Mark Roberts wrote:
> What Mike spent on his setup is a lot less than some people spend for one camera
> or one lens. One should also take note of the fact that a lot of his gear can be
> used for printing scans of negatives or slides. I have a similar setup only with
> a film scanner instead of the digital camera and I now print all my own stuff
> except when I need prints bigger than 11 x 14 (12 x 18 or larger, in other
> words).
Here is the rundown on the costs of our current all-digital colour darkroom:
Apple Macintosh G3 400 w/512 megs of RAM
Apple 21" Studio Display with ColorSync
LaCie CD-R burner
iomega Jaz drive and Zip drive
Agfa Duoscan T1200 (for scans from prints and large format transparencies)
Two years ago, that pile of equipment cost us just under $10,000 (all
prices Canadian).
We've added the following pieces:
Epson Stylus Pro 7500 (basically a 2000P that prints 24 inches wide, so
we can make 24x36 prints): $7500
Polaroid Sprintscan 4000 (for scans from 35mm neg/transparency): $1750
Just arrived yesterday: Polaroid Sprintscan 120 (same resolution as the
SS4000 but with much better depth -- 4.2 vs. 3.0 -- and can handle up to
6x9 negs/transparencies, so we're not using the SS4000 any more): $4000
So, the total, not counting the SS4000 that we are no longer using, is
$21,500 Canadian.
Seems like a lot, doesn't it?
Here's what my conventional darkrooms have in them:
Two Super Chromega 4x5 enlargers (one in the b&w darkroom, one in the colour)
One set of carriers
Two Gralab digital timers
150, 80 and 50mm enlarging lenses (nice ones)
Fujimoto CP-51 colour paper processor with stabilizer/dryer unit
sets of trays from 5x7 to 20x24
Two 11x17 four-bladed easels
One 16x20 single size easel
One 20x24 single size easel
safelights (in b&w only)
clock with a sweep second hand (in b&w only)
We paid just under $15,000 for everything, with the most expensive
pieces (the two enlargers and timers, the CP-51 and the lenses) being
used. If we had bought the equipment new, the enlargers list at B&H for
$3,500 US each, and the CP-51 and Stabilizer/Dryer unit are $5,900 US
and $4,300 US respectively, for a total of $17,200 US (or about $26,800
Canadian), not counting lenses or any of the accessories.
Of course, that's not totally valid, since one can't go out and find any
of the digital equipment I'm using used (not for any kind of bargain, anyways).
Additionally, the digital darkroom setup is more flexible: I can print
24x36s vs. 20x30s. I can print 16x45s if I want or need to (to a
maximum print size of 24x1200). I can print borderless 16x20s cleanly
and easily. I can print from slides without making an interneg, and
with more accurate colour. I can print from 8x10 negs or transparencies
(vs. 4x5s in my darkroom).
And then there's the issue of waste. The digital darkroom has no
chemical disposal issues. Yay!
My colour darkroom has been shut down. My black and white darkroom is
still quite active, for two reasons:
1) it's a pain in the ass to do a contact sheet digitally,
2) without a printer that has been converted for monochrome printing,
digital black and white isn't acceptable to me. Yet. I'm converting an
old Epson Stylus Photo 1200 over for b&w printing, and we'll see how it
goes...but I have a feeling that it won't replace fibre based paper for me.
Anyhow, just some numbers 'n' stuff.
-Aaron
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