21st century film photography ... not that simple

[pico]

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never wet printed anything in colour.

 

Good. You saved yourself from certain misery.

Scan and print digitally for color.

[leica dream]

That is a pretty persuasive vote for scan & print. Grateful thanks for the input.

Richard

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[mikemgb]

I tried colour wet printing once. I was glad it was in a friend's darkroom using his enlarger - I hadn't wasted my money buying it.

[Martin B]

My recommendation: start off with a larger negative scanner upfront. I also started last year with a Plustek 8200i scanner for 35 mm negatives which works very well other than for framed slides where the focus is often off depending on the thickness of the slide frame. But for negative (or positive) strips, this scanner works very well. Then I had the unique opportunity to unexpectedly get a nice medium-format 6x7 camera, and similar to the large format which I sometimes use I felt stuck with my alternative digitizing process of photographing and stiching together parts of the larger negative sizes. This works for sporadic usage but not when you shoot more medium or large format film. I decided to buy the Epson V850 scanner when I saw a good deal for a refurbished one online. After using it now for several months, I regret that I didn't get one earlier instead of the Plustek. I am using the V850 for all kind of negative and positive sizes, and I am very happy with the results. The 35 mm negatives have the same quality as compared to scanning them with the Plustek scanner at similar resolution (3200 vs. 3600 ppi). 

 

I also do darkroom printing, but I would still highly recommend the hybrid process to scan negatives. It is my first screening process after digitizing the frames to see which ones I like to make prints from. IMO one does not replace the other but they complement each other. 

 

It is hard to go back to digital only after you started with film. 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Martin B

[Martin B]

Here’s what I done to enjoy film in this day and age. My Leicas are not new. The newest one in fact is the Null Series Reissue. Scanner? Why bother? Enlargers done that job for decades and they have not disappeared....at least on eBay. Mine is one I had from the 1970s, a Federal which worked, and still works, awesome. I guess my point is if you want to shoot BW film there’s still no reason to abandon the methods used with Great success for years and years.

 

Yes....this works well if you print for yourself at home, for exhibits, for galleries etc. But you hit the wall with this purely analog approach if you want to share taken analog photos to a broader community in social networks. The only way to do this is by scanning either the film negatives/positives and/or scanning prints. By digitizing analog film always something will be lost which is unavoidable - but IMO it is still good for > 80% of the original. The quality is more than sufficient to use it on a personal website or for sharing it on social networks. 

[Martin B]

OK, my next question.........As I begin to define my workflow for colour negative films, which print method would produce the best printed output - scan/digitize/epson inkjet printer , or darkroom/enlarger/wet prints.

I should mention that years ago I did all my own B/W develop and enlarge, but never wet printed anything in colour. It is my intention to get film developed by Lab, at least initially.

Richard 

 

I tried RA-4 printing two years ago after I got an enlarger with color head. I was curious to see the results achievable with the RA-4 process, so I gave it a shot with Arista color paper and the chemicals. Overall, I got very nice results from color negatives with this process, but it was a very time consuming and not always satisfactory process. Main issue I found was the air sensitivity of the RA-4 developer even when stored in glass bottles filled to top to exclude air from oxidizing the developer quickly. IMO it is only worth to vest into this process when printing a lot of color prints in the first 3 months after starting with it. Otherwise the stored developer will simply decompose.

 

I am now scanning all color negative and positive films and print the digitized high resolution images with my Canon Pixma-100 printer on semi-glossy photo paper. The results are very comparable to the ones I achieved with the RA-4 process. Even I much like analog film processing, I stopped doing the RA-4 process since I didn't see enough benefit of doing it compared to the hybrid workflow. 

 

The color head in an enlarger can be beneficial also for B&W printing since the magenta channel setting can replace using some contrast filters instead. I personally so far didn't see a severe difference between diffuser- and condenser based enlarger heads for B&W printing in regard to contrast either.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Martin B

[edwardkaraa]

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I have tried/researched almost every consumer scanner, and unfortunately, the only ones that will give you satisfactory results are the discontinued Nikon and Minolta. The Plustek and Reflecta models are a significant downgrade to what you would get with an optical print. The quality isn't there. They are just ok for color negatives (which are the easiest to scan because of the very low density), but once you scan b/w and especially slides, only the Nikon and Minolta have the hardware that is good enough to scan through the dense emulsions.

Edited May 12, 2018 by edwardkaraa

[EoinC]

I have a Plustek 120, which scans 135 and 120 very well (using Vuescan), and an Epson V800 for anything bigger. Both are certainly good enough for web images.

[105012]

I have printed colour (RA-4) and found it straightforward and fast. The key was looking at the test strip under known colour temperature lighting, using a colour matching sample and having an experienced person to guide me in the first few prints. I can highly recommend Rapid-Eye in London for first steps. Gorgeous prints await!