On Fri, 28 Sep 2001 13:20:02 -0600, Daniel J. Mitchell wrote:
> How much would it cost to print B+W myself, assuming I had a darkroom + kit
>available?
Developing is cheap. I seriously doubt I spend more than $1-$2/roll
to develop. Printing is more expensive, and you'll find that time is
the greater expense than $$$.
If I'm shooting snapshots, and expect to print everything or most
everything on the roll, I shoot color and let the consumer lab handle
the work. For my serious/professional work, I shoot B&W, but I may
only print a dozen or fewer shots from any given roll, and I'm likely
to spend a lot of time getting those shots. If I'm shooting a ball
game, I may not print anything but a contact sheet, and will scan 4
or 5 negs to send to the paper.
So expense depends on what your style is. If you want B&W snapshots,
shoot TCN400 or XP2. But if you really want to control your
photography from start to finish, and put as much effort into getting
a good print as you din into getting a good shot, then you won't be
sorry you invested in a darkroom, a negative scanner, or both.
The question you didn't ask is what it costs to set up a darkroom. My
advice is to do it right the first time. Every time I tried to do
something "on the cheap", I ended up doing it right later and
spending half again as much as I would have spent if I'd just started
out to do it right. I probably have $1500-2000 invested in my
darkroom, and could easily have built the same darkroom for
$1000-1500 if I hadn't tried to take shortcuts along the way.
-
B.B. Bean bbbean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bean & Bean Cotton Co
http://www.beancotton.com
Peach Orchard, MO
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|