Digital BW, The Print

From: "jnhugo" <jacknadelle@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 4:25 PM
Subject: [Digital BW] silver vs ink


> along the same lines as digital vs film etc. i think it is important
> to note that regardless of which one is "better" silver or ink that
> there is almost no doubt that these are the last few years were we
> willl have the option one or the other. I have been struggling with
> digital printing of negatives shot over the last few decades with
> fairly good results-but I am in the process of renting a wet darkroom
> to keep printing silver. I think the materials will only be available
> for the next few years, for sure less than a decade.
> A silver print vs ink print for better or worse is a different
> species, but a species that is going to be as hard to find ever again
> as a unicorn.
>
Hugo,

Actual I think that silver based materials will continue to be with us
indefinitely. If you check out all of the historic methods of photographic
printing they are still in use today from salt prints, albumen,
daguerreotypes, etc. At last count there were about 90 different silver
papers available for printing. The current situation is much better than it
was in the early 70's. As thick emulsion films went out of production at the
big companies, smaller outfits like Berger have filled the gap.

Also consider modern printing technology such as the LightJet which prints
on silver paper. I would buy an affordable desktop version of the LightJet
if it would print on Oriental VC paper!

It is not so much that anything is going to suddenly disappear but that we
will have more options and the cost will shift as things are no longer mass
produced or are produced in lower volumes.

This is a time of great change for B&W printing and there may be
technologies around the corner that we have not even imagined yet.

Martin Wesley