scanning negatives

[ElectricLadyland]

hello, i am not really in position to print my own negatives, but i can develop my own and then i have two options, either scan it into the computer, process and print from there, or give it to a photolab to print.i am thinking of scanning just so i can have control over the final look of the photo, but i dont know how prints look from a computer, and if the control from the computer proccessing is worth the possible loss of quality from the printer. any advice or thoughts on this? thanks you

[JBrunner]

The best advice I can give, honestly, is to beg, borrow, build or BS your way into a darkroom. If you're shooting B&W you are missing out on at least half the magic, half the fun, and half the control.

That aside, there are ways to get decent prints from a hybrid workflow, and they are generally are disscussed in the grey area sub forum.

While it is possible to create interesting prints, with the right hardware and software, pigment prints (inkjet) never have the same feel as traditional process. It is simply a different medium.

[firecracker]

hello, i am not really in position to print my own negatives, but i can develop my own and then i have two options, either scan it into the computer, process and print from there, or give it to a photolab to print.i am thinking of scanning just so i can have control over the final look of the photo, but i dont know how prints look from a computer, and if the control from the computer proccessing is worth the possible loss of quality from the printer. any advice or thoughts on this? thanks you

Hi. If your goal is to make photographic prints in the future but want to check your negs beforehand, certainly scanning is one way of doing that.

But that's as much advice as I can give you because I don't what's worth losing the quality of your photos by using a scanner and/or computer.

If I were you I would ask the local lab to make contact prints on RC paper from my negs, so I could check the exposure and focus of each shot. I would start from there.

You can always search for a place to print for your own benefit if that's what you really want to do. Schools and community centers, etc are usually the good candidates for inexpensive and easily accessible darkrooms.

[jd callow]

I've moved this to the grey area.

[catem]

If you're serious about photography, you will want to have control, whether it's in the darkroom or digitally, so using a lab pobably won't be a satisfactory long-term solution. Or at least it wouldn't for me. It can tide you over, though.

I've got a foot in all camps because I do b&w in the darkroom, but scan in and print colour, occasionally I get something hand-printed in colour.

What I would say is don't underestimate the cost, in terms of finances but also in terms of learning, to set up and run a digital darkroom that will provide you with good prints - which is certainly a possibility, although I would agree they are never the same as darkroom print. If you know what inkjet prints are like, and like them for what they are (which is something a little different) then that's definitely a route to go down.

But I would also say, at the same time book onto a course in b&w printing, if nothing else it's an excellent preparation for working in the digital darkroom (and hopefully you'll realise that for b&w at least there's no comparison).

Going digital isn't an easy option, in fact, so maybe to find a course would be a good idea, that included an intro to photoshop, and scanning and printing, so you know a bit about what's involved before you make the decision....Good luck!

[Gary Holliday]

If you are doing colour, I would scan your negs, photoshop them and then get a pro lab to print onto proper photographic paper instead of awful looking inket paper.

B&W, I do not think I could let anyone process my prints, as the final result is very subjective and you have a choice of paper finishes when printing in the darkroom.

Scanning is an art in itself and some negs do not scan well. The C-41 BW films scan well as do transparencies.

What is the problem with the darkroom?

[JBrunner]

I would add that a stunning 11x14 silver gelatin print from my darkroom costs just over $1, with about $700 invested in equipment. Making a decent 11x14 pigment print costs me just over $3 with about $4500 invested in equipment and software, and that equipment and software, and my skill at using it, will be outdated and obsolete in 2 years. My darkroom skills will stay with me.

The silver gelatin prints sell better, and for much more money than the pigment prints.

[ElectricLadyland]

excellent. thanks for the advicefor those concerned, i shoot b&w 35mm. one thing i am unsure of is the quality of print from printers. but regardless, the consesus seems to be that traditional prints are much better. i am sure i could find a way into a local university darkroom or something, untill it is practical to build my own. thanks for the responses.

[Gary Holliday]

one thing i am unsure of is the quality of print from printers.

That's half the battle!

[Ara Ghajanian]

I'm in pretty much in the same boat as you. I cannot set up a darkroom, yet I want photographic quality prints. I don't agree with sending your negs to a lab for printing; printing is a subjective thing especially with black and white.

What I did was to buy a super high quality scanner (Nikon Coolscan V), did very slight editing in PS (usually only cropping and setting levels/curves) and sent the files to a lab that accepts digital files and prints on photographic paper. My choice was White House Custom Color (www.whcc.com). Their quality is excellent and the prices are so low that it makes it not worth buying an inkjet printer which requires a lot of tweeking to get a decent print and tons of money in toner and paper. I just had a 35mm TMAX400 negative (hand held available light photo) printed to 16x20 and the result blew my mind. Of course it was a bit grainy, but the grain was sharp and the image itself was excellent from a decent viewing distance.

For me to set up a darkroom and buy 16x20 paper and find the room to set up 4 20x24 trays with chemistry is just not possible. But for $11.75 I got a print that would have cost me many sheets of 16x20 paper and many hours to produce with the same quality.

I do have to stress the fact that I am an extremely adept Photoshop user having used the program daily at work for over 10 years. Plus I have a degree in photography and have printed B&W traditionally for many years. Also, I've used many professional quality scanners. For a relative beginner there is a quite learning curve with scanners and PS. You may want to chose a path and stick to it before investing the necessary time and money.
Ara