I plan to print contact sheets of all my negatives, am I mad?

[perudo]

well, everything is in the title,
I wannna change my editing process ( scanning, editing in lightroom, darkroom print of good pictures...) and use contact sheets for editing instead.
I feel like I am missing something with lightroom and my computer and there something magical for me about looking at a proof sheet.

I have more or less 120 rolls of film to print. How much time will this take me? Am I underestimating how much effort it will take me? What would be the best, quickest wokflow?

 

[shadowfox]

You may be different, but I'd rather create (big) prints in the darkroom than making proof sheets.

A film scanner and Lightroom is perfect for selecting frames to print. I can even experiment with the look that I envisioned before even going into the darkroom. So the (little) time I have in the darkroom can be spent making prints with a lot of ideas in my mind.

Who says that you can't have fun using both film and digital processes? 🙂

 

[ehagendorff]

From what I remember it didn't take me long to do my contact sheets at all. I used to fit 36 exp rolls of Tri-X on 1 sheet of 8x10 so plan on going through aprox. 120 sheets of photo paper, (assuming an 8x10 sheet is used). I'd imagine you could get multiple contact sheets rather quickly using the same exposure settings for each one, but you may need to adjust the exposure for each roll. I did a test strip each time I printed a contact sheet or print and took my time and I would get 20-30 prints done in about 2-3 hours. This was during my very first experience in a darkroom 100% new at it.

If I was going to do multiple contact sheets at once to view for proofing I would get the exposure set for the first contact sheet and make the rest based on those settings. Then probably run test strips for the enlargements I chose to make from the contact sheets. Once I got used to it I would really only make 1 or 2 test strips per session you get an idea of how each frame will turn out after a while, especially ones off the same roll of film.

I say take whatever workflow works for you, especially if your doing it for a hobby and don't have deadlines or quotas to meet for clients. That's just me though and I consider myself still very new to wet printing (about 2-3 months eperience). 😕 I'm sure others here will have better advice or ideas.

 

[KenD]

I am toying with a similar change - scanning and Lightroom are easy and efficient, but are, for me, more like office work than photography. I feel I am loosing something by using hybrid. I would rather produce 1 good darkroom print than 6 edited digitized images from a model shoot. I shudder at contact printing all my existing stuff since I started scanning, maybe 400-500 rolls. I am thinking of just changing over with my next project to essentially classic analog workflow, and offering models one 11 x 14 print instead of 6 digital images for the web.

If I were to contact a load of stuff I would work in batches, say, expose 20 sets of negs, develop them 5 at a time by shuffling in the developer, etc.

Good luck, let us know what happens.

 

[FrankS]

The same exposure should work for all your contact sheets; well enough for selecting frames anyway. A way of speeding up the process is to contact print one neg sleeve, set aside the first 8x10 sheet, contact print the second, then place the 2 sheets back to back and place them into the developing tray together. Theystay back to back through the stop bath and fixer, then into the water wash.

Each cycle takes about 3 minutes. 2 contact sheets per cycle. 20 cycles per hour. That's 40 contact sheets per hour. 3 hours for 120 sheets. Figure on 4 hours with a break and clean up.

 

[tlitody]

Are you mad? Probably, but don't let that stop you.

Actually it won't take long to do 120 contact sheets. A day or two if you are well organised and only a day if you have an Ilford 2150

 

[crawdiddy]

I contact print all my negatives.

I develop B&W film more or less as it's exposed. I don't do actual darkroom printing very often, but my first task is always to print contact sheets for all recently developed rolls.

I use the Print File negative sleeves with a place for an 8x10 contact sheet (covers 35 35mm frames), which keeps the negs in the same sleeve as the sheet.

Furthermore, when I print a negative, I write exposure info on the back of the contact print in sharpie (you know, enlarger f-stop, exposure time, size of print and contrast filter value, and general burning/dodging instructions). In this way, I can fairly easily reprint the same frame later, without too much playing around.

I agree with earlier posters, that I like working with contact sheets. Even though they're small. And it pulls the exposure notes together well.

There's a big difference in the correct exposure for different film types-- TMAX vs. HP5+. But, I don't use that many types of B&W film.

 

[ChrisN]

Making contact proof sheets will also give you better control of your exposure and your development. Here's some good articles to read:

http://www.shrani.si/f/1x/HV/1NqS4Wgw/btmaking-contact-with-cu.pdf

http://www.halfhill.com/proof.html

 

[Morry Katz]

I stopped making contact sheets years ago. Looking at the negatives in a Print File sheet on a light box I can tell by experience which will print easily, whether I like the composition and if the image is in sharp focus. My time in the darkroom is then both productive and enjoyable.

 

[sepiareverb]

120? Why not? I've got thousands and thousands of rolls and sheets with no proofsheets. I've considered trying to get a proof of them all, but it won't likely happen.

 

[Chris101]

The same exposure should work for all your contact sheets; well enough for selecting frames anyway. A way of speeding up the process is to contact print one neg sleeve, set aside the first 8x10 sheet, contact print the second, then place the 2 sheets back to back and place them into the developing tray together. Theystay back to back through the stop bath and fixer, then into the water wash.

Each cycle takes about 3 minutes. 2 contact sheets per cycle. 20 cycles per hour. That's 40 contact sheets per hour. 3 hours for 120 sheets. Figure on 4 hours with a break and clean up.

That's expecting pretty high efficiency. I would say more like 6 to 10 hours, depending on how picky one is with do-overs.

 

[FrankS]

That's expecting pretty high efficiency. I would say more like 6 to 10 hours, depending on how picky one is with do-overs.

Yeah, it is pushing it.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105868

 

[tj01]

That's expecting pretty high efficiency. I would say more like 6 to 10 hours, depending on how picky one is with do-overs.

my problem is finding enough room for drying.

 

[f16sunshine]

120 contacts are a bit of art in themselves. To Be honest I'm much happier pre-viewing 35mm negs after scanning than trying to evaluate a contact. But Mad? Hell man if wet contacts are Mad then all of us are coming from a tradition of insanity. There is nothing wrong with sticking with or returning to old methods. Madness is deciding to do it and sticking with it even if it does not work as well as scanning for you. If it works, go for it!

 

[benlees]

What kind of scanner do you have? If you have a flatbed making digital contact sheets is very quick and easy. I just use regular paper. A lot less work than making wet contacts and if you are using them to edit the quality is more than good enough.

 

[Haigh]

I've just done an Iphoto book from negs that were made in the 80's and for which I'd made contacts. It was so gratifying to choose the shots from those contacts. They reveal any subtly in the image whereas what I see on the computer screen is not as delicate. Just an opinion.

 

[Chris101]

Yeah, it is pushing it.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105868

I print about 10 11x14s an hour. For contacts, I doubled that rate for my estimate. I no longer make contact prints, preferring contact scans: a 600 dpi scan of a 35 frame PrintFile sheet that makes a 900x600 file for each frame. Make a test prints of the ones I like, and sometimes that's all that's needed. Other times I need to dodge, burn, or perhaps make a split filter print.

Especially as I age, the size of a contact print for a 35mm negative seems smaller and smaller ...

my problem is finding enough room for drying.

Use RC paper, blow it dry, or use a blotter book. At the school darkroom I work in, they have a print dryer that completely dries a print in about 15 seconds, and they come out perfectly flat too!

 

[shadowfox]

Actually, a contact sheet made from a roll of 6x9 is pretty darn cool.

 

[Chris101]

It's more like a sheet of wallet sized photos!

 

[FrankS]

6x7 are awkward to contact print on 8x10 paper.