Is color printing easy?

Wayne wrote:
 > laura halliday wrote:
 >
 >
  >>Colour transparency prints (Ilfochrome) are obscenely
  >>expensive but easy to get right. They are very nearly
  >>idiot-proof.
 >
 >
 > I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you mean
 > it is easy to get satisfactory results with Ilfochrome. I would agree
 > with that, and wouldnt want to discourage anyone from trying because it
 > isnt a difficult process. But it does take time to master it-or so I've
 > heard, because I havent done so despite having done quite a bit.
 >

I have not done it in some time because the contrast was so difficult to
control. I used the paper then available for the P30 process and it proved to
contrasty to deal with the intense negatives I was trying to print. I was doing
five minute exposures with 3 minutes of dodging to try to get both shadows and
highlights. I understand that some lower contrast papers were introduced a few
years ago.

On a sidelight, I left the P30 chemistry in brown plastic chemical containers.
After a couple years I noticed that the white paint on the shelf next to the
bottles had gone yellow. Powerful stuff!!!

Last comment. Homebrewing is probably not possible. In order to save costs I
looked into it. It is not the developer that is the problem. The developer is
a B&W developer. It is the bleach. I found a (partial?) list of ingredients
either on the internet or in Photo Techniques magazine. But locating vendors of
the chemicals was nearly impossible. And some of them were obscenely expensive
on their own.


Francis A. Miniter<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Is color printing easy? 

In article <1112256794.822995.265370 RemoveThis @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"narke" <steven RemoveThis @lczmsoft.com> wrote:

 > I'm currently considering buy a enlarger mainly for B&W work. I am not
 > very sure whether I should buy a enlarger which can do color printing
 > also. so, if color printing is not so hard than B&W, i may like to buy
 > a enlarger which can also do color, if the answer is not, i will save
 > money and buy a dedicated B&W enlarger.
 >
IMHO I'd suggest working with B&W only at first and leave color for
another day. With B&W, it's relatively inexpensive and quick a test
print and the full print can be had in just 5 minutes or so. Also you
can use safelights when working with B&W papers. All color is done in
darkness and unless you know your way around your darkroom well, the
possibility of making expensive mistakes is increased.

Buying a color enlarger seems to make sense at the beginning - My first
(and only) enlarger was a Durst 35mm with a color head. I found I was
able to use the color filters with most multigrade papers. However I
never did use it for color as my darkroom was in a loft which was
difficult to cool in summer and very cold in winter.

So, go for B&W now and if you do went to dabble with color, a cheaper
alternative would be to scan slides and negs and produce digital prints
via a photo quality printer - I do realize this cannot be classified as
darkroom use, but digital manipulation is probably much easier than
color in the darkroom. This is not to say go the digital road -
transparencies provide the best way of displaying photos to many people,
rather color work in the darkroom is expensive in equipment and
chemistry as well as time.

I experimented a lot with lith film, all types of panchromatic film and
B&W papers and enjoyed many hours in my darkroom.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Is color printing easy? 

Narke, I saw some explanations about the dichroic head having built-in
fiulters, but that explanation doesn't go far enough. Regular color filters
are dyed sheets of acetate or gelatin placed in a drawer above the negative
(acetate) or in a holder under the lens (gelatin) to adjust the color in
your print.

A dichroic filter is a special glass filter coated with a metallized
material which reflects certain colors and passes the opposite color. These
dichroic filters are adjusted by a cam driven mechanism which moves more or
less of the filter into the light path close to the lamp. This is done
before the diffusion section of your enlarger. The dichroic filters do not
fade with reasonable use like the dyed filters will.

You can use a combination of the magenta (for higher) and yellow (for lower)
filters with variable contrast B&W papers, giving you infinite control, to a
better degree than the typical 1/2 grade choice you obtain with specialized
contrast filters made for those papers.

For the slight additional cost, I would recommend getting this dichroic
"color head" which will allow you to try color printing any time you are
ready. These enlargers also usually come with a voltage regulating power
sourcce, providing more stable exposures for your basic B&W work, an added
benefit.

"narke" <steven.DeleteThis@lczmsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1112317466.108717.206300@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
 > For color printer, some people mentioned dichroic head, some people
 > mentioned color filters. I can understand color filters, and deduced
 > from your articles, I believe that color filters in a color printer can
 > yield better result than filters for a b&w printer. but, for the
 > dichroic head, i have no any ideal, what is it?
 >
 > -
 > narke
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Is color printing easy? 

Bernie,

after read your message, i decided to buy a color head enlarger!
thanks for your advice, specially for the use of ' infinite ' when
talking about the control capability!

-
narke
 >> Stay informed about: Is color printing easy?