Digital BW, The Print

> ... Good inkjet paper with
> pigment is more expensive than good silver paper, 

Not the way I do it.

Eboni in an 1800 using the 3-MK approach plus a paper like Red River Aurora
or even Epson Scrapbook/Premier Art 205 is probably significantly cheaper
per page than darkroom paper and chemicals.  

Additionally, we'll see how the experimenters fare with long term use of the
dilute Eboni with my stripped down base (water + glycerol + a few drops of
Photo Flo).  So far, I've seen no problems with it, and it drops the ink
prices to almost the same as the 3-MK approach for all Epson printers.  

> plus there's the printer. 

For 8x10s the 280 and C88 are really cheap, and the 1400 for 13" paper is
not bad either.  In fact, my refurbished 1800 was very reasonable.

On the other side we have the enlarger, lenses, etc. plus the additional
real estate costs for the darkroom.  Let's not forget another major benefit
of the inkjet printer -- no smelly chemicals.

For those who want to hold down costs, the inkjet approach can be very
affordable.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com