Thinking of getting a 4x5 enlarger - thoughts vs scanning

[willwilson]

Definitely give it a shot. For me, the wet darkroom print is the reason I make negatives, so there is no option. The darkroom is my break from the screens of life (as I type this on a screen lol).

What gives you creative joy? For me...

Taking LF photos = joy
Pulling out a developed negative = joy
Darkroom printing = joy
Scanning and Photoshop = work

There's also something to be said for the mechanical tinkering side of darkroom printing. It can be pretty fun to tweak all the mechanical gizmos required to make high quality darkroom prints.




Will Wilson
www.willwilson.com

[bob carnie]

I do both and enjoy both for their merits, as Micheal R says combining them is also a good idea . I am now settled down to making silver gelatins from some of my work using the enlarger ( as I love solarization and have yet been able to duplicate this look digitally ) and the rest of my work is negative scan to inkjet prints then multiple gum prints over palladium or just multiple gum. A lot depends on your inventory of images and what you want to say with your work.

[Fred L]

I started out 4x5, went to 8x10 and then got a 5x7. So my plan is to sell my 4x5 and keep the other formats since I have a 4x5 back for the 5x7 Canham. For large format, I'm basically transitioning to platinum printing only. Will always enlarge 35mm and medium format. I just found 4x5 contacts a bit too small for my taste. 5x7 is a very sweet spot.

So after all that, I'd suggest getting the enlarger if it's a good deal, and you want to get wet.

[Peter Lewin]

It is purely a question of which process you enjoy the most (or as many suggested, do both). Personally I enjoy the fact that my silver gelatin prints are handmade and even with the same burning & dodging schedule, no two are identical. Others prefer the greater flexibility achievable using digital programs such as Photoshop. So ultimately it comes down to whether you prefer working in the darkroom, or working at a computer terminal in daylight.

[Corran]

I scan everything I shoot, so that's just a given for me. Meanwhile, I greatly prefer to make SG prints in my darkroom. When I do sales, I lean on the handmade aspect, and this is definitely an important decider for some buyers.

However occasionally I make an image that for one reason or another can't be printed traditionally (or likely I'm not able to do it). So the option to print digitally is nice. I also occasionally have custom requests that I can not fulfill due to size/time and/or the money is not there from the client, but they can afford a drop-shipped digital print, so that's another avenue I can take.

If it's just for you, do what YOU want to do, that's the only thing that matters.

[Tin Can]

I regret my 15 years of chasing digital perfection

Waste of my time and money

I only wet print

now

[Serge S]

Thank You all - for are the informative responses.

I've not done any SG prints in a while & miss the look & feel.
Inkjets also have their place.
It's nice to have all these options available isn't it!
I am going to see if that 4x5 enlarger is still available & how I can fit it in my basement darkroom.

Thanks again for your thoughts & suggestions.

[neil poulsen]

For myself, the only reason to have an enlarger is to print silver gelatin. It has it's own look that I don't see being duplicated through digital means.

But, I wouldn't have an enlarger for color printing.

[Alan Klein]

I don't have a darkroom. I have my 4x5s and 6x7s chromes and BWs developed in a pro shop. So which digital print methods are best?

[MILC Toast]

Just an opinion:

I could spend 5 figures easily to get a scanning, printing and photo editing software setup to be like everyone else.

An old enlarger and a dark room might run around $4,000 for me since I'll have it in a $2,000 shed and it will definitely have my fingerprints all over it so among the people who still do it the old fashioned way, I'll still be unique.

Good or bad at it is another issue...

The other option is going big to do contact prints only but what you save by avoiding a 4x5 enlarger you pay in expensive lenses, film and less flexibility since you can't blow up and crop (without reducing print size).

The decision is easy for me because I'm trying to be low budget and I got my 4x5 Sinar F really really cheap but I think I probably would need that 5 figure budget before I would change my mind.