DIY Printing vs. Lab Printing

In my little bit of the UK, there are no pro labs left to do developing. Sure, there are a couple of minilabs that can handle 120 C41, and one will do B&W. I was disappointed with the quality of the B&W, and rather loathed to use them for colour. No one locally can handle 5x4 or larger, and I really don't want to mail the stuff out, so processing at home is the only option.

Fortunately, B&W is a doddle with the minimum of equipment, and what little colour printing I've done has been fairly easy. So for practical reasons, I'll continue to do all my own processing at home, and will give C41 a go next week.

As a side note, even buying secondhand, my analogue investment is quite a bit lower than digital

Alex1994 said:

How far is this true? I've never had the time or money to invest in a darkroom and equipment, but how much am I missing out on?

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Whether the lab prints are better than your could be will really depend on where you live, unfortunately. Some labs do superb work, others...

But I'd say the most important thing is ownership of the workflow. If you do it yourself, you own the print in a very direct way, of course. Being able to experiment and refine your own workflow, that's what you're missing out on. One neg can go in sooo many different directions in print, it's really essential that you see that with your own eyes.

Have you seen the dueling printer's section in Black & White Photography magazine, in which two printers interpret the same neg? "The printer's art." Sometimes the output is radically different... it can be quite inspiring. That is by far the strongest content in the magazine, IMHO.

Neal said:

...This is not an endeavor to enter without the acceptance that significant funds must be spent. You don't say where you are, but I advise looking for a local darkroom and give b&w printing a try. Many community colleges still offer classes as well. If you like it, you can decide how far you want to go...

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This is only partly true. Yes, you can spend a small fortune, or you can go on the cheap. Much the same that I can buy a $300 used car or a Bentley to get myself to work. Both will do the job, but one will do it better and with a lot more style.

If you want to become a master printer and feel like your an artist who's work will eventually hang in MOMA, then you may well spend a fortune. Or you may get on Smith's track and print contacts with a 60W light bulb hanging on a cord. Both work, and both can produce beautiful images. Both can produce complete junk.

The one thing that you can certainly say is that if one really wants this, then one is required to expend significant amounts of time. And maybe significant money depending on what track you want/choose.

For example, if you go back to a couple of the giants in the last century, Weston and Adams, Weston had about as minimalist equipment as one can imagine and Adams had a dark room to make many of us green with envy. And both have art hanging in significant place.

I, on the other hand, have art hanging in my house, my mom's house, my brother's house, several other family members house, but no museums. The difference is in the artistic vision of the photographer, not the enlarger I use/don't use.

The OP should give it a whirl on the cheap, and then decide. Much like renting a car for a weekend trip to decide if you really want to buy that model off a dealer's lot. If he likes making his own art, then off to the races. And if not, dump the stuff back on fleaBay for little loss.

Here's my take on this.

Many years ago I only shot film, because that was all there was!. I used the high street for D&P and have 1000's of 4x6 and 5x7 prints in envelopes and albums.

Then, for 10 years I shot just digital, but only compacts as I couldn't really afford DSLR.

Then I bought a few (!)old rangefinders cos they were just sooooo cheap and rediscovered film. Initially this was just cos I like old things and the old mechanical cameras give me something to tinker with.

Now I am 90% film and only 10% digital - mainly on an OM1 and OM2 (B&W in one colour in the other) plus an EOS300V for autofocus P&S, (the canon autofocus lens isn't as good as the zuikos) and occasionally on one of my rangefinders- mostly a Kiev and a retina IIIS. Despite the attractions of rangefinders, the OMs are just so tactile and easy to use. I have been seriously impressed with the images I have shot recently. This is probably because I am now shooting with high quality lenses that I could not previously afford. I also really enjoy using something 30+ years old in this digital gizmo driven age.

But, I haven't got the space to have a darkroom, although when we move house I could be tempted one day to try B&W. I can't ever really see myself doing colour though. I have found what suits me best at the moment is to send my films to http://www.photo-express.co.uk where I can get develop and scan at 3000x2000 for £4/film and then print what I want on a decent inkjet. Yes its hybrid, but for me I get better images than if I use high street printing, and I get control over the image as well. I don't actually print that many, so cost isn't a major factor - there is only so much wall space you can use! and the rest get archived to disk. Much of what I take is just snappy family stuff, and gets presented on a digital photoframe- hardly quality, but that's not the point - these photos were never intended as "art". For anything that I take that I consider is really worth keeping, I obviously have the negs I can send to a pro-lab for printing. This is the best of all worlds for me!

Thank you once more. I think I know a place in my town where a darkroom may be available, so I'll try that out. Overall I can see that enlargers are upwards of 50 pounds and chemicals are fairly cheap, but I don't know if I have space in my house for a darkroom.

Thanks for the photo-express link, the scanning service is the cheapest I've seen. I'll give it a try sometime.

Many of the folks here on APUG do not have dedicated DR's. You will find many posts refering to an enlarger in one room souping in the bathroom, using a changing bag(or tent) to load processing reels, etc. For 35mm, a small portable enlarger that may handle up to 6x6 sitting on the loo or vanity,is very common, with trays in the tub. Then doing final washes and drying, as well as other tasks in the kitchen and dining rooms. The point here is that you can start anywhere and anytime you want. Prices for equiptment range from gratis to hundreds of dollars depending on circumstances. There is no time like the present to get started.

Rick