[Wombat]

Yesterday I bought an ME-F with an M50 f1.4 on it. The ME wouldn't have been my first choice for getting back into film photography, but I really wanted the lens and the whole package was under $200. Having played with it for a day I'm a very, very happy chappie. Do you sometimes make a purchase that you hadn't budgeted for and come out of the shop feeling guilty and a little bit depressed? Well, there was none of that - it's been wriggle, wag and jump up and down all day. It feels like I've just come home.

Now my questions. I've re-read the responses to the thread I posted a while back about minimizing water usage in developing the negs, and I'll follow all that helpful advice. Now I'd love to know your thoughts on developing prints in the darkroom vs using a high-end inkjet. I've got an Epson Stylus Photo 2100 A3+ printer, which really does a beautiful job with my K100 files. It would seem a good idea to use it for printing the B&Ws I'll be getting from this "new" camera and of course it's a waterless process. But how will this printer stack up against a print made in a darkroom in terms of getting those luscious tones we all love in B&W? Those who use inkjets, what's your preferred paper? (I like Archival Matte). How does inkjet photo paper differ from darkroom developing paper? Can you use the latter in an inkjet? What is your collective rede on this matter?

I'm so overjoyed to have a film camera in my hands again. I've been wandering around all day with it slung around my neck. My wife's happy for me but I think I'd better take it off for dinner...

BTW, I also bought the 2008 edition of The Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing, by Rob Sheppard and it's really excellent. It pushes Epson printers, obviously, but there's a mountain of first-class material that's generally useful for printing with any brand. I'll post a full review when I've read it thoroughly.

[séamuis]

I cant comment on your question as Ive never done any of my own printing. Id just like to say that the ME-F is a damn fine camera, I own one myself.

[Nesster]

I also recommend Harald Johnson: Mastering Digital Printing as a good resource.

Printing b&w - I use an Epson R1800 - can be a little tricky with ink jets, as the printer / driver try to create a true neutral grey gradient. To make things easier, and to emulate what real photo printing actually produces, the best approach is to tone your file after b&w conversion. And not necessarily the same tone all the way, split toning or equivalent mixing of curves and colorize levels makes for a far more successful print. I've downloaded some selenium, platinum etc curves that work nicely in <100% opacity.

Doing this gives a very nice inkjet print, one that can have many of the qualities of the best papers of yesteryear. But, this still isn't the quality of a really good photographic print. (Go to an exhibition of older art photos to see what was possible. Papers used to have heavy metals which gave them character tone and depth that isn't possible any longer.)

Darkroom paper is not the same as ink printing paper. While you could experiment, you'll get the best results from papers coated especially for inkjet inks. The coating technology is designed to optimize the ink droplets, so the gamut is maximized. With uncoated rag, I find I need to do a lot of trial and error to get something that's not washed out or blocked.

Printing in general - whether darkroom or inkjet - opens up a whole new area of learning and post-production! What works on screen may not be optimal on paper. You will want to apply local tweaks. But it's all so much fun!

Here are a couple of places I've used and learned from:
Inkjetart.com : Welcome
Photo printers

[Wombat]

[QUOTE=Nesster;373077] I've downloaded some selenium, platinum etc curves that work nicely in <100% opacity.[QUOTE]

Could you explain that a bit more? Where do you download curves from and are they PS plugins?

[QUOTE]Darkroom paper is not the same as ink printing paper.[QUOTE]

I realized what a dumb question that was as soon as I re-read my post! Of course, darkroom paper is light-sensitive and woud be ruined in a split second if it were shoved in a printer. Duh!

Here are a couple of places I've used and learned from:
Inkjetart.com : Welcome
Photo printers

Thanks for those. I'd been looking for the second one since I came across it some months ago and forgot to bookmark it.
(Sorry, haven't got the hang of multi-quotes yet).

And Seamuis you're right, I'm really enjoying the ME-F already. It's so simple to use and feels solid and reliable.

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Last edited by Wombat; 10-22-2008 at 04:31 AM.

[Nesster]

Could you explain that a bit more? Where do you download curves from and are they PS plugins?

I did a few googles looking for the various approaches to toning. I tried out the split tone technique and didn't get on well with it. Then I looked into curves and found I could manage these.

Specifically, I googled 'selenium curve' I think... when I get back home I can look at the specific file names and types. They aren't plug ins, rather, they are saved curves. When you apply a curve, you can name and save it, and then select it later for reuse. That's what these are.

[titrisol]

There is a set of inks for BW, it consist of different gray types instead of the CMYK inks.

Also using the GIMP you can simulate the look of selenium, gelatin, even cyanotypes and those look good. www.gumpguru.org has good tutorials

[Wombat]

There is a set of inks for BW, it consist of different gray types instead of the CMYK inks.

Also using the GIMP you can simulate the look of selenium, gelatin, even cyanotypes and those look good. www.gumpguru.org has good tutorials

Thanks, mate. I use Gimp so I'll look into that. And yes, I've got the special inks and they do make a difference.