The Future of Colour and B&W Film with Ilford...

[DREW WILEY]

I have TRIPLA on three different enlargers. A LAFAN is an old less than ideal way to cool the head; I've never had anything that marginally effective, just more serious. Want to get into convoluted all CAPS labeling? Try to figure out all their pin registered carrier components, of which I own a distinct variety.

I trigger my enlargers with my own timers. The first thing I potentially do with an old Durst colorhead is to toss the temperamental power supply and rewire the head for straight line voltage (I have both 115 and 230 in my darkroom building).

 

[dcy]

Did you buy a $500 half frame camera? Or did it come flying into your home through an open window?

I did not wake up one day and decide to spend $500 on a camera without knowing anything about it. I've had cameras for many years and I know what they do. The $500 Pentax 17 was the 10th camera I bought in recent years, the 7th film camera, the fourth 35 mm film camera, and the second half-frame camera. I also bought it brand new with a warranty from a major manufacturer, and had plenty of reviews on that specific product.

Can you seriously not see how that is not exactly the same as buying an enlarger from Craigslist that may or may not even even work, for an activity that you've never even attempted before and don't know if you'll enjoy?

What's the point of even asking what barriers exist if you're just going to dismiss them with "well, if you were interested enough you'd overcome them". If you are comfortable dismissing people who say they don't have space with by saying "a convenient way to end a conversation", why can't you see that saying "If you wanted it badly enough, you'd overcome the hurdles" is an equally convenient way to dismiss anything.

If you are not interested in what barriers exist, that's fine, but why engage then?

Also, for clarity's sake - this is as far as I'm concerned not about you, personally. The point I made is that if people want to do darkroom printing, they generally can overcome the hurdles.

"If you don't have enough space, you can buy a bigger house, or rent office space. You can get a second job to pay for it."

It's not helpful to just say that with sufficient effort any obstacle can be overcome. The most generous thing one can say about that is that, at best, it only applies to people who have already done it and can judge what they think of darkroom printing.

Darkroom printing is a dying hobby. Barriers are real. Hobbies only stay alive if new people enter the hobby, and by definition, that has to be people who do not currently have experience to judge whether the hobby is worth effort. Dismissing barriers with a "well, if you wanted it enough you'd overcome the barriers" is a hobby killer.