Digital BW, The Print

In the hunt for monitors, I've had great success with a company called
Monitor Onsale ( www.monitoronsale.com ). They're a click 'n mortar selling
mostly refurbished items at very good prices. I've gotten three or four
monitors over the years from them, both for myself and for clients, and have
been absolutely satisfied. I have two running right now, one of which I
bought more than two years ago. They sell loads of Viewsonics...have the 21"
G810 for $189 right now. You have to keep an eye on stock and be ready to
pounce as they sometimes have the "pro series" monitors available, too.
FWIW, I have a G810, which is only from the "graphics series," and I find it
quite good. 

Happy Hunting,
Matthew Born

I processed a roll of B&W last weekend...first time in 20 years. The advent
of digital printing has made it a possibility for me, since all I need is
chemicals and a changing bag. Went like a dream...then I produced the
nastiest, grainiest, flatest pix I've ever taken. Hideously dark negs. I
trawled the net for a few hours, talked to my dad (a very seasoned
photographer & traditional darkroom guy) and couldn't find anything that
would account for that. I mean, I know over agitation and warm chemicals
cand produce the effect to some degree, but this was pretty bad, and I had
religiously followed Illford's guidelines in an effort to start off from a
baseline. Five days later, I checked the meter in my old Olympus OM1...yep,
you guessed it, overexposing by about 4 stops. (I use it a lot, but always
with a handheld meter.) Something here about forrests and trees...