Anyone Know Of A Good Lab?

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Stu W

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OK, this is my plan. I no longer have access to a darkroom-My son is no longer in college-and I don't have the energy to put one together here at home. What I'd like to do is scan my negs, adjust in Photoshop, and internet them to a lab that will actually print them on pearl fibre paper. I remember reading about a lab that has an enlarger with a digital head-actually projects the image right on to the paper and then processes the print in a traditional fashion. When I look at the silver gelatin prints done at my son's school and the digital prints I've been doing there is no comparison. Stu
 
I've always been interested in doing this, at work we have an older digital R4 printer that the boss said could probably be reprogrammed for B&W process, but he really didn't see a demanding market for it so he really didn't look further into it. especially since most people shooting digital/scanning to digital just opt for R4 b&W prints.
 
>I remember reading about a lab that has an enlarger with a digital head-
>actually projects the image right on to the paper and then processes the
>print in a traditional fashion.

I believe this describes the Lightjet printing process where something akin to a laser printer exposes photographic paper and then the paper is processed in the traditional (i.e., chemical) way.

Austin Photo Imaging in Texas recently made me an amazing 24x36" (poster size) Lightjet print for me from a 5400 dpi scan I made of a 35mm slide.

You can link to API above but I'd bet you could find a Lightjet printer closer to home.
 
What he's talking about isn't a light jet, per se, though that would work. I believe what he is referring to is an actual digital enlarger. They are, I believe, made by Durst (but I'm not sure) and are real enlargers that project the digital image much like a traditional enlarger projects the image on the negative. It's interesting to me.
 
Stu W said:
OK, this is my plan. I no longer have access to a darkroom-My son is no longer in college-and I don't have the energy to put one together here at home. What I'd like to do is scan my negs, adjust in Photoshop, and internet them to a lab that will actually print them on pearl fibre paper. I remember reading about a lab that has an enlarger with a digital head-actually projects the image right on to the paper and then processes the print in a traditional fashion. When I look at the silver gelatin prints done at my son's school and the digital prints I've been doing there is no comparison. Stu
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I believe you live in Brooklyn which, last I checked, was in NYC.

So:

A) Scan your negs onto your computer (I usually do so in RAW or TIF) and then save to your hard drive.

B) Then use your close "editor's eye" to decide which one's you really want to print.

C) If they are in TIF that's it; elsewise you can convert the RAWs to TIF or - if you really want to save on CD space save all the way down to JPEG (use the highest form!) - even there you'll get digiRF quality.

D) Having done all that, burn the images to a CD or DVD or drop them on to a flash card (pick your format - it doesn't matter).

E) Then, schelp your butt down to the nearest Duane Reade drugstore with photo processing - they are a dime a dozen all over NYC, even Brooklyn.

F) Take your CD/DVD/flashcard over to the machine and start uploading your "picks". Then, when you are done, click (actually I think it's "touch screen") DONE and voila la - your pics will be sent to the digital photo finisher for processing.

And consider, by doing this you have:

1) Gotten to use your scanner and computer

2) Honed your scanning and downloading skills to various media

3) Gotten out of the house

4) Interacted with the D/R photoprocessor person while obtaining your prints

5) Placed yourself at D/R where you can purchase more (admittedly consumer grade only) film to start all over again.

Oh, BTW, yes, D/R can also process your c-41 film on site and take care of all this for you.

Have fun! ;)
 
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