Digital BW, The Print

peter nelson wrote:

>
>Actually your answer is the CLOSEST one I've heard since
>starting this thread!!  As I said originally, I need to decide
>whether to make a major upgrade to my darkroom, which I
>only use for black and white.   But I was kinda hoping
>that digital black and white would soon be far enough along
>that I could get comparable results with comparable consistency
>and comparable hassle and learning curve, digitally.
>
>I want to know when that's going to happen.
>
>  
>
There isn't an easy answer...

As I've said, the answers are already different for fine-art and 
general-use prints...

There's always the option of outputting to a Lambda.

Your price point, how much time you are willing to invest in simply 
learning, and your quality requirements will all be key factors (right 
now, HIGH quality images - not just good ones - are still either very 
expensive to do in terms of equipment or learning curve - it's still a 
craftsmen's/craftswoman's field not a mainstream production field)

As for WHEN, that's still a ludicrous question.  As ludicrous as those 
who said  two or three years back, "when will I be able to buy a digital 
camera with a resolution equalling film?" Technology moves ahead, but 
you are asking for psychics not answers that technology can provide...

You sound like you want someone else to stand up, and make some 
statement, so you can hang your hat on it one way or another and feel 
like you made the "best business decision".. Then, if it turns out 
wrong, it wasn't really your decision.  The whole digital field is and 
has been for several years in constant flux.  Every serious photog has 
dealt with or is dealing with the implications of digital and where they 
stand on that timeline, along with what factors they need satisfied 
BEFORE they transition.  Please, don't ask others here to "make the 
decision for you."

AND, BTW, your tone throughout has really been that of someone who feels 
all this digital stuff is upsetting the nice organized little apple-cart 
you had spent all day stacking fruit on.  

TOO BAD.  Change is part of the human condition and you either adapt or 
perish. No-one here can tell you WHEN YOUR requirements will be 
satisfied.  However, looking at your bottom-line might be a guide.. When 
you find a good portion of your business going to digital purveyors for 
speed, etc, that might be the best time.  The people on this list tend 
to be craftsmen, obsessed with THE BEST.  But, we all forget, the public 
is obsessed not with the highest quality, but with change, technology, 
and fast results.. We live in a McDonald's world, not one of Medieval 
Guilds..

The decision really has to be yours. Asking craftsmen when it will be 
fast, reliable and easy is kind of an oxymoron in and of itself..
Keith

 

"Just some guy," and caretaker of the Multiverse's largest EPSON printer 
User Community (highly recommended by Vogon Poets and MegaDodo 
Publications), at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSONx7x_Printers/
 
"For the rest of you out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together 
guys"

 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]