How good are contact prints in reality?

[Bob Salomon]

Thanks Bob !

It's always great to learn something from you, this time is not about glass but I'll also remember it !!! chiseling vs to chisel I've just been chiseled with some CDU-II at ebay, so now I can put it in context !

Regards

Thanks, just don't get know as a chiseler. Unless you work with a hammer and chisel.

[Alan Gales]

Thanks, just don't get know as a chiseler. Unless you work with a hammer and chisel.

Or you are a lawyer or used car salesman. Then you are considered successful!

[Bob Salomon]

Or you are a lawyer or used car salesman. Then you are considered successful!

Or a banker or broker, the list is endless!

[Jim Jones]

A well-know photographer friend (and teacher) of mine asked AA for some advice -- Should he go up to 11x14 or stay with 5x7 and enlarge to 11x14? AA's answer was to stick with 5x7, but the primary reason was that longer lenses required for the 11x14 would create DoF issues for my friend that out-weighed the enlargement factor. In this case, the advise was golden. YMMD.

When photographs from contact prints and different formats are compared at identical image size, the DOF is identical as long as the entrance pupils are identical. It's all a matter of external geometry.

[Vaughn]

Geometry aside, in the real world, focal length makes a difference in DoF.

Somehow I managed to get the quote-system of the forum in a bit of a mess!

MODERATOR'S NOTE: No problem! I think I have it all cleaned up now - let me know if I've missed anything. -Oren

[Fr. Mark]

The DoF argument seems like a strong argument for smaller films and enlarging. The detail on my films I can't see in a contact print bugs me too. That won't change even at 14x17, but building that camera etc will be costly (time, money). Maybe I really do need to figure out how to use a dslr and a macro lens to enlarge/scan.

[Vaughn]

The question is; does one need tons of detail? As I said earlier, one can create an image that best suits the print size. If one is not getting the detail in the contact print that one needs to carry the image, that is not the fault of the contact print, but the fault of the photographer.

[freecitizen]

Originally posted by Bob Carnie ..........

IMO they are fantastic and the very next wave of printmaking for all process.

I love the look of well executed prints done in this manner, you only have to look at Micheal and Paula prints, or Monty McCutchen's prints to see the beauty of large negative
and direct contact.
Has anyone seen Sandy Kings carbon transfer prints in person?, well once you have they will blow you away, Sandy is using medium format and digitally enlarging for contact process and the proof is in the pudding so to speak.

I have spent my whole career to date enlarging , or scanning and digitally printing, but in the last two years have spent an enormous amount of time making enlarged neg's in silver and inkjet Pictorico for various contact process.

I am betting the farm, or better yet , moving my whole production of high quality printmaking and photo services to contact process via enlarged negatives. ( I will still do enlarger prints on silver for clients that appreciate this art form)
The ability to create prints with simple setups, the ability to create custom profiles to aim one into one or two test to final printing and the customized, flexibility or using historically proven processes with state of the art capture devices is a game changer. Just imagine that any process whether its silver, pt pd, gum, lith, solarization, cyanotype....... at your finger tips with a timer vacum frame and simple bulb.

So yes the farm is on the line, I am walking down this path and I think its the most exciting way of making prints for seasoned veterans and new comers to our common passion which is Photography.

Bob

I am delighted to read this ..... I had come to the same conclusion and thought I was the only one.

I have a good vacuum easel I'm setting up. Currently trying to work out which printer/ink to go with. Stuck on the pizza wheel issue just now.

The new Silver chloride papers like Lupex make this a terrific option to explore .... and the idea of contact printing negs of digital IR shots and then lith development .... is the most exciting I have had in years ..

Many Thanks Bob, for letting me know I am not on my own in pursuing this method of working.

[bob carnie]

Not alone one bit- I believe the silver chloride papers like Lodima and Lupex will work fantastic, I received some from Micheal Smith, he was generous enough to send me
a box of paper to try out with my negs.
The door is open and all young workers who have never used film and quite frankly have no reason to date will be able to enjoy some of the world many here enjoy on a weekly basis.

Bob

I am delighted to read this ..... I had come to the same conclusion and thought I was the only one.

I have a good vacuum easel I'm setting up. Currently trying to work out which printer/ink to go with. Stuck on the pizza wheel issue just now.

The new Silver chloride papers like Lupex make this a terrific option to explore .... and the idea of contact printing negs of digital IR shots and then lith development .... is the most exciting I have had in years ..

Many Thanks Bob, for letting me know I am not on my own in pursuing this method of working.

[Sal Santamaura]

The question is; does one need tons of detail?...

In my opinion, the question is does one want tons of detail.

Just as the matter of "art" is personal -- it's whatever someone thinks it it -- so is the question of how much detail is needed. That's an individual aesthetic question irrespective of print size.

Sometimes remembering that not everyone has our sexagenerian eyes is important.