Group: rec.photo.darkroom

Developing, printing and other darkroom issues.

Add group to favorites Add group to favorites
   indietro Back to post list     indietro Send new message to group
Pg.
1

Post Subject:

Wet photography is really dying

Reply from: David Nebenzahl
Date: 09 May, 03:36
Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on
the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly complete.


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

Reply from: Ken Hart
Date: 09 May, 05:16

"David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4823aa67$0$11202$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...
> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on
> the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly complete.
>
>
You picked it up, didn't you?
There's still a few people buying them on eBay.



Reply from: David Nebenzahl
Date: 09 May, 05:33
On 5/8/2008 8:16 PM Ken Hart spake thus:

> "David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
> news:4823aa67$0$11202$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...
>
>> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on
>> the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly complete.
>
> You picked it up, didn't you?
> There's still a few people buying them on eBay.

Nah, they're practically worthless. I see them at my favorite
recycled-goods store in Berkeley (Urban Ore) all the time. Used to think
of buying them to sell them, but there's really no market there. (As an
example, speaking of eBay, I got my 5x7 Elwood there--for $9!)


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

Reply from: Pico
Date: 09 May, 14:37
"David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4823c5c0$0$11142$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...

> of buying them to sell them, but there's really no market there. (As an
> example, speaking of eBay, I got my 5x7 Elwood there--for $9!)

And I got the 8x10" Saltzman free. Live it up, David!



Reply from: Nicholas O. Lindan
Date: 09 May, 16:28
"David Nebenzahl" wrote

> Wet photography is really dying

"He not busy being born
Is busy dying." R. Zimmerman

> today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on the curb on my way home.

Compared to how many computers put out for the
trash?

The purpose of existence is to make garbage.

The National Lampoon in 1970(?) proposed a
"Value Subtracted Tax" - A manufacturer would
be taxed 15% of $999,000,000 for reducing $1B of
forest to $1M worth of tacky coffee tables;
Consumers would be taxed 15% of $1,000,000 for
reducing $1M worth of tacky coffee tables to
$0 worth of garbage.

It made a lot of sense to me...

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index2.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com



Reply from: Pico
Date: 09 May, 17:54
"Nicholas O. Lindan" <see@sig.com> wrote in message
news:CfadndWnY8vVzLnVnZ2dnUVZ_uOdnZ2d@earthlink.com...

> The National Lampoon in 1970(?) proposed a
> "Value Subtracted Tax" - A manufacturer would
> be taxed 15% of $999,000,000 for reducing $1B of
> forest to $1M worth of tacky coffee tables;
> Consumers would be taxed 15% of $1,000,000 for
> reducing $1M worth of tacky coffee tables to
> $0 worth of garbage.

It came true. The Super Fund.



Reply from: Pico
Date: 09 May, 14:35

"David Nebenzahl" <nobody@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:4823aa67$0$11202$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com...
> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on
> the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly complete.

So are we, but live it up! They cannot take it away from us.

When I take a walk, I am carefull to not to stop for a moment by someone's
trash for fear that I will be taken.



Reply from: Ken Nadvornick
Date: 10 May, 06:29
"David Nebenzahl" wrote:

> Wet photography is really dying
>
> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger
> put out on the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly
> complete.

I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink from...

Today, I have the best darkroom I have ever had. Finest equipment. Best
supplies. Easily handles all formats from half-frame 35mm to 8x10. Prints
possible from reductions to 20x24. All b&w, no color - but that's by
preference, not lack of market availability. Closed loop exposure and
developing systems. Computerized tempering water faucet. High quality and
consistent enlarging papers, both graded and variable contrast. Excellent
developers, stop baths and fixers. (Homebrew, in my case.) Easily obtainable
chemicals at reasonable prices, from the most basic to the incredibly
esoteric. Even a bottle of Rodinal which, if memory serves, has been
continuously manufactured since well before the end of... not last century...
but the century before. The list goes on and on. Best ever of everything,
hands down.

Today, I have the best film cameras I have ever had. Some vintage. Some
pristine vintage. Some brand new. All users, and all used. And it's
possible today to purchase brand new film camera equipment in all formats.
Small, medium, large, ultra large, panoramic, stereo. View cameras and field
cameras, 4x5 to 20x24. 35mm rangefinders and SLRs (not many, but there's
still a few new ones out there). Single and twin lens reflex medium format.
Fixed lens medium format and full-blown, interchangable lens systems. Both
mechanical and electronic. Manual focus and autofocus. It's all there.

Today, I have the best film available in history. Ilford (bless 'em) for
everything one would ever need in b&w, Fuji (bless 'em) for damn near
everything else color - and some pretty good b&w of their own. Even Kodak has
recently been spied lurking again in the shadows of the analog back alley.
Slow, medium and high speed films. Infrared films. Negative films. Positive
films. Hell, I recently even purchased some fresh Kodachrome from a small,
local drug store. So it's all there. Just for the asking. And all the
finest quality since Niépce started this whole mess in 1827.

Sometimes, I think it's worth remembering that the heavy end of the glass
works better on the bottom.

Ken



Reply from: Pico
Date: 10 May, 15:00
"Ken Nadvornick" <register.nadvor@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:ooidnV9WHfUBubjVnZ2dnUVZ_gSdnZ2d@comcast.com...

> I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink
> from...
> [... snip great post ...]

Whether the glass is half-full or half-empty depends upon whether you are
serving or drinking. Today we are drinking from the bottle being emptied by
those moving to digital. It's good.



Reply from: Jean-David Beyer
Date: 10 May, 15:08
Pico wrote:
> "Ken Nadvornick" <register.nadvor@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:ooidnV9WHfUBubjVnZ2dnUVZ_gSdnZ2d@comcast.com...
>
>> I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink
>> from...
>> [... snip great post ...]
>
> Whether the glass is half-full or half-empty depends upon whether you are
> serving or drinking. Today we are drinking from the bottle being emptied by
> those moving to digital. It's good.
>
>
Those moving to digital have not enabled Kodak to continue manufacturing
their Elite Fine Art paper, which IMAO was the best paper I ever used.

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 09:05:01 up 3 days, 1:37, 3 users, load average: 4.55, 4.36, 4.19

Reply from: dan.c.quinn@att.net
Date: 11 May, 02:06
On May 9, 9:29 pm, "Ken Nadvornick" wrote:
>
> Today, ...
>
> Today, ...
>
> Today, ...
>
> Ken
>

Today we have silver gelatin and electronic photography.
Today we have acoustic and electronic guitars. Dan

Reply from: Jean-David Beyer
Date: 11 May, 13:35
dan.c.quinn@att.net wrote:
> On May 9, 9:29 pm, "Ken Nadvornick" wrote:
>> Today, ...
>>
>> Today, ...
>>
>> Today, ...
>>
>> Ken
>>
>
> Today we have silver gelatin and electronic photography.
> Today we have acoustic and electronic guitars. Dan

Yesterday, a friend of mine could afford a Gibson guitar.
Today she cannot afford one,

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 07:30:01 up 4 days, 2 min, 0 users, load average: 3.94, 4.00, 3.99

Reply from: David Nebenzahl
Date: 11 May, 22:53
On 5/9/2008 9:29 PM Ken Nadvornick spake thus:

> "David Nebenzahl" wrote:
>
>> Wet photography is really dying
>>
>> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger
>> put out on the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly
>> complete.
>
> I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink from...
>
> Today, I have the best darkroom I have ever had. Finest equipment. Best
> supplies. Easily handles all formats from half-frame 35mm to 8x10. Prints
> possible from reductions to 20x24.

You know, it's great you have all that stuff; it really is. I don't mean
to take anything away from that. But how on earth can you propose that
since *you* have all this great stuff that the state of wet photography
is OK? It is for you, for the moment, but as others have pointed out,
what happens when manufacturers inevitably start not producing film and
paper? What will we do then?

In fact, the very fact that it is now so easy to equip such a darkroom
as you have is further evidence on my side. The stuff is so cheap
because it's being pitched overboard because of digital.

I don't think film and paper will ever go completely out of production,
but it will probably soon be relegated to boutique status, and will be
much more expensive, much less widely available, and with much less
variety. (Perhaps much like vinyl records today.)

Enjoy the ride while it lasts, I suppose.


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

Reply from: Rob Morley
Date: 12 May, 00:15
In article <48275c59$0$11167$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com>, David
Nebenzahl
nobody@but.us.chickens says...

> You know, it's great you have all that stuff; it really is. I don't mean
> to take anything away from that. But how on earth can you propose that
> since *you* have all this great stuff that the state of wet photography
> is OK? It is for you, for the moment, but as others have pointed out,
> what happens when manufacturers inevitably start not producing film and
> paper? What will we do then?
>
Wet plates. :-)

Reply from: Charles Hohenstein
Date: 12 May, 01:22
In article <MPG.2291803df6eea91298b7d7@news.individual.net>,
Rob Morley <nospam@ntlworld.com> wrote:

> In article <48275c59$0$11167$822641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com>, David
> Nebenzahl
> nobody@but.us.chickens says...
>
> > You know, it's great you have all that stuff; it really is. I don't mean
> > to take anything away from that. But how on earth can you propose that
> > since *you* have all this great stuff that the state of wet photography
> > is OK? It is for you, for the moment, but as others have pointed out,
> > what happens when manufacturers inevitably start not producing film and
> > paper? What will we do then?
> >
> Wet plates. :-)

And dry plates, and homemade paper. But there are too many film cameras
in use for film to disappear anytime soon, if ever. Even rollfilm sizes
like 620 and 127 are still available.

--
Charles Hohenstein (to reply, remove Gene Robinson)

"The sad huddle of affluent bedwetters, thumbsuckers,
treehuggers, social climbers, homophiles, quavery ladies,
and chronic petition signers that makes up the current
Episcopal Church . . ." ---Thomas Lipscomb


Pg.
1



Login:
  Username:    Password: 
 
   Lost Password? click here!
Thread:
    Pico
    Pico
  Pico
   Pico
    Rob Morley
      David Nebenzahl
      Rob Morley
    Pico
      Pico