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denrusso

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Apologies if this is in the wrong place - I'm shooting with an M6 so maybe it does fit?

Anyway, I don't process myself - I ship my film to North Coast Photo for processing and receive the negatives, scan, and, sometimes, prints. Every so often I come across an image that I would like enlarged - say 8x10 or 8x12. All of my local shops (I'm on Long Island, NY) will do this but do so by first scanning the negative and then printing. As I am relatively new to this (only started in November of last year), am I missing anything by not having the image enlarged directly from the negative? I'd like to see the difference first hand, but am having difficulty locating a shop that still does this. Any ideas as where I can find one?

Thanks in advance!
dr
 
silver print lab

silver print lab

hi, you should be able to find a custom lab in new york city,i live in louisville ky, i will be using a lab in chicago for large b&w silver based work eg. film not digital,or check with your local photography club,i used goggle ,i checked the websites and made some calls, your local pro camera store should know, also you might ask under either FILM or DARKROOM, in this forum for recommendations.
 
Send it to me! I'll print it. I'm no master printer though but it might be fun. I have a ton of expired paper.
 
I think my problem is not knowing what to ask for. I've basically been asking for an 'enlargement' from my negative. I'll start asking around for a 'wet print'...

What about quality of the print? Are there advantages to a wet print?


Thanks for the replies!
dr
 
Hey guys, his main question, which I share is this - does it make a visible DIFFERENCE if you print using an enlarger, as opposed to scanning/printing?

My sense is that it must, but there are certainly lots of factors - grain of the film, quality of the paper, etc?
 
I'd suggest the OP goes to visit a museum or exhibition to get an idea of what he might be able to achieve, otherwise it will be a matter of guessing as to what he wants to see in his print(s) by whatever means they are made.
 
I don't know how close you are to NYC but there are a number of dark rooms in Manhattan that allow you to rent by the hour for ~$13. You could try making your own wet prints and compare them to the scanned and printed versions from the lab.
 
Wow - some great info here! Should have mentioned from the start that they would only be b&w negatives - no color.

I really don't want to try it myself. It seems to be an art form in itself - I'd rather devote the time to shooting!

I'd prefer a local shop as to avoid shipping my negatives so will do some research in finding a spot in NYC.

As an aside, how large can a 35mm negative be enlarged to? MY negatives are all pretty much tri-x 400 (if that plays into it).



Thanks again for all the input!
dr
 
The limit on size depends on what you have on the negative and what you want to do with the result. I know that's an "it depends" answer, but a decent picture (ie. the content) and a competent negative can be successful for lots of purposes because a large print is generally viewed from further away. With black and white, people are also used to seeing pictures from the last 150 years or so, and super-smooth digital appearance is not expected. Having said that, if you have some good 10x8" negs . . . 😉
 
Do you have room for a darkroom at home? The stuff is now so cheap secondhand that there's little financial outlay. I used to teach people how to print at university, so I can give you some tips; the objective is to get a true black and a true white somewhere in the print. Most new printers don't manage the black.
 
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