Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I'm a real fan of your photography Sanders ... interesting to see you transition to digital.
What prompted this change? 🙂
What prompted this change? 🙂
I have guilt, and an M9, and questions.
- Thread starter Sanders McNew
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 58
- Views 10K
Sparrow
Veteran
I recently acquired the Canon Pixma Pro-1 for (A3+) printing, which contains 12 color LUCIA pigment inkset and includes 5 monochrome inks and a chroma optimizer. Five shades of black! I am very happy with the results, and reviewers told me that even after months of no use the machine shows no signs of clogging. It's a heavy beast though.
Pixma Pro-1 review
The beast:
.... that's not a printer ... this is a printer 😀
jippiejee
Well-known
Yes, bedrooms are overrated anyway... I'll get myself one of those and sleep on the couch. 🙂
froyd
Veteran
yeah, what happened, and when? No more photos from Indiana? I really enjoyed his thread and his knowledge.
Black
Photographer.
.... that's not a printer ... this is a printer 😀
I had issues getting mine into the house:
😱
Dave Jenkins
Loose Canon
- Local time
- 11:23 PM
- Joined
- May 21, 2010
- Messages
- 661
Sorry to be off-topic, but what, exactly, did happen to Christ Crawford? Does anyone know? In the last few months it appears we have lost Chris Crawford and Dave Lackey, two prolific and very worthwhile members.
Sparrow
Veteran
Sparrow
Veteran
I had issues getting mine into the house:
😱
Is that the one you did the hog-roast in?
Black
Photographer.
hlockwood
Well-known
Ansel
Well-known
Not really. Its how the vast majority of images are viewed nowadays... as jpgs in web browsers. Photography has been well and truly MP3'd
Godfrey
somewhat colored
So, my wife whispered in my ear that I really should try a digital
camera. So I visited Ken Hansen and walked away with an M9.
Now my Rolleiflexes throw baleful glances every time I walk by.
This is my first foray into digital photography. I have guilt.
I mounted an early 5cm Tokyo Nikkor SC and shot it wide open
(ISO 1000) -- focus was a guess because the M9's rangefinder
doesn't seem to couple to the Nikkor at close distances. This is
the first image I made with the camera:
Been away so long I hardly knew the place. by sandersnyc, on Flickr
I have a lot to learn.
First questions:
1. Is there a way to couple the M9 RF to the Nikkor so that it
can be focused at distances under 1m?
2. What are people doing for printing digital B+W files these
days? The last time I tried inkjet printing (10 years ago) it was
a constant struggle with clogged jets and color shifts in the inks.
What works best these days?
Sanders
Like your portrait as is, Sanders.
1- no idea.. never used Nikkor RF lenses with Leicas.
2- 10 years ago was a long time ago. To me, the watershed in B&W printing happened in 2005 when Epson introduced the K3 pigment ink set (including multiple blacks for monochrome printing) and the 2400 printer. Within a couple of years, some terrific papers emerged with profiles that work beautifully with this printer and its successors.
I'm still using an R2400 that is so far past its "due by" date it's not funny. Printing to Epson Exhibition Fiber, Hahnemühle Bamboo, Epson Hot Press Natural, Epson Velvet Fine Art, and a few other very nice papers it continues to produce better prints than I (personally) was ever capable of making in the darkroom. It's made all of the exhibition prints and other prints I've sold since 2005, and no one has ever commented negatively on the quality of the prints. When the old crock finally expires, I'll replace it with a 3880. 🙂
G
furcafe
Veteran
Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
Well, not quite. Um, not yet. But I do feel guilt. 🙂
It's funny -- I was frustrated that I couldn't focus the camera down
to the lens's minimum focal distance. In a film world, that would be
a problem. But then I thought I might as well guess. The worst that
happens is I get it wrong, move forward or back a couple of inches,
and try again.
It's going to take a lot of thinking to overcome my film habits with
this camera, and develop new ones appropriate to the M9. The reality
is that Melanie is going to expropriate the M9 (in fact, has already
done so) so my exposure will likely be fleeting.
Tinchohs
Member
So, my wife whispered in my ear that I really should try a digital
camera. So I visited Ken Hansen and walked away with an M9.
Now my Rolleiflexes throw baleful glances every time I walk by.
This is my first foray into digital photography. I have guilt.
I mounted an early 5cm Tokyo Nikkor SC and shot it wide open
(ISO 1000) -- focus was a guess because the M9's rangefinder
doesn't seem to couple to the Nikkor at close distances. This is
the first image I made with the camera:
Been away so long I hardly knew the place. by sandersnyc, on Flickr
I have a lot to learn.
First questions:
1. Is there a way to couple the M9 RF to the Nikkor so that it
can be focused at distances under 1m?
2. What are people doing for printing digital B+W files these
days? The last time I tried inkjet printing (10 years ago) it was
a constant struggle with clogged jets and color shifts in the inks.
What works best these days?
Sanders
I find that the Epson 3880 does a very good job printing black and white. There is a whole range of options as you dive into it. Printing with the Epson UC original inks on matt paper (I particularly like the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag), switching to K7 inks and even creating digital negatives and doing contact printing with Platinum | Palladium. This last option a very rewarding approach that mixes in my opinion the nest of two worlds. I hope you enjoy this journey and strike a balance that suit you well.
Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
I went to B+H and looked at the current generation of inkjets. The
salesman said the Canon ink jets were less prone to clogging -- I
had a look at B+W prints from the Pro 10 and Pro 100 printers on
Hannemuhle Photo Rag and was very much impressed with the
results. Canon is practically giving away the Pro 1 but it is a dye-
based machine and the word is dye prints are not great for B+W
work. The Pro 100 is pricey BUT I gather the ink cartridges are
a lot bigger so the price per print should go down over time.
Unless I end up back in Epson Land.
Tinchohs
Member
In my experience, particularly if at some point you might navigate the alternative black and white, Epson is the way to go. I would suggest you explore as well QTR (Quadtone Rip), a low cost rip optimized for black and white printing with UC and alternative inks. Enjoy.
Sanders McNew
Rolleiflex User
Ten years ago, I went deep into the world of digital B+W printing --
used QTR, had a large-carriage Epson 7600, a 2200, alternate inksets,
the works. In the end I sold it all and went back to the darkroom. In
no particular order:
1. The machines used insane amounts of ink in cleaning cycles.
2. I spent more time maintaining the printers than printing.
3. The surface of the prints were terribly fragile.
4. The prints lacked the sense of depth I liked so much in a
darkroom print, where the image was in the emulsion.
5. Color shifts, and that bronzy look of the print surface when
light caught it off-center.
6. The software (and the overall process) was immature, kludgy.
Having said all of that, I thought the B+W prints from the Canons on
Hannemuhle Photo Rag looked pretty impressive. I have no small
amount of skepticism that my results would look anything like what
Canon puts out for public consumption, but still the prints looked
far better than what I could have made ten years ago. And I assume
that the technology has matured to the point that printers like Messrs.
Roark and Cone and Harrington aren't such pioneers out on the edge
any more. But I could be wrong.
Sanders
jippiejee
Well-known
That's not what I read when picking my pro-1 recently:
"The Pixma Pro-1 uses Canon's Lucia inks which, unlike more traditional photo printing ink systems, are pigment-based rather than dye-based." Larger tanks too.
SausalitoDog
Well-known
Good Greif, as Charlie Brown would say... You have a couple of very very exciting and rewarding years ahead of you.
You are right...10 years ago, in the infancy of digital printing, BW was much harder to accomplish than color. Today, with modern printers and some incredible new papers, you can make a BETTER print digitally than was ever possible in the darkroom (no hate mail please, this guy needs encouragement and I'm not far off in any event).
Onward !!! Off to your new adventures... Get Lightroom and Silver Efex pro with a good printer like and Epson 3000 for up to 13x19 or an Epson 4900 for put to 17 x 60 prints. Canon makes very competitive printers as well.
I promise you that you will lay awake at night with excitement once you start your digital BW adventures
Good for your wife, too!!!
Tom
You are right...10 years ago, in the infancy of digital printing, BW was much harder to accomplish than color. Today, with modern printers and some incredible new papers, you can make a BETTER print digitally than was ever possible in the darkroom (no hate mail please, this guy needs encouragement and I'm not far off in any event).
Onward !!! Off to your new adventures... Get Lightroom and Silver Efex pro with a good printer like and Epson 3000 for up to 13x19 or an Epson 4900 for put to 17 x 60 prints. Canon makes very competitive printers as well.
I promise you that you will lay awake at night with excitement once you start your digital BW adventures
Good for your wife, too!!!
Tom
Similar threads
