Colour neg analyser suggestions?

[Dave Dawson]

Hi All, I intend to get back into colour neg printing and am wondering which is the 'best' analyser to buy.

With the wealth of experiance on here.....What do you guys (and lasses) recommend?

Considerations are...price, ease of use, setting up etc.

Thanks Dave

[Thomas Wilson]

Kodak Color Print Viewing Filters.
Lee equivalent at Freestyle for $50.00.

[Dave Dawson]

Perhaps the question I should have asked first is....Who has perfect colour balance eyes to interpret the results? Probably everyone see's colour different so how does the printer know when he (or she) gets a 'perfect balanced' print?
Cheers Dave

[Thomas Wilson]

Is not the first step to using a color analyzer calibration, using a perfectly balanced print?

[Thomas Wilson]

how does the printer know when he (or she) gets a 'perfect balanced' print?
Cheers Dave

By a system of trial and error,viewing the print through the Color Print Viewing Filters. Only after you have established a benchmark for your film & paper emulsion, chemistry, time and temperature, can you null the channels in your analyzer. This should give you consistent results, assuming no change in lighting from beginning to end of the roll.

Any time you change any portion of your process, including paper size, film emulsion, etc, the analyzer must be re-calibrated.

The short answer is if you can calibrate your analyzer, you probably don't need one.

[Dave Dawson]

Ahh, But what is a perfect colour (sorry spelt the UK way !) print? i.e. Is there a test neg with the 'perfect' result produced by say Kodak?
That indicates the printer is very near perfect.

Cheers Dave

[wiltw]

Ahh, But what is a perfect colour (sorry spelt the UK way !) print? i.e. Is there a test neg with the 'perfect' result produced by say Kodak?
That indicates the printer is very near perfect.

Cheers Dave

Kodak has published an array of the same shot which needs various levels of color correction, to the smallest level (05CC) and this can be used to help assess neutral reproduction, and then the color analyzing meter can be set to null at that filtration level.

[randyB]

Years ago, I was a custom color printer and I found that I could make 2-3 test strips in the time it took to calibrate the analyzer. In my situation it was difficult to use an analyzer as I operated 3 different enlargers. It does take a bit of time to "see" color correctly but with practice you should get quite good. The tool I used the most was the viewing filters.

[OldBikerPete]

Years ago, I was a custom color printer and I found that I could make 2-3 test strips in the time it took to calibrate the analyzer. In my situation it was difficult to use an analyzer as I operated 3 different enlargers. It does take a bit of time to "see" color correctly but with practice you should get quite good. The tool I used the most was the viewing filters.

You are all missing the point of a color analyser.
The point of a color analyser is the ability to exactly reapeat one particular color without having to resort to test strips - which are MUCH more onerous in color than B&W.
You calibrate it once for a batch of papers, then use it.

The particular color you wish to repeat can be skin tones, an 18% grey (the recommended). Personally, I used to use white as the standard when I was shooting weddings.
If your subject doesn't have a standard color, then you need to include a shot of your standard color at least once in each batch of film and in each film development run.

Repeatability is the aim.

======================

When I was doing wet-printing in color I designed and built my own based on a photomultiplier tube and a fibre-optic probe.
It has four channels of calibration, so one could have four batches of paper in use at a time.

I no longer use it. You are welcome to it for the cost of postage.

Edit: It runs on 230V AC.

[randyB]

Your situation is/was nothing like mine. An analyzer may work for you since you print only your own negs and you have control of each step of the process. An analyzer may work for the OP if he wishes to duplicate your operating procedures. My point is that you don't have to have an analyzer to consistantly make a high quality print. The best "analyzer" is your brain and your ability to recognize the color you want, which comes with practice. In my job I operated 3 different format color enlargers (35mm, 6x7, 4x5) printing negs of 126, 35mm, 620, 120, 4x5 size, both c22 and c41 type films from Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, and a bunch of mystery color films making enlargments from 5x7 to 16x20 on glossy and matte finish paper, as you can see nothing is consistant.