Traditional colour printing!

[pmu]

Do you guys do traditional colour prints in darkroom anymore or just scan...? Just today I spent 8 hours doing my first colour pictures and fell in love! The colours and grain are just in sooooo different level compared to any print from any scan I have ever made... Just superb quality -- ISO800 agfa 6x6 frames were out of this world!

This image is from 3 years old fuji reala 100 roll which was stored in my camera bag for the whole time.

 

[pmu]

It seems that no one is doing traditional colour prints because no one responded... Wy advice to you: TRY IT!!!

 

[sweathog]

At college I do hand print colour, using an RA4 machine. Unfortunately right now it is turning everything blue.
You are right, once you've hand printed you know that a digital print will not compare. Even at a prolab. Which is sad.
It is frustrated, it is longwinded, but the results are undeniably incredible.
What paper are you using, because I really must recommend Fuji Crystal Archive Matt. The results are jsut gorgeous, and I can pick up a box of 50 16" x 12" for just over £25 (or just over $50), which is ridiculously cheap.

 

[cary]

Up until two years ago I was doing my color printing at the local junior college. They had a RA-4 processor and were happy to have it used. They allowed me to print there because my company transferred over $100k of equipment and materials to the school.

 

[EmilGil]

Yeah, the results can be gorgeous but I found it could be quite a hassle too. I used to work with a Nova slot processor (with a built-in thermostat). It took an hour to get the chemistry to 38'C and then you had to get the filter values right. After a while I made a list of starting values for different films and light conditions (outdoor, studio flash etc) and that was a great help. In the end I only enlarged 6x6 negs and I still find those prints some of the best I've ever done.

I moved far away from that darkroom 1.5 years ago and since then the photo club has quit buying chemistry due to the small usage so I guess I'll never do it again 🙁

 

[sepiareverb]

Been printing with the Fotospeed Mono RA4 set-up in trays to see what I've got on all the color I've been shooting besides the lab proofsheets. Love it.

Scanning negs is a real pain for me, too much work, then an ink-jet print takes nearly as long a time as running a print through the RA4. I can get about 20 810's done in a morning, and have fun doing it.

Agfa Ultra 100 / Kodak Supra paper
scans from 810 proof prints

 

[mhv]

It seems that no one is doing traditional colour prints because no one responded... Wy advice to you: TRY IT!!!

No, it's because I don't spend my entire days on RFF, and thus did not respond in time... 🙄

I'm doing RA4 in drums since last summer, and while it's a demanding task, I too fell in love with beautiful 11x14 printed by moi. It's just more subtle, more natural than the blazingly contrasted modern drugstore prints.

 

[erikhaugsby]

Just a quick question: how much paper do you often use getting the color balance of a print correct?

 

[sweathog]

Personally, if I'm printing 16" x 12" I will cut up one sheet into, say, 8-10 test strips and on a good day that'll last me two or three prints. Ona abd day I may get through two or three sheets to get one good print.

 

[sepiareverb]

I have to say it is a lot easier than the reputation suggests. I usually get a decent print in one and a half sheets, sometimes two and a half, using the half for a test strip. First print of the day needs an extra couple of test strips. I stick with one kind of film for the days printing, saves a lot of confusion.

 

[Bryce]

What do you do with spent chemicals? B+W printing is pretty straightforward that way in actual practice, but color ones, um... do the whole works have to go off to hazardous waste pickup, or what?

 

[sepiareverb]

I work at a college where proper chemical disposal is easy.

 

[Bryce]

Quote: "I work at a college where proper chemical disposal is easy."

So conventional wisdom about color being impractical at home is still pretty valid I guess?
Just out of curiosity, what would you have to do with spent color chemistry from a home color lab?

 

[sepiareverb]

Quote: "I work at a college where proper chemical disposal is easy."

So conventional wisdom about color being impractical at home is still pretty valid I guess?
Just out of curiosity, what would you have to do with spent color chemistry from a home color lab?

Not if you have a town sewer- I'd doubt the amount of chemistry one would use at home would have much impact (I'm not a scientist). Alternatively, your local minilab might take the bleach/fix.

I'm on a septic tank, so I take most all of my chemistry from the b&w side of things to the college also. I dump acetic acid down the drain, and little bits of stuff from clean-up, but lug the rest to work 2x a week.