When I printed Cibachrome it was at college, (University for those in
other English speaking lands), at the student run Photography co-op. We
had invested in an electrically driven agitator for processing E-6 which
was replacing at the time E-4 which was really just too toxic for a
darkroom primarily run by student volunteers. The agitator made
processing the Cibachrome so much easier. It made processing the E-6
less tedious as well.
On 2/12/2013 4:50 AM, Paul Stenquist wrote:
I miss the thrill of seeing a cibachrome print, but it was a very taxing
project in a home darkroom. On a simple enlarger, one had to guess at an
initial filter pack. Then processing the print required 30 minutes of rolling
the drum back and forth by hand. Then came an analysis of the color, adjustment
of the filter pack, and another 30 minutes of rolling the drum. Making a single
satisfactory print was a two to three hour project.
Paul
On Feb 12, 2013, at 4:06 AM, Jostein Øksne <[email protected]> wrote:
That's sad!
I remember the first Cibachrome I had made. It had been renamed Ilfochrome a
few years hence by then, but people in the know switched terms every other
sentence. Took me a while to figure out they were one and the same... :-)
The first thing I thought was that the 50x70 cm print looked better than a
projection of the original slide, both in colour and contrast, to the point
that it became a serious boost to my photographic self-confidence.
The lab I used had around 10 employees working full time to produce
enlargements in 1998. They provided all kinds of chemical processes, but they
had a particularly good reputation for skill with Cibachromes. Six years later,
in 2003, all the print production except Cibas had ceased, and the company was
reduced to one man. Last time I commissioned Ciba prints from him was in 2006.
By then he produced on rapidly dwindling demand; he said he could notice the
difference from one month to the next. I just checked now, and his company name
is still registered with the authorities, so I suppose he has a small turnover
still, until his supplies of paper and chemistry runs out.
With the rising quality of prints from other processes I'm not sure if I'll
miss the Cibas as such. But I certainly miss the excellence in craftsmanship
and personal service provided, first by the company, then by the man.
Jostein
----- Original Message ----- From: "P. J. Alling" <[email protected]>
To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2013 11:51 PM
Subject: CibaChrome is dead.
It happened sometime last year, and I didn't even notice it. In combination
with Kodachrome, if you did everything right, you could produce startlingly
beautiful prints. Ilford announced sometime last year that they were
discontinuing the product, (Ilfochrome), due to falling demand. A moment of
silence please...
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