digital minilab) to create the output. mike
