...from scratch and there was absolutely no used gear available so you had to acquire only brand new current production items, could you? What would it cost?
...from scratch and there was absolutely no used gear available so you had to acquire only brand new current production items, could you? What would it cost?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Hello, John, from old Europe
For me, taking into account what I have seen at the recent photokina 2014 in Cologne, Germany, the answer is simple and direct:
Could you? In terms of availability, probably yes, at least for the 4x5" format (and smaller, Kaiser has on catalogue a complete line of enlargers up to the 6x9 format, this is off-topic)
Would you spend the money? In terms of total cost, of course not.
Details:
- there is at least one company on Europe who has in stock brand new 4x5" and 8x10" enlargers, sofort lieferbar : Kienzle Phototechnik.
See this nice 8x10" enlarger at the 2014 photokina.
I would really be surprised if absolutely no new 4x5" or 8x10" enlarger were available from the US or from Japan ... or from Russia!
- as for 150 mm enlarging lenses, to the best of my knowledge, the new stock from Schneidenstock® is not empty. However for the 8x10" format, I doubt that any new 300 mm enlarging lens would be available, hence I would have to use a last-of-the-mohicans-discontinued-but-still-available-end-of-retailers'-stock 300 or 360mm taking lens from Schneidenstock®, but mis-used as an enlarging lens
As far as trays, washing devices, chemistry, lab accessories & supplies of all kinds etc.. except new 300 mm lenses, I think that almost everything is available.
Additional notes:
- From Rodenstock's current web site, enlarging lenses are mentioned up to 150 mm as available, but with an asterisk * : "ask for availability"
http://www.rodenstock-photo.com/inde...pport#download
- From Schneider-kreuznach's current web site, enlarging lenses are still there but somewhat buried inside the "industrial" section ;-)
http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/in...ponon-s-56150/
That is what I was afraid of, my friend.
I wonder what implications this has, if any, for the future?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I can't imagine what my darkroom would cost new. NO, I couldn't afford to and wouldn't. Hell, My enlarger alone sold for about $5k new (I paid $100 used).
There will always be those who purchase new gear, guys with phd's who aren't concerned about $$, and educational systems.
I think it presupposes that scanning and printers would become the most common process for more of us. Contact printing would remain unchanged although this might cause more of an interest in ULF, perhaps?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Vinny, with a young family to support and a poorly paying job there was no way I could afford to get into LF if it wasn't for the fall out from the digital "bomb."Originally Posted by vinny
Even when I was single and had my 35mm dark room set up it was far from optimal in many aspects (mainly my enlarger lens and grain focuser which were admittedly junk to begin with) now I've got dark room gear falling out of every closet in the house (or so it seems!) All of this stuff is second (or third or fourth or fifth) hand of course and mostly older than I am.
But at one time it was all new and in enough demand for a factory somewhere to turn a profit on it's manufacture. That's rare today.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I bought all my RH Designs equipment new, paid top dollar for several other things that were hard to find so that leaves my LPL enlarger which I paid $900 for shipped with 4 lens cones and three neg carriers, timer. That would run about 5K new and I would not hesitate to spend that considering what a key piece of equipment it is.
So a good high level pro fine art darkroom is what, 10K to produce 20x24 and smaller? I don't think it is all that much really and besides, it's a tax deduction...
Well in the case of my own darkroom it would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. I've been gifted some serious gear, have made a heck of a lot of my own,
have horse traded all kinds of things (including prints), and have done my own remodeling of the facility. Doing more right now, trying to get everything snuff
to make it a practical as possible during geezerhood. I place that in contrast my brothers darkroom as a young commercial photographer, which was in an old barn wallpapered with Natl Geo maps, a horse trough for a sink, and a well-used Beseler 4x5 enlarger - maybe a $250 investment total! But he didn't do his own color printing, but farmed that out to a commercial lab, like most pros did back then. My own first 4x5 color darkroom was less than $1500 for everything, and was sufficient to get me some nice gallery gigs. I did the enlarging in a spare bedroom, and had a drum processor in a spare bathroom. But hardly convenient. Fortunately at that point I did not a nice modest commercial building with high ceilings and wiring suitable for serious 8x10 work. But if had to be
plumbed and fully remodeled on a shoesting budget. So I took my time and set up the shop first, which allowed to make my own fixtures and gear, except for
lenses, of course.
From John: I think it presupposes that scanning and printers would become the most common process for more of us
Well, if we look at the current offer by DURST and De Vere, we see that those companies once heavily involved in optical enlargers have dropped all their enlarger products, but continue to produce something sending light to a light-sensitive material, from a digital file. Hence ink printers are not the only way to go in the future; even for people digitally-driven.
However it may seem painful to scan film and "flash" color paper from a file, either with a DURST-lambda machine or a digital (17 k-pixels) De Vere enlarger head instead of a direct optical enlargement.
Admittedly, those DURST or De Vere machines are out of reach to be purchased new by a serious hobbyist; I've had large prints done on a LAMBDA machine and for the few large color prints I need one every 2 years, paying for the service without owning the machine is perfectly OK to me.
This for large color prints. As far as traditional B&W is concerned, I have no plans to stop using my enlargers as long as B&W baryt paper is available. But I cannot afford a new Kienzle enlarger (the entrance ticket to the club is labelled in units of 10k-$ ..)
The fact that Kienzle-Phototechnik still offers optical enlargers and can stay on business can be explained by the same reasons discussed here for Linhof: Kienzle Phototechnik is a small business where they earn their money by sub-contracting various metal and plastic parts, and in parallel they are ready to answer all requests relative to enlarging, graphic arts and wet darkroom equipment, from 100% brand new enlargers & darkroom devices in their own product line, to refurbishing or making adapting parts for all kinds of discontinued enlargers.
Small company size, flexibility and adaptability seem to be the key competences to stay in business selling new or refurbished enlargers today
A friend of mine acquired at an official French State auction a huge (a format just bigger than 8x10") Reinhel enlarger made by the French company Charpiot-Reinhel.
The company is also small and family-owned, they are still in business near Troyes, France. They no longer manufacture enlargers, but they do continue to manufacture some equipment for graphic arts. And they have other activities not visible to the darkroom hobbyist.
Any time an amateur places a phone call inquiring about their discontinued enlargers, they are friendly welcome. Charpiot-Reinhel never discarded their stock of spare enlarger parts and they are very helpful for any kind of refurbishing project involving their old enlargers.
No idea what would it cost, but for the most part that's not practical (at least in my case). In short, I'd have to redo the framing of the house or simply get another....in order to accommodate a decent darkroom. Dollar numbers ? Too much!!!
Les
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