[alt-photo] Re: Official press release about HP large formatnegatives

[Terry King]

Greg


I prefer film and make my platinum prints from FP4 in camera negatives but although a friend uses a 12 x 20 it is a bit heavy for me.


With our new  very simple digital system we get the same tonal range and gradation from our negatives but we can  make far larger negatives at far less cost than film. The system is so simple that one can easily do it yourself so long as you have the right inks and printer from Epson.


I too have belly ached about the often ridiculously overcomplicated and ineffectual systems for making digital negatives.


Terry





-----Original Message-----
From: G Schmitz <coldbay1 at gmail.com>
To: The alternative photographic processes mailing list <alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
Sent: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:27
Subject: [alt-photo] Re: Official press release about HP large formatnegatives


  So why even bother with digital negatives Terry.  Some here have belly ached, over the years, about the failings of digital negatives with regard to density range (and the granularity of that range).  That's not even an issue with film.  Toss in masking and you've got total control, on film, of a nearly infinite continuous tone scale.  What am I missing here.  My initial and continued attraction to alt-photo is that I can do it myself.  If I use a digital printer, produced by a large corporation, who's getting it up the shorts? 
 
--greg 
 
On 7/15/10 1:18 AM, Terry King wrote: 
> This correspondence is interesting but it appears to overlook that there are perfectly good and simple ways of making digital negatives already using , for example, the Agfa back projection material and Epson printers and inks. These methods can produce fine gradations and ranges of tone that will exploit the full tonal potential of a platinum print, that is  from a negative with a tonal range of up to 2.4. See my articles in View Camera and AG  which demonstrate the tonal ranges for individual processes. 
> 
> 
> We have to remember, however, that unless HP software is designed to cope with individual processes, printers, inks and base materials it will offer no advantage over what we have already. 
> 
> 
> Terry King 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Loris Medici<mail at loris.medici.name> 
> To: 'The alternative photographic processes mailing list'<alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org> 
> Sent: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 8:55 
> Subject: [alt-photo] Re: Official press release about HP large formatnegatives 
> 
> 
> We'll have to wait and see if they indeed provide a better solution. I 
> definitely see further room for improvement; I currently can only get 
> something like 80-90 individual tones with - relatively high contrast 
> processes like - Cyanotype, which isn't bad at all! OTOH, I would definitely 
> like to use more of the total/theoretical 256 tones potential - especially 
> meaningful with smooth working processes like pt/pd. If they show up with a 
> method that makes use more of the theoretical limit, I'd like to adopt it. 
> In my understanding, currently, the cutting edge is method is Quadtone RIP - 
> but it's hard to use/learn it + more importantly, it doesn't work with 
> HPs... We "may" get more tones with no (or less drastic) curve adjustments, 
> if ink laying / dithering (and such) is specifically controlled by the RIP, 
> optimized for negative-making. (That's why I said "I definitely see further 
> room for improvement" above..) 
> 
> In any case, I should say that what I'm getting right now is OK, I'm happy 
> with it - this is sort of (almost idle) pixel-peeping / nitpicking. We 
> should really wait to see if there's really a considerable / significant 
> improvement... 
> 
> Regards, 
> Loris. 
> 
> 
> P.S. I think Muñoz was/is using imagesetter negatives, but I'm not 
> absolutely sure, just talking according to what I've seen in a low qualitu 
> youtube video... 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: alt-photo-process-list-bounces at lists.altphotolist.org On Behalf Of 
> Tomas Sobota 
> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2010 10:31 AM 
> To: The alternative photographic processes mailing list 
> Subject: [alt-photo] Re: Official press release about HP large 
> formatnegatives 
> 
> The HP blurb says: "We're committed to helping professional photographers 
> simplify and accelerate the process for producing, showcasing and archiving 
> their art." 
> 
> Wow, this sounds like Kodak all over again... 
> 
> I wonder if they are addressing the wrong problem? Presumably most of us 
> have the digital neg creation already under control, with the several 
> existing methods such as Mark's PDN, Mike Ware's and others? I don't know 
> what method does the Spanish photographer Isabel Muñoz use for her platinum 
> prints, which are more than 1 meter square and beautiful, but she certainly 
> did not have to wait for the HP "solution". 
> 
> I also wonder if this will be creating false expectations in many people. 
> Alt-photo is rather more than just the ability to create a large negative. 
> What comes after is more difficult. 
> 
> Tom Sobota 
> Madrid, Spain 
> 
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