On 30 May 2004 at 12:01, William Robb wrote: > > > Or, I have worked with the alternatives long enough to know what is > > easy, and what isn't. > > Har, the large majority of us don't all have a calibrated mini-lab with an > operator we can trust at our disposal.
Lets make sure the playing field is level. You wanna play digital darkroom, then you add a quality inkjet printer to your computer, calibrate the entire mess so that you have WYSIWYG results, and go play. Wanna do film photography in colour? Renovate a room in the basement, add an enlarger and a processor, and plumbing. Processing needs to be within a half degree, and you had better know some colour and chemical theory if you want repeatable results. Don't like what you get out of the processor? Toss that print in the garbage and try again. and again. and again. Even with the calibrated minilab to print on, I think digital is easier. I suppose some of this is because I am the one calibrating the minilab. Hear Hear. Calibrating a mini-lab, and keeping it running properly is no easy feat. I'm running an old Fuji SFA 250 with a FP360AL film processor all running Fuji Hunt chemistry (lousy chemistry IMHO) In order to keep the C-41 chemistry in control, with the LD safely above minimum control (R & G above 0 Blue hovering around 0 to -2) and the contrast in control I have to run the developer at 36.8°C and the bleach at 36°C (usually 38°C both) I also run the RA-4 developer (printer) a couple tenths of a degree lower for the same reason. Then there is the (at least) daily paper balance and about once a week I have to tweak the overall color balance of the master channel. Then I get to make color and density corrections based on an old 9" screen built into the printer. And I have to keep it that way with a staff making maybe $2-3 over minimum wage. (read apathetic) Digital is much easier. I adjust my monitor with Adobe Gamma, convert my files to Adobe 1998 in PS, print using paper profiles with my Epson 2200. The only thing I have to remember is to err slightly light and desaturated from the monitor. Butch Each man had only one genuine vocation - to find the way to himself. Hermann Hesse (Demian) If you use a minilab that consistently
