I am interested in producing my own prints. I have some 35mm and darkroom experience and some computer experience, but no digital imaging equipment or experience. I want to stick with 35mm (I've got a lot of negatives/slides and some lenses). I want to get a 35mm SLR, a film scanner, and a good printer. My main priority is good quality prints (5x7 and some 8x10). So finally my question: for around 2000$ (flexible) what should I get? Should I spend a lot on the printer and skimp on the camera and scanner? Should I get an Epson 750 and save the extra for a super coolscan? Or should I get a great camera? I dont know too much, so any thoughts ,esp. on what specifically to buy, are welcome

-- (jhb01@comp.uark.edu), January 18, 2000

Answers

There are a few things you should ponder prior to making your decisions. The big issues are:

• Quality
• Affordability
• Convenience
• Image Control

Depending on what kind of darkroom you had - you should be prepared to give up a degree of quality when you jump to digital. But there's a tremendous gain in both image control and convenience. Affordability (as compared to 35mm) gets pitched over the backstop. It seems the purveyors of digital toys are successfully seperating us from even more of our money. This stuff is expensive. A decent scanner starts at nearly 500 US Dollars. Printers can be had for less - but you'll have to seriously compromise on some important aspects - such as archival image stability (they fade in a couple of years).
Those of us who love photography are beckoned by the sirens of this new and exciting digital age - but it's best, I think, to temper our desires with a dose of economic reality. For now I sincerely think you should keep your investment as light as possible - especially in light of the rapid changes in digital imaging. What you buy today will be cheaper tomorrow - and obsolete shortly thereafter. Since you are starting out I would recommend putting more money into the scanner then into the printer. Film scanner technology seems much more stable then printer developments.
Epson printers are a wonderful choice, so is HP. Both are as good as you can get today for less than 4-grand US. Which one you choose will be a matter of personal preference. Don't over-buy as you will want to replace this unit in just a couple of years.
Here's a link to a site that can give you lots of good information on printers:
Digital Darkroom Site
This site can be slow - but it's worth the wait...
Nikon makes a great scanner - so do Minolta and Canon. If you decide to keep your investment light the HP Photosmart scanner is really quite good for the money - stick with the S20, the older SCSI model produces too much noise in the darker image areas.
While it is still photography - it's a different world. Gone are the days where a top quality camera will hold it's value for 10 years if you take care of it.
...sigh...

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), January 18, 2000.