color printing @ home
J D'Armond
In the past I have done b&W printing. However I have never tried color
printing.
How difficult is it in a home environment?
Has Cibachrome become easier to do in the past 15 yrs?
How much do you estimate it would cost to get started from scratch?
Thanks for the info
Jackson
Greg Thomas
Hello! I think I can comment very well on your questions as me and my
fiance have just finished building a color darkroom from scratch. We
are using a part of the basement that we sectioned off. We had to build
a whole new room which cost about $800-$1000. But we did it right
(correctly). Then there's the matter of the equipment. We spent
another $1200 just on that. The paper is a bit more expensive as are
the chemicals. The biggest thing I don't like is that once you expose
the paper and put it into the drum, you can't see it until you are
totally finished. Whereas in b&w (as i'm sure you already know) if you
know you screwed up while the print is in the developer you can trash it
and start over. Other than those minor peaves, color printing is very
rewarding. I've heard Cibachrome is a lot easier than years ago but
have no personal experience with it and probably never will. I just got
done reading a report that the bleach used in it is extremely
carcinogenic! I hope this helps.
Greg Thomas
Garry Lee
I started printing in colour 2 years ago, after 20 y B&W.
I got a Nova vertical tank system. This is much easier and quicker than a
drum.
It takes only 2 mins for a print. It's also economical.
It's probably availabe in USA as well.
Colour is rewarding but exposure is critical, as is filtration.
I've found that nearly all negatives from a particular roll can be given
the same filtration.
I got one of those Beseler colour filtration pieces of plastic and it's far
superior to my meter.
Mark Popp
jaxnd@@exis.net (J D'Armond) wrote:
>In the past I have done b&W printing. However I have never tried color
>printing.
>How difficult is it in a home environment?
>Has Cibachrome become easier to do in the past 15 yrs?
>How much do you estimate it would cost to get started from scratch?
>Thanks for the info
>Jackson
In a house that doesn't have a "darkroom" as such, I think it's
easier to do color printing because the wet processing can be
done in the kitchen with the lights on and the equipment out on
the counter. The enlarger can be set up in any room that can be
darkened, and the lights turned on as soon as the paper is in the
drum.
Rather than pouring your chemicals out into large trays, you'll
be pouring them into the drum, a few ounces at a time.
Temperature is more critical, so you'll need a thermometer and
might want a water bath. I used to float the chemical bottles
and the drum in a plastic dishpan filled with water that was
heated with a fish tank heater. For long drums, I'd use a
plastic planter tray (like a window box).
With BW, you expose the paper for a recommended time and you
develop it for uncertain times at uncertain temperatures, (until
it looks good).
With color, you keep your development time and temperature
constant. You vary the amount of exposure based on your previous
test prints. You'll need a timer for the steps in the wet
processing. I use an inexpensive digital count-down kitchen
timer.
I don't know what BW equipment you already have, but for color,
you'll need color printing filters if you don't have a dichroic
head on the enlarger. You'll need viewing filters to help
analyze your test prints. I made an easel to do ring around test
prints and that was a big help.
I'd suggest buying a book on color printing. You could alsy try
the newsgroup: rec.photo.darkroom
Mark P.
LFORMAT
First I must tell you that I have never used the room temperature
chemistry for color printing, as I have automatic temperature control.
That aside, I can only think of 5 things that you need for color 1) Color
Filters (Beseler) 2) Neutral Gray Test Card (Kodak) 3) Paper Towel to
filter junk from developer 4) Processing tube with HOLES IN CENTER 5)
Kodak Booklet on tube processing (800-242-2424). I suspect that you can
get all this for less than one hundred dollars.
I have been color printing from negatives over 15 years and am always
amused when people start out with the assumptions that they need all kinds
of expensive stuff. You asked a reasonable question. Item 5) You will
find most useful. Kodak information is useful. You do not need 1) Color
Analyzer 2) Dichroic Color Head. Before you buy a voltage
stabilizer/regulator find out if your voltage does vary. Every time I
check my voltage it is the same!
Photographers are often non-technical people working partly in a
technical realm; advertisers and sales people know this and find
photographers an easy target for all kinds of stuff.