On Jul 11, 2004, at 4:32 AM, David Miers wrote:
2000 x 3000 is less then even the lowly Scan Dual Minolta scanners produce.
My question here is, I don't doubt that your statement of what the minilabs
are doing is accurate, but is it really the highest resolution their
equipment is capable of? Even Walmart offers larger images then 4 x 6.
Please tell me that is not the highest res scan they use to make an 8 x 10
or larger!
Generally 2000x3000 is it. That's also what the Agfa D-Lab system uses. My local lab has one D-Lab 3 (up to 8R) and one D-Lab 2 (12R). A 12x18" print looks positively terrible but in my case this was more to do with a lack of tonality than any visible pixellation. The enlargement came off a 6x7 negative so grain shouldn't be an issue.
Again while I do not dispute the figures or what kind of image a minilab
puts out, I find there is something inherently wrong with the concept of a
machine as expensive as the minilabs use, consistently putting out far worse
quality then a $300 scanner plus a $150 printer. Ok, yep, I forgot to add
the cost of Photoshop, whatever that is right now.
They're built for commercial volume, not fine-art. I have a few comparative prints in an envelope here - one is from the D-Lab ($$$), another is from a Durst Lambda ($$$$$$), a couple from an Epson 2100/2200 and another from a consumer HP inkjet on some cheap photo paper. For colour rendition the Epson was best, followed closely by the HP. The Lambda was next by a wide margin (too red) and the D-Lab was the worst (way too red). Only the Epson and the Lambda were on colour-managed systems.
After seeing the results from my test I'm going to buy an Epson printer. At least I'll have control over the process.
What may happen here though, is there may be a major move from serious film
folk to obtain their own optical darkroom equipment.
For the time being I'm keeping E6 film but I'm setting up a "digital darkroom". Unfortunately I'll have to compromise as my wishes exceed my budget ;)
Cheers,
- Dave
http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/
