Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/06/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks Darrell. Please share some of the images with us. I am sure we can all learn as you progress, and teach us some tricks of the trade... I have yet to take the plunge into digital dark room yet. I think I will buy the Digilux, and I suppose the next logical step is to try my hand at Photoshop, etc. Very costly I see. Elliot - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darrell Jennings" <darrell_jennings@yahoo.com> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 7:43 PM Subject: Re: [Leica] Report on putting in a digital darkroom.... > Sure, prices are pretty public on this stuff. > > The PC was $2900 with an 18" flat screen monitor > (looked at a Dell and a build it myself option, the > Dell was $800 more and had a 19" monitor, the build it > myself was about the same as the Gateway. The printers > were $1800 (for the two of them new)...you can buy > these used on eBay for a lot less, but this is old > technology and I was concerned about the condition of > what I would get as it might have been used in an > office or seen really heavy duty (and especially since > there were so many things that were not officially > supported, so new it was). The Photoshop I got as an > upgrade for $229 because I had Photoshop Elements > packaged with my scanner. The scanner was about $375. > The Genuine Fractals come in two flavors one for about > $200 and one for about $300 depending on which version > of 2.5 you get....or if you have GF, as Tim pointed > out the upgrades are very reasonable. > > The inks, software and a few packs of paper (about 150 > sheets of 8.5x11 and 100 of 17x22) was pretty > expensive at about $1,700. Of this a little over $700 > was for the software so was a one time expense. They > tell me the inks last a long time...I hope so. > > All told with equipment, software, paper, inks, racks > to put it on, lights to shine in the printers so I can > see to clean them, etc. it was about $7,500. > > > --- "Dr. Elliot Puritz" <drpuritz@bellsouth.net> > wrote: > > Thanks Darrell. > > > > Would it be impolite to ask for some sort of > > estimate as to cost for such a > > project? > > > > Elliot > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Darrell Jennings" > > <darrell_jennings@yahoo.com> > > To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> > > Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 5:09 PM > > Subject: [Leica] Report on putting in a digital > > darkroom.... > > > > > > > I mentioned a few days ago that I would get back > > with > > > a posting on my experience putting in a digital > > > darkroom over the past 10 days. > > > > > > I used Tina Manley's set up as a bench mark, and > > > installed: > > > > > > -Gateway 700 series Windows XP with 2.36GHz > > Pentium 4 > > > with a 120 Gig hard drive. > > > -Photoshop 7.0 > > > -Genuine Fractals 2.5 > > > -(2) Epson 3000 printers > > > -(2) Epson supplied parallel to USB cables > > > - Epson 2450 scanner > > > - An old HP Laser Jet for printing plain text > > > documents. > > > -John Cones Quad Black inks with the custom Cones > > > Plugin for Photoshop. > > > -Generations Color inks with Cones profiles for > > the > > > various Cones supplied papers. > > > > > > The driving item in this was the desire to use the > > > Cones and Generations inks and their > > plugin/profile > > > software. I would probably have gone with an > > Apple, > > > but the Cones plugin was having trouble in the Mac > > OS > > > X environment and PS7 that they were not having in > > PS7 > > > and XP (though PS7 is still not officially > > supported > > > on either platform). > > > > > > I discovered that one of the major concerns facing > > > anyone wanting to get a digital darkroom is the > > issue > > > of compatability. > > > > > > All the vendors only sell their "current" > > > product...none will sell you their previous > > release > > > unless you happen to find a retailer that has an > > old > > > one sitting around. None of the programs you buy > > (or > > > hardware for that matter) will "officially" work > > with > > > anything but the previous releases. Bottom line > > is > > > that you can not buy a digital darkroom from > > scratch > > > with "offical" support. > > > > > > ...Luckily reality is not quite that bad. I never > > had > > > my request for tech support turned down because > > "we > > > don't support that yet"... > > > > > > I now have everything working (with the exception > > of > > > having to wait for a new release of Quad Black > > inks > > > that are supposed to be here tomorrow). > > > > > > The big problems were. > > > 1. Getting the Epson 3000's to work using Epson > > inks > > > (a requirement BEFORE you install the Cones inks). > > > Issues were: (a)my confusion over the fact that XP > > > adds printer drivers if you don't use the default > > > drivers that come in XP...so you appear to have > > four > > > Epson 3000 printers instead of two; (b) using USB > > > ports to run the printers (some at Epson said no > > > problem, others disagreed...in the end USB worked > > if > > > you buy the Epson cable at $40 each);and, (c)the > > > biggie...getting Cones Wells River paper to feed > > > through the printers (a trip to the local Epson > > repair > > > facility and instruction on cleaning the feeder > > "feet" > > > from a kindly technician fixed it). Seems that (at > > > least the box that I got) Wells River paper has a > > lot > > > of residue on it and requires the printer feeders > > to > > > be cleaned with Q-Tips about every three > > > prints...think I'll switch to another paper when > > this > > > box is done. And to be fair...if you brush the > > paper > > > before feeding it you only have to clean the > > printer > > > about every 10 prints. > > > > > > 2. Clogged print heads from the Cones Quad Black > > inks. > > > First print looked nice, but needed a bit of PS > > > tweaking to bring up the contrast. Second print > > was > > > outstanding. Third print...heads were clogged. > > > Multiple cleanings, "Windexing" the heads over > > night, > > > reloading Cones cleaning fluid twice, and finally > > > reloading the original Epson inks and then the > > Cones > > > cleaning fluid again have cleaned out the clogs. > > Cones > > > have just brought out new (this week) Quad Black > > inks > > > that are supposed to be much less prone to > > clogging > > > and I should get my replacements tomorrow. > > > > > > 3. Documention on the Generations inks needs to > > > improve. A 10 minute call to tech support at Ink > > Jet > > > Mall and my prints went from bad to great, but a > > few > > > pages of text telling me what the support guy > > covered > > > would help. The documentation is generally > > written > > > around a slightly differnent Epson printer and > > > different Epson driver...makes it tough to follow, > > and > > > still doesn't cover what you need to know to get > > the > > > print done. > > > > > > Overall I am happy with the results. If you plan > > to > > > implement something like the above, plan on > > spening > > > quite a bit of time (in my case over a week at 4 > > to 8 > > > hours a day) getting everything hooked up, > > > loaded/tested/reloaded, and reading enough of the > > > documentation to at least get started. Also plan > > on: > > > (a) a steep learning curve if you (like me) had > > very > > > limited experience with PS and digital imagaging, > > and; > > > (b)lots of experience learning to clean print > > heads > > > and feeder "feet" on the 3000. If you use a > > different > > > Epson printer your experience may be a bit > > differnt. I > > > went with the 3000 both on Tina's recommendation, > > and > > > because it holds up to 17X44 inch paper. > > > > > > Finally, I'd like to thank Tina, Sonny, and > > several > > > others on the list that helped me out over long > > hours > > > of trying to get this stuff to work. > > > > > > I'd be happy to help anyone attempting this for > > the > > > first time with anything I learned in the process. > > > I'm sure no expert, but I did enough stuff wrong > > to > > > have picked up a few tips on the front end. DJ > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > > Do You Yahoo!? > > > Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup > > > http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com > > > -- > > > To unsubscribe, see > > http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, see > http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup > http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html