can a digital negative replace an enlarger for alt process?

[dede95064]

hello,

i have yet to buy the "digital negative" book and i was curious to see if any here have experience with both traditional enlarging vs digital negatives for doing alt. process work such as lith, van dyke, gum, etc? could it replace my need for owning an enlarger for this kind of work? given that i'm not concerned with extremely sharp photos but i would like to keep film's tonality even though some might get lost in the alt. process.

are digital negatives good enough to say good-bye to the enlarger for alt. work????

i have an epson 2400 by the way and shoot 35mm to 4x5 (eventually 8x10) and plan to enlarge anywhere from 5x7in to 12x16in with the printer.

thanks!

[sanking]

are digital negatives good enough to say good-bye to the enlarger for alt. work????

thanks!

Yes, no doubt about it.

Sandy King

[clay harmon]

yes

[memorris]

although most disagree, I prefer analog negative in all cases. There are subtleties in the film that the digital negatives are not quite able to reproduce. Like with music, digital media is very convenient and has passable quality for some but others prefer the warmth and feel of the analog media. Give the digital negative a try and see if they give you what you want before carrying the enlarger to the curb.

[Don Hutton]

Absolute yes - see what the best alt process printers are doing and take a look at their results....

[Dave Aharonian]

Digital negs are superb. A bit of a learning curve but well worth it. I don't miss my darkroom and I don't say that easily!

[Richard M. Coda]

Alt process... yes. Silver... no way (inkjet negs)

[Jim collum]

hello,

i have yet to buy the "digital negative" book and i was curious to see if any here have experience with both traditional enlarging vs digital negatives for doing alt. process work such as lith, van dyke, gum, etc? could it replace my need for owning an enlarger for this kind of work? given that i'm not concerned with extremely sharp photos but i would like to keep film's tonality even though some might get lost in the alt. process.

are digital negatives good enough to say good-bye to the enlarger for alt. work????

i have an epson 2400 by the way and shoot 35mm to 4x5 (eventually 8x10) and plan to enlarge anywhere from 5x7in to 12x16in with the printer.

thanks!

for 99% of the alt work, you won't be using an enlarger at all.. most use a UV light source, and are a contact process. (with the exception of enlarging a negative onto another sheet of film)

i'd say absolutely yes for contact processes (platinum ,carbon, etc)... i haven't seen a traditional silver print done with a digital neg that surpasses enlarged film yet

[neil poulsen]

What enlargers can be used for alternative processes? For example, contact printing a digital or a traditional negative requires a few minutes under strong UV light. Is there an enlarger that can handle this?

I've heard of a special enlarger that can enlarge a negative printed on Azo. But, on pt/pd?

[sanking]

What enlargers can be used for alternative processes? For example, contact printing a digital or a traditional negative requires a few minutes under strong UV light. Is there an enlarger that can handle this?

I've heard of a special enlarger that can enlarge a negative printed on Azo. But, on pt/pd?

Enlarging of pt/pd, or other alternative processes, is not impossible if you have a powerful light source. For example, Fresson in France prints with a very powerful UV light source with a dichromated colloid system, and there are several people in the US who have had enlargers built for printing with pt/pd. However, these units require light sources high in UV of 10,000 watts or so and specialty glass that passes a high amount of UV. It is not practical, IMO, but to each his/her own.

Sandy King