I am thinking of sending a roll of 35mm film to be put on a CD and then printing the photo"s myself.How good will these phpto"s come out? I don't know if that's the way to go. Should I think about buying a good digital camera and print my photo's? Is CD's to expensive? What is cheaper?Is digital sharper prints? thank you.

-- frank grimaldi (frankiegny@yahoo.com), October 08, 1999

Answers

I have both photos on CD put on by kodak and a digital camera. I also have an inkjet printer that I print my photos on. Putting photos on CD by someone will cost you more in the long run. If you intend digitizing your images the simplest and the most cost effecient way is by way of digital camera. Initial cost will be more but eventually it will be very low. Buy a good quality Olympus 2000, Nikon 950 or any of the other 1600x1200 camera. These will enable you to produce a good 8x10 photo.

Certainly you can get very good quality prints if you have a good printer (Epson photo range). Sending your digital images for printing could cost you much less then printing them yourself. The cost of ink and good quality paper is high and then consider the cost of purchasing a good printer. However it is very satisfying when you see beautiful prints coming out of your printer. Combine that with a digital camera and you could have prints within minutes of taking them. Now that is magic. Good luck Fevzi

-- Fevzi Jamil (fevzi@primus.com.au), October 09, 1999.

The cheapest way to digital pictures is buy your self a scanner. They are very inexpensive (less than $100) and they do a good job. You can see you pics on the computer or upload them to web sites.

If you really need prints, then a good color printer can be bought for less than $250. The supplies will cost more than this.

If you compare this to occasional snap shots, the snap shots are much cheaper. But if you compare this in building and configuring a good color darkroom and buying chemicals, paper etc, your digital darkroom will be less expensive.

Again, the more you 'do' something the more expensive it is. Become involved in photography is not cheap! But neither is playing golf! And once you played those 9 or 18 holes, you have nothing to show for it. Can't even prove your score!

-- Dave Clark (Daveclark@prodigy.net), October 09, 1999.