Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/03/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi David, comments below..... < It's refreshing to hear someone talking about photographic paper. It's a rarity these days, even on the LUG. > Thanks - threads seem to have been a little wayward recently - anything to do with photography was *almost* OT :-) < A good silver image is much more difficult to create than a good ink jet image. I've put time and materials into both and conventional printing takes a whole lot more effort. And not just on the printing end. Analog printing demands a better negative; which means better exposure, better development, and even better composition. It demands more skill, time and/or money throughout the entire photographic process. The question I ask is 'does that leads to overall higher quality output, as well?' (I think it very well may)> I'd agree with you - to a point. Having recently acquired a scanner and decent inkjet printer (for colour work) I would say the end result is only as good as the original transparency or negative. Not owning a digital camera, I can't really say whether the same applies to a purely digital shot - although I have seen some pretty ropey stuff taken with a high-end camera such as a D30. I think you still need the basic skills and knowledge, irrrespective of whether it is analogue or digital. < Digital's big draw is that it's faster, easier and supposedly cheaper.> Faster yes - cheaper - not judging by the cost of paper and inks! <Are there traps we can fall into with digital? Such as, if we think we can fix things in the printing cycle does that make us less careful the moment we fire the shutter. > Yes, but the same argument can be applied to both - especially if you use materials such as colour negative or chromogenic B&W, which have massive exposure lattitudes. At the end of the day it's down to what the photographer deems to be *acceptable* <Can we get snapshot syndrome, i.e. "who cares if it's no good, it didn't cost me anything." I know I've visited both mindsets more than once. > Yes! On balance I prefer silver halide. You can't beat the buzz of seeing a 'fine' print coming out of the fix. The moment the white light comes on is still magical. Inkjets are nice but don't give me the same satisfaction. Regards Mark Pope Swindon Wilts, UK http://www.monomagic.co.uk http://www.leica-gallery.net/mark-pope http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.pope4/Galleries/PAW/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html