Just Out of Curiosity

[UPDATE 11/19/12: Vizu Polls closed down, so I've taken a screen shot of the poll results and substituted it for the live poll. Best I could do to preserve the post. —Ed.]

Mike
(Thanks to Crabby Umbo)

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Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[David H.]

Oh, I can't answer. I am experienced at color digital printing, but I could not call myself skilled. Generally competent is the best I claim.

[Jim Dobbins]

Mike,
Tried to make an entry to the poll but it seems I need to set up an account on Vizu. Sorry, not my cup of tea.

Do let me say that your blog is excellent.
Cheers,

JimD

[Mike Plews]

I wonder how many TOP readers have experience much like mine? I am an experienced silver gelatin printer who did a fair amount of Cibachrome printing over the years but never touched C type or Dye Transfer.
In any case high quality inkjets have killed any desire to roll cibas but I stil have a darkroom for B&W although a better printer could really slow it's use too.

[Mark Janness]

My Uniroller system has been pressed into service as a tumbler for cleaning my brass shell casings for reloading.

[William Barnett-Lewis]

I don't print with printers (can't afford even a bad printer much less ink) and haven't wet print in decades :( If I need a print I work up the best file I can and then I'd take it to a lab. Now that I"m living in Hayward, my best "lab" is probably going to be Walgreens... They're ok, but ghu help you if you need a 6x6 neg printed on a 8x10 sheet cause the just can't comprehend leaving that white strip for you to trim.

[Richard Tugwell]

What's colour printing?

[Henk Coetzee]

Experienced, in a limited sort of way, yes. Skilled - not sure. I produce what appear to be good results with a relatively simple and standard recipe based on one printer, a few kinds of paper, a working profile for each and a calibrated monitor. Does an ability to follow a few basic rules make one skilled?

[John Krill]

My real response is that I never did analog color printing and now in the digital age I print all the time. But I'm not skilled but getting better.

I work with beginner digital photographers and none of them have a good digital printer. Only a couple of them even make prints. At Costco.

Maybe a survey of how many of your guests have printers.

[Colin Work]

I used to print in the early days of digital (Epson 1290 I think was my last printer). But I found it a frustrating and expensive business - most of the cost due to trial and error, clogged heads, paper feed problems etc.

Currently I use a good online commercial service for my prints. I figure in real terms the actual cost per print is about the same (maybe a bit less), but the saving in aggravation and frustration immeasurable.

Are the prints as good as I could theoretically get myself? Probably not based on various demos I've seen - but for now I don't see the difference worth the expected pain. However, I look forward to reading Mike's adventures with the Canon - perhaps I can be tempted to give it another go.

Colin

[Ivan]

Just curious, could you run a survey to check how many of us would be interested in an affordable monochromatic printer producing, say, quad-tone grayscale prints? That is, four "K" ink cartridges, no color.

Something like Piezography, although I think their K6/K7 sets and the complexity of the whole process (using custom RIP-s and such) is likely just too much for the most of us.

[Moopheus]

I would say that it's easier. If I want a color print from film, I send a negative to a lab. Now if I want a digital print, I send a file to a lab. I guess that's easier. From everything I've read though, having your own color inkjet printer sounds like a major PITA. Is still do B&W darkroom printing, but color goes out.