Digital BW, The Print

Well, *I'm* certainly stepping into this conversation at an  
interesting time...

Here in Gotham, I'm fortunate enough to have a gaggle of big labs in  
Manhattan, and one really on-top-of-things minilab a few blocks away  
from home in Brooklyn. About 80% of my shooting is 35mm film, and  
about 80% of *that* is C41 (color and chromogenic b/w). Since I've  
been scanning my film and printing since 1998, the only thing I've  
needed a lab to do since then is properly process the film and hand  
it back to me, uncut. "Hybrid" isn't just something you drive. :-)

(The conventional b/w film I shoot gets processed by me. Doesn't take  
much to do, and I enjoy it.)

The one digital camera in my possession is a very-recently acquired  
Nikon Coolpix P6000, which I'm getting on quite nicely with, and is  
crazy-easy to carry along with my film gear. I abandoned film SLRs  
for rangefinders nearly a decade back, tiring of heavy bodies and  
heavier glass. (I did some shooting with a Canon 5D for a while;  
let's just say it was a strong reminder of why I gave up SLRs in the  
first place.)

When I can afford a pair of M9s, maybe I'll change my tune.

Back on topic: like I said, there are more than a few labs here you  
can send film out to, such as Manhattan Color, Modernage, the usually- 
reliable Duggal, LTI, and about a half-dozen others, including one or  
two I used to work for well over a dog's age ago.


- Barrett