Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/09/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]A while back, Mark wrote: >>Please do not spare our precious low tech cloth shutter sensibilities about >>the Lightjets! >>Inkjets with Lasers!? >>How do they compare with the Ciba or a c print or other printing. I am very >>interested and my guess is others would be too!. >>Mark Rabiner I answered with two web sites, http://www.calypsoinc.com/ and http://www.cymbolic.com/ . But failed to answer the Ciba - LightJet comparison question. LightJet prints are awesome in their own right. They have a sense of smooth realism to them. As I mentioned earlier, my 48x60's are so sharp it is mind boggling. LightJets do not inherently have the contrast of Ciba's. No mask needed. Perhaps a Photo Shop tweak or two. A good Ciba print looks "alive". A good LightJet is gorgeous, but lacks that "photo-quality" look. When making very large Ciba prints, enlarger optics and enlarger spec's play heavily on the quality of the result. A 48x96 (max size) LightJet will look exactly like an 8x10 LightJet. There are no optical/mechanical gotcha's in the way. Only scan size and computer profiling. Once done, size is not an issue. For sheer photographic beauty, I'll choose a Ciba print any day. They just have that look. Ciba prints are more expensive than LightJet prints as well. That is, after the scan. Jim