Digital BW, The Print

Bruce Watson <bwyg@...> wrote:
>
> ... It seems like an excellent idea. The only problem is that 
> it's really expensive. ...

As an aside, I tried all sorts of ways to make silver prints from 
digital files early in the digital transition.  For a couple of years 
what I did that was the most affordable and very satisfying (I kept 
final control in the darkroom) was to have the local Samy's camera 
store make 8x10 internegatives using their Fujix Pictography 
machine.  The machine was never intended for this purpose, but I 
found their 400 ppi (true RGB pixels) overhead transparency media 
made fine internegs that enlarged to 16 x 20 very nicely.  My Beseler 
4x5 enlarger was easy and cheap to make an 8x10 head for, and an Apo 
Rodagon process lens was also very affordable and did a great job.

I think there clearly is demand for silver prints from digital 
files.  While I probably won't be going that route for my own prints, 
if a customer wanted to have a silver print of one of my images, I'd 
farm it out to a service bureau that had a good laser to silver 
process.  Maybe I ought to even have that as an option noted at the 
gallery.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com