[Leica] Who still has a darkroom?

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

On 5/15/04 8:35 AM, "Thomas Pastorello" <etruscello@yahoo.com> wrote:

>  Not long ago I was able to sell my Omega D-2 4x5
> enlarger, with Aristo cold light and an Omega dichroic
> head (adapted to filter through 6" condensers). In a
> nostalgic farewell, I sold three beautiful Rodenstock
> Rodagon lenses as well.  My Epson Perfection 3200
> flatbed scanner replaces this outfit and does an
> exceptional job with my 4x5 negatives for blow-ups to
> 13"x19" on the Epson 2000P printer. (And watercolor
> paper or archival matte behind glass adequately
> replaces my gorgeous Agfa Portriga fiber papers).
> Fortunately, I was not able to quickly sell my Omega
> C760 enlarger (for formats up to 6x7).  I say it is
> fortunate I did not sell it because I found such a
> wonderful "digital" use for it that I would now never
> part with it!
>  I use the C760 now to digitally "scan" 35mm slides
> and negatives and get beautiful results that rival the
> quality of the output of my Canoscan 4000 but with far
> greater speed!  I remove the dichroic head from the
> enlarger and place it upside down on the baseboard.
> In place of the head, I mount my Nikon D100 with
> Nikkor 60mm f2.8 1:1 Micro lens.  (Omega sells a
> camera mount to allow the conversion of the enlarger
> into a copy stand.)  For slides, I set the dichroic
> head for white, the D100 for tungsten light, and the
> lens for 1:1 and very quickly convert slides into high
> resolution, sharp and well color-balanced digital
> images.  For negatives, I get the same exceptional
> results after setting the filtration of the dichroic
> head to compensate for the orange mask of the
> negatives.  Of course the digital files for the
> negatives are in color inverted form, but that is
> quickly corrected in Photoshop with one menu click.
> (Just one other note about Photoshop:  I find that if
> I set the D100 to sharp, I should not use any
> sharpening in Photoshop or else the film grain becomes
> too apparent in large blow-ups.)(Just one other note
> about the D100: I set it to monitor highlight
> overexposure -- this works wonders for contrast
> control.)
>  So yes, in some sense I still use a darkroom but my
> transition to digital is now complete.  The work I do
> with the C760 is no longer in the dark.  I enjoy the
> speed and quality of the new process; but of my old
> routine, I miss the comfort of its womb-like
> atmosphere, the sound of my metronome against the
> backdrop of soft classical music, the sight of
> tray-bound images slowly emerging to life in the warm
> orange glow of the darkroom...
>  Tom 
> 
> 
> 
No offence Tom but this kind of stuff, positive as I am about digital I find
crushingly disheartening. It takes out my will to live. Although I hate to
overstate things. I hope your D2 has gone on to a better afterlife with a
new master.


Mark Rabiner
Photography
Portland Oregon



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