> Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2002 17:08:42 -0500
> From: "Ed Mathews" <ed@...>
> Subject: RE: lambda BW - again!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Hartzell [mailto:hartzell@...]
> Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2002 3:40 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] lambda BW - again!
>
>
> <snip>
> Does anyone have any experience with black and white prints from a
> Lambda, a Durst [sic?], a LightJet, a Frontier, or any of the other
> "paint the image with light on real photo paper" type systems?
> <snip>
>
> I had a wedding not long ago where the bride ordered a lot of B&W prints
> from me. The originals were color negatives, scanned by my lab and
> printed via their Frontier. The lab is owned by a wedding photographer
> and they do the best job of any lab I've used. Their color prints are
> fantastic. The B&W prints from the Frontier were (IMO) just OK. They
> were good enough for the bride and family, but nothing like the
> traditional optical silver prints I make on fiber. They had an obvious
> "dye" look about them and there was no glow or beauty to them. The
> black was acceptable, but not deep enough for me. The gradations were
> smooth but the midtones seemed to me to be suffering a little in that
> there was not enough separation and they appeared a little "muddy". I
> would not hesitate to order them again for most clients, but you and I
> know there are much better B&W options, whereas most laypeople really
> aren't as picky. On a scale of 1-10 where an original Ansel Adams print
> is a 10, my silver prints on fiber are a 7 or 8, I'd give these about a
> 5.5. But then, remember this was from an original Portra NC color
> negative (not much contrast), with no local manipulation in the printing
> process either.
>
> Thanks,
> Ed
> http://lightandsilver.com <http://lightandsilver.com/>