Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/09/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>From experience, digital isn't that much of a time saver...unless you >have [snip] It is a significant time sink having to print, as it takes >about one minute per 4x6 print, and...the time to get the >image into PS, and set-up the printer etc. Changing inks, head >cleaning...the list goes on. Anyone who believes they are, in the long >run, going to save time isn't being realistic. i can only speak from my own experience but this hasn't been the case at all. digital printing IS indeed slow (1 minute per image seems a fair estimate) HOWEVER, that's significantly faster than printing b&w in my darkroom, which is a SERIOUS pain in the ass and takes a whole evening. (how long does it take to make 1 4x5 b&w if you include mixing chemicals, pouring trays, test exposure, print, fix, wash, dry, cleanup, i don't even want to think about it) the way i do digital printing is this: open up all the images i want to print in photoshop. add borders (i think this looks nice) send them to the printer. go to lunch. come back, they're done. >Well, it costs about $1 per print from a digital printer...so I'm not >seeing the significant money savings. For me to buy the film, develop >nd get double 4x6 prints from a 36 roll costs me about $17. The same >hing from digital would cost me $72... we could be at cross scales here, but i never print 36 exposures from a digital "roll" of film. i'm lucky if i get one image out of 36 that i want to print. so rather than paying $17 to print 36 photos i usually print 1 or 2. (or none, sometimes i just email/post/ftp) and if it's $1 a print, that's money saved. and talk about saving time when making multiple copies of your portfolio! i also have a multi-meg PDF file of my portfolio which i can dump to CD and mail out. digital's nice. it's not as fun as my m6 but i hate the process between pushing the shutter and seeing the result. and i hate the darkroom. and i hate developing film. and i hate spending money to have someone else develop it. mostly all i'm paying for now is $5 DVD's to store the images on.... that's just me though, speaking anticdotally. your mileage may vary. kc - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html