Film?

Erik van Straten said:
Can you make silver gelatin prints that way?

Printing film-negatives can be done in a digital way, of course - you can scan them - but how will you make silver gelatin prints from digital files? Are there enlargers that can do that? The best lasting prints are silver-gelatin prints.

Erik.
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There are, in fact, laboratories that make celluloid negatives from digital files for the specific purpose of making silver gelatin prints. If I'm not mistaken, Peter Turnley and Sabastão Salgado have their prints made this way. Salgado switched from shooting Tri-X on 645 format to Canon DSLRs partway through the shooting of Genesis and Turnley has been a longtime Leica M shooter who shoots with an M digital of some sort.
 
Erik van Straten said:
Can you throw these prints in water and dry them without any damage to the image?
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I'm not sure why I would do that, but I think so. The Epson inks are pretty good - I'm not sure they'll hold up as long as darkroom prints, but longevity is very good too. I have a large 30x40" framed color digital print (from a drum scan) that's ~20-years old and colors have in no way faded.
 
the_jim said:
This is definitely the case. That being said, I’m excited that there are still more than a handful of theaters across the US that can feature showings of films on 35mm prints (seeing “In the Mood for Love” projected on the big screen tonight, for example). Obviously, this is the exception and not the rule, but it’s something…and these showings sell out…quickly.
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I agree with you about the look of projected film vs. the usual run of digital projection--they are different and I prefer the look of film when it is a good print it is projected competently. I worked as a projectionist in the 1980's for a big university film program. We ran almost 300 film a year on 1930's vintage 35 mm projectors with upgraded light sources (Xenon arc) and Dolby sound systems. Since we weren't first run some of the prints we got were in pretty bad shape, but when they were good they looked and sounded great. Digital projection for most people who see films in shopping mall theaters is probably a lot better than film projection was in later years when films were strung together on platters and the "projectionist" effectively was the usher who pressed the button by the ticket sales booth and started the show. Good luck if the film wasn't in focus or the sound had a problem...
 
Oren Grad said:
https://digitalsilverimaging.com/dsi...silver-prints/
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The above is very interesting, but extremely expensive. I make 18x24cm split grade gelatin silver prints (Ilford Multigrade) that cost me only EUR 3 a piece.

gelatin silver print (summilux steel rim 35mm f1.4) leica m2

Erik.

48009383893_3ed379fdd2_b.jpg
 
Erik van Straten said:
Can you make silver gelatin prints that way?

Printing film-negatives can be done in a digital way, of course - you can scan them - but how will you make silver gelatin prints from digital files? Are there enlargers that can do that? The best lasting prints are silver-gelatin prints.

Erik.
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Erik,
As others have said, Salgado is indeed known for having made digitally-acquired images which were subsequently exhibited as silver gelatin prints.

I confess I do not know the details of Salgado's workflow offhand. But producing film copies of digitally-acquired motion picture "film" images uses technology which has become quite sophisticated. The best known is probably ARRI AG's Arrilaser, which writes digital image files—either digital-originated files, or scanned and edited files from film-originated footage—to film, using solid state RGB laser technology. A 21st Century evolution of the kinescope if you like. There are other firms (such as CELCO) that have been active in the area of film recorder manufacturing.

The application of this technology may be for archival purposes, or—less-common these days, obviously, in the era of digital cinema projection—because film-out cinema release copies are desired. Tarantino's The Hateful Eight comes to mind as one motion picture in recent years that was actually shown on projected film at selected cinemas (and 70 millimetre, at that!). Years ago, one of my brothers used to service Arrilaser film writers in Australia for ARRI.

I know nothing about how prevalent writing digital still images to film is or the potential cost of same—and I admit, I'm now more curious about the details of Salgado's workflow. But the technology exists—ARRI were at one time given an Academy Award for their work in this area (and also for their digital Arriflex Alexa cameras, but that's another matter).
Cheers,
Brett
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Erik,
As others have said, Salgado is indeed known for having made digitally-acquired images which were subsequently exhibited as silver gelatin prints.

I confess I do not know the details of Salgado's workflow offhand. But producing film copies of digitally-acquired motion picture "film" images uses technology which has become quite sophisticated. The best known is probably ARRI AG's Arrilaser, which writes digital image files—either digital-originated files, or scanned and edited files from film-originated footage—to film, using solid state RGB laser technology. A 21st Century evolution of the kinescope if you like. There are other firms (such as CELCO) that have been active in the area of film recorder manufacturing.

The application of this technology may be for archival purposes, or—less-common these days, obviously, in the era of digital cinema projection—because film-out cinema release copies are desired. Tarantino's The Hateful Eight comes to mind as one motion picture in recent years that was actually shown on projected film at selected cinemas (and 70 millimetre, at that!). Years ago, one of my brothers used to service Arrilaser film writers in Australia for ARRI.

I know nothing about how prevalent writing digital still images to film is or the potential cost of same—and I admit, I'm now more curious about the details of Salgado's workflow. But the technology exists—ARRI were at one time given an Academy Award for their work in this area (and also for their digital Arriflex Alexa cameras, but that's another matter).
Cheers,
Brett
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Thank you so much, Brett! Very interesting information. Who knows this becomes a popular way of using film combined with a digital presentation.

Erik.
 
I can't put it into words, but every time I think of dumping my film cameras, I can't. I have DXO Film pack to simulate just about any film profile and nobody can tell the difference between digital and film and yet I can not give up that visceral feeling of shooting film.:cool:
 
ptpdprinter said:
You can choose to be deliberate or carefree when you shoot film or digital. It is entirely up to you. If you ever use your digital camera again, you can apply the old pro photographer's advice to using it as well. Or not. It is entirely up to you.
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I agree that you can be as deliberate with digital as with film, but putting a cost function makes it much easier to bring that out with film.

The trick that I use when shooting digital and kinda slows me down, is answering the question "Would I put that picture on my wall?"

kshapero said:
[...] and yet I can not give up that visceral feeling of shooting film.
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Yes, part the cost function, part the lack of feedback with film, part the mechanical pleasure of using old cameras, etc, all make up a very different shooting experience.

P.S.
ptpdprinter said:
You have free will.
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No you don't... but that is another conversation...
 
Bill Pierce said:
As used film cameras in that medium price range rise in price, which they seem to be doing, and become less available, what is going to become of film photography? What’s going to happen to that broad range of film photographers somewhere in between the Holgas and the $13,500 technical cameras?
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For me, it's business as usual as I can perform many of my own camera repairs, and refurbishing "parts/as-is" units can yield some real gems. But it's not just about me: As my interests and priorities evolve, I return restored cameras back into circulation too. But I avoid the trendier stuff where bargains are scarce.
 
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