Kelton, there ain't no such thing as doing true b&w photography cheep unless
you process it yourself. The only reason commercial b&w processing *seems*
expensive now is because color print processing has become so much cheaper
in comparison. Years ago both were too damned expensive. So most of us
shot mostly b&w and processed our own stuff. Then advances in color
processing made it cheaper, while b&w is still processed pretty much the
same old way - slow, labor intensive and expensive.
Frankly, I'd recommend using the chromogenic monochrome films like Kodak
T400CN/Black & White+, Ilford XP2 Super, etc. After many discussions and
comparing notes with users of these films and experienced photoprocessors
I've discovered a trick that helps minimize the undesirable off-neutral tint
on color print paper: use a green filter whenever possible; always use at
least a yellow filter if you can't afford the light loss a green filter
causes.
For whatever reason this seems to help balance things in such a way that
neutral prints result more consistently. And for archival purposes these
negatives can be printed on traditional b&w papers, tho' Ilford XP2 Super is
best suited for this since it doesn't have the heavy orange mask of Kodak's
films.
Ektamax paper is also excellent for producing sharp, perfectly neutral
prints, but is not archival. It has a life span of perhaps 10 years
depending on storage conditions, light, etc., but is excellent for scanning.
If you want to stick with conventional b&w films like Tri-X, processing the
negatives isn't difficult or expensive and requires very little space. Have
a lab make contact prints for you to determine which frames are best to
print. After a while you can read b&w negatives well enough that you won't
even need contact prints. Skipping these intermediate steps really helps
save money.
Beyond this point you have to decide for yourself whether to commit the
money and space to a wet darkroom or a digital darkroom with a film scanner
and software designed to handle b&w negatives.
===========
Lex Jenkins
===========
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|