Are labs now scanning and digitally printing?

[AgX]

It is optical concerning the halide side of the issue.

(I leave aside certain tweaking of the new emulsions to adapt them to this kind of optical printing.)


Maybe light-exposure printing would be a better term, covering both systems.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Hey I am all ears on this, as I do describe the unit as a huge colour enlarger with all the basic tools
I like the term light-exposure unit that uses images captured by film or digital to output silver prints and silver negs.

How long do you think this description will fly before the moderators close the discussion down or send it to the gulag that is dpug.
:munch:

It is optical concerning the halide side of the issue.

(I leave aside certain tweaking of the new emulsions to adapt them to this kind of optical printing.)


Maybe light-exposure printing would be a better term, covering both systems.

 

[Sirius Glass]

If it was optical printing I would be happy then I could talk about our Lambda services here on APUG.
I have been hesitant due to Sean's mission statement.

If your work is done all optically, I am interested; however I do have a concern about the draconian prices Canada Post and Canada Customs would add to the cost of sending my work to you.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Have you experienced your lab of choice digitally scanning your film and then digitally printing on a high end ink jet kind of printer? I had a conversation with my favorite lab of choice and they no longer offer enlarged prints created from an enlarger and souped.

Is this the future of all professional labs, especially the color labs?

Lee

Yes. Pretty much the way all pro labs are geared now. As a user of these pro high end services, the results are splendid indeed — better than Ilfochrome Classic which I laboured away at (financially, at least!) for the better part of 20 years. I frame all my prints.

 

[williamkazak]

Never heard a word back.

 

[StoneNYC]

[h=2]Are labs now scanning and digitally printing?[/h]Yes they are, and I can look back and confidently say it's been this way since 2002 when a noticeable drop off of traditional (colour) printing occurred. D printing is not a patch at all on the now-defunct and much lamented Ilfochrome and probably never will be, but the way we are going is the only way we have. Wise to skill-up on hybridising work to understand what is involved and assist the labs in getting the very best out of the image — and this is definitely not a job for Walmart or any other high street shop, only a pro lab. Input is either home-scan or drum scan (often at horrendous cost, proportional to Mb and print size). Output is on a bewildering array of papers from silk fibre to traditional very heavy way art media or film and the results are very, very good indeed. You think I'm easy to please? Na-da!! To dateI'm very happy with what I'm doing but I do miss Ilfochrome, but have saved a fortune in prints on it.

I'm really sad I can't even have one of my Kodachrome images optically printed on ilfochrome type paper, it's such a shame, I just want one image printed that way, it would be great to have both as a legacy to the film and my K64 project but also as a comparative tool so I could confidently compare scans and prints to find the closest I can to what would be possible. If anyone has any paper and would do this for me, I would mail you my favorite slide (the one no one has commented on in my gallery, the tree one from the Grand Canyon) and pay of course for the privilege.

Perhaps just one print...


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

The USA is a big place, I'm sure there is a lab somewhere in it that does short-run machine Ilfochrome prints from their last remaining stock. But I would caution: I would personally angle for masked Ilfochrome prints, not machine prints: these give the very best result, done by hand, of selectively contrast masking the image prior to matching with one of the two contrast grades of Ilfochrome media. Not all images require masking; an assessment is done by a very skilled printer.

Ilfochrome is a manual media technique. Scanning, colourimetrics, profiling, grading and RIP printing is a digital process. Each uses a very different skill set, one honed through years and years of darkroom practice and procedure; the other learnt through technical/further education, university, job experience and/or professional qualification (more commonly the latter). Comparing scans to Ilfochrome prints is like comparing an apple to a banana (at least in taste!). Ilfochrome is in a league of its own, without any real comparision. The fact we are making great strides in alternative processes and quality media means we should not be holding out for a return of Ilfochrome; just move along to other techniques.

Kodachrome is a considerably flat, less vivid media to start with when Ilfochrome's selling point is to bring out the vibrancy and punch of modern emulsions e.g. Velvia 50, 100, 100F (even early Ektachrome emulsions make an impact). Well-exposed and executed images on these emulsions will leave a lasting impact on each and every viewer who stands before a spot-illuminated Ilfochrome. Of Kodachrome, I have only seen four very large (3m across) Ilfochrome prints on display from PKL-200 in 20 years or so (with such visible and distracting grain that it was entirely forgettable). Think of the alternatives available today with modern, fine-grained emulsions and work towards skilling up in processes and just moving on. We cannot sit and tug and cry at the forelocks of a bygone era.
I'm sure that tree in the Grand Canyon slide you mention is worthy of positive commentary. After all, the simplest compositions are often the most successful!

 

[StoneNYC]

The USA is a big place, I'm sure there is a lab somewhere in it that does short-run machine Ilfochrome prints from their last remaining stock. But I would caution: I would personally angle for masked Ilfochrome prints, not machine prints: these give the very best result, done by hand, of selectively contrast masking the image prior to matching with one of the two contrast grades of Ilfochrome media. Not all images require masking; an assessment is done by a very skilled printer.

Ilfochrome is a manual media technique. Scanning, colourimetrics, profiling, grading and RIP printing is a digital process. Each uses a very different skill set, one honed through years and years of darkroom practice and procedure; the other learnt through technical/further education, university, job experience and/or professional qualification (more commonly the latter). Comparing scans to Ilfochrome prints is like comparing an apple to a banana (at least in taste!). Ilfochrome is in a league of its own, without any real comparision. The fact we are making great strides in alternative processes and quality media means we should not be holding out for a return of Ilfochrome; just move along to other techniques.

Kodachrome is a considerably flat, less vivid media to start with when Ilfochrome's selling point is to bring out the vibrancy and punch of modern emulsions e.g. Velvia 50, 100, 100F (even early Ektachrome emulsions make an impact). Well-exposed and executed images on these emulsions will leave a lasting impact on each and every viewer who stands before a spot-illuminated Ilfochrome. Of Kodachrome, I have only seen four very large (3m across) Ilfochrome prints on display from PKL-200 in 20 years or so (with such visible and distracting grain that it was entirely forgettable). Think of the alternatives available today with modern, fine-grained emulsions and work towards skilling up in processes and just moving on. We cannot sit and tug and cry at the forelocks of a bygone era.
I'm sure that tree in the Grand Canyon slide you mention is worthy of positive commentary. After all, the simplest compositions are often the most successful!

Well, I don't know where to start looking for a lab. Have any suggestions?

As far as the Kodachrome thing, I'm hoping to publish a book on the adventure, so I just would like to compare, I'm interested to see how a direct print compares to how it looks on a light box and how it scans, and then of course to hang above my desk

Thanks, I'll move on I just need to complete this project first. In fact I've already moved on, I only own 5 rolls of new Kodak Tmax and 10 of old expired ektachrome EPP and the rest is Fuji/Ilford

Any leads would be great, honestly it would be cooler to have an APUG member personally do it that would make it doubly special and I could plug APUG in the book!


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[StoneNYC]

Oh I lied, I also have a brick of Ektar and a few New Portra/PortraVC's


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DREW WILEY]

Ilfochrome was like home cookin'. If you wanted it done right, you had to do it yourself. Not many
labs would expend the labor needed for ideal masking. It was a wonderful marriage for Kodachrome;
and I still haven't seen anything digital which favorably compares, though a handful of people have
gotten LIghtjet or Lambda onto Fuji Supergloss with excellent results. Around here labs are doing both optical RA4 printing and various digital options. The remaining inventories of Ilfochrome are mostly in private hands for personal printing. There might be one lab in LA which still does it, but that can't last for long. Time to learn new tricks.

 

[StoneNYC]

Ilfochrome was like home cookin'. If you wanted it done right, you had to do it yourself. Not many
labs would expend the labor needed for ideal masking. It was a wonderful marriage for Kodachrome;
and I still haven't seen anything digital which favorably compares, though a handful of people have
gotten LIghtjet or Lambda onto Fuji Supergloss with excellent results. Around here labs are doing both optical RA4 printing and various digital options. The remaining inventories of Ilfochrome are mostly in private hands for personal printing. There might be one lab in LA which still does it, but that can't last for long. Time to learn new tricks.

That's why I'm hoping a super kind APUGer reads this and takes pity in me lol


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk