Guest Mr. B Posted May 11, 2013 Share #1 Posted May 11, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Doesn't anyone use an enlarger anymore? I log onto the film forum and I see thread after thread by people asking about scanners, and what is the best way to get their negatives onto their computers. Just wondering. Regards Mr. B Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 11, 2013 Posted May 11, 2013 Hi Guest Mr. B, Take a look here Enlargers in use today. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
spydrxx Posted May 11, 2013 Share #2 Posted May 11, 2013 Sold my Focomat last year after 6 years of no use. In the future, if I want top notch prints made, I'll send off to a professional service. Sigh....I grew up with enlargers, darkrooms & all the chemicals, but the world is changing, and I think digital is winning by a wide margin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted May 11, 2013 Share #3 Posted May 11, 2013 Scoot over to the Darkroom forum section. I finally sold mine after going digital and deciding not to build my 5th darkroom. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted May 11, 2013 Share #4 Posted May 11, 2013 I do. Although not as often as I like 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPerson Posted May 11, 2013 Share #5 Posted May 11, 2013 My darkroom is in constant use but a scanner is also part of another workflow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontus Posted May 11, 2013 Share #6 Posted May 11, 2013 This is the large darkroom at my photo club (we have a small one as well) I do scan negs, but only for online sharing and deciding what to print. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted May 11, 2013 Share #7 Posted May 11, 2013 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes. I have a small darkroom with a Leitz Focomat IIa and Omega 4x5 enlarger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rawcs Posted May 11, 2013 Share #8 Posted May 11, 2013 This is the large darkroom at my photo club (we have a small one as well) I do scan negs, but only for online sharing and deciding what to print. Please tell me your photo club is in Lancashire U.K. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack62 Posted May 12, 2013 Share #9 Posted May 12, 2013 I always use my darkroom for B&W printing. The scanners are mainly for colour film. I bought my Saunders LPL 4500-II in 1995....still works perfectly.....I've owned five scanners since then. My B&W FB prints from my darkroom are still much nicer, finer grain, and richer looking than anything from a scanner. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintpot Posted May 13, 2013 Share #10 Posted May 13, 2013 As I retire soon - I'll be able to re-do my darkroom and have some fun I've not used it for about 4 years now but I intend to do a lot more wet printing. Mostly from 5x4 I guess, but as I've also got a Durst 6x7 to 35mm enlarger as well I'll end up printing some smaller negs. Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontus Posted May 14, 2013 Share #11 Posted May 14, 2013 Please tell me your photo club is in Lancashire U.K. Not even the right country, I'm afraid... It's in Uppsala, Sweden. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
topoxforddoc Posted May 14, 2013 Share #12 Posted May 14, 2013 I still have my wet darkroom in my cellar. It currently houses my Focomat V35 LPL Saunders 7451 and the rest of my darkroom kit, including a Nova 20 x16 Trimate processor. Upstairs, I also have a Focomat IIc, which is waiting for its lenses to be returned from cleaning and recoating at Malcolm Taylor's. I have not used my darkroom for a short while, will be down there again soon. I have plenty of negatives, which need to be turned into large fibre prints. Charlie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted May 14, 2013 Share #13 Posted May 14, 2013 I use my Focomat 1c, but infrequently. The problem is wall space for the prints. I think fiber-based silver prints made by an expert printer are still the standard of excellence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianUK Posted May 14, 2013 Share #14 Posted May 14, 2013 Alas, I stopped professional printing everything from 5x4 inch down about 1990. Following this I did a little black and white enlarging and printing at home in a temporary set up with a Durst M301 and Schneider-Kreuznach Componon f4 50mm. With too little space, it was too much of a faff and never ideal. Since then I have had my black and white films professionally developed, and since the advent of digital I scan in the negs with my own system, printing with an Epson A3 printer. I advertised the enlarger and lens on eBay with reserve and got not one offer. It languishes, boxed, in the loft :-( Sign o'the times, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted May 15, 2013 Share #15 Posted May 15, 2013 Doesn't anyone use an enlarger anymore? I log onto the film forum and I see thread after thread by people asking about scanners, and what is the best way to get their negatives onto their computers.Just wondering. Regards Mr. B I have a LPL 7700 enlarger with B+W head. Sold my Nikon coolscan V. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KM-25 Posted May 16, 2013 Share #16 Posted May 16, 2013 I thought about selling my Nikon 9000ED scanner since I hardly use it. I print a little 35mm, a fair bit of 120 and a good amount of 4x5 with my Saunders LPL 4550XLG and VCCE head. I just got done shooting about 100 sheets of 4x5 and 20 rolls of 120 in the Northern California Redwoods. After shooting digital full time for 19+ years, dumping it in favor of film and real darkroom prints just feels like *such* a good career and creative move, I just can't get over how fantastic it is...:-) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticman Posted May 16, 2013 Share #17 Posted May 16, 2013 I think digital is winning by a wide margin. what does this mean? Is there a race I didn't know about? Of course digital capture is more and more pervasive - but even there the biggest growth in the future is gonna be in the form of smartphone use. Even in the medium term the DSLR and digitalRF market will be engulfed by that trend. So using film to capture, and then a scanner to post-process and use the resulting images hardly seems to me to be 'losing' - even if the all-analog workflow is the ideal (for some). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeTexas Posted May 16, 2013 Share #18 Posted May 16, 2013 My local camera repair shop has three working enlargers sitting out with a sign that says, "free", on them. It's been two months and nobody has taken them. I have an old Omega, but I'm still trying to find space to set up a darkroom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted May 16, 2013 Share #19 Posted May 16, 2013 (edited) I still have my Omega B22XL, and was recently given a Focomat 1a; but also have to convince my wife let me take over a room to set up again. Our last house I had built with a made-to-order darkroom that was great, but as family grew other needs took precedence. Now in retirement it's time to get back to some hobbies. Edited May 16, 2013 by TomB_tx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted May 16, 2013 Share #20 Posted May 16, 2013 My local camera repair shop has three working enlargers sitting out with a sign that says, "free", on them. That's sad; they should be donated to a local school, camera club or some person or place that could benefit. Somebody should devote a minimal bit of effort. I made sure all my darkroom gear was in good hands when I closed things down...by sale, donation and gift. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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