the hybrid way

[notalent]

Just wondering. Are there Leica-shooters out here that do the hybrid-way. E.g. shooting it with film, and then go digital for the last part.
If there are, it would be nice to hear about youre workflow, youre gear, tips 'n tricks, words of wisdom.

Gr. Chris

[Greg Nissen]

I do. I shoot with a Leica M3, then scan with epson 4490 @ 4800dpi 16 bit black and white, save as JPEG. Then upload into CS4 and add contrast and that's about it! Sometimes if I have to save poorly exposed shots, i'll change the brightness on them to make it look more properly exposed.

[notalent]

Greg,

Is the Epson a good scanner for this kind of work in youre view? I try to picture what scanner should I buy for this kind of work.

[Nando]

I have a hybrid work flow as well primarily because I do not have space for a traditional darkroom at home. I scan 35mm with a Nikon Coolscan V ED with Vuescan software. For 120 and 4x5, I use a Microtek Artixscan M1 with Silverfast software. I find that for 35mm, a dedicated film scanner is a must if you want to print up to 16x24. For up to 8x12, one can get away with a quality flatbed. I have most of the processing options turned off when scanning and save the files as 16-bit TIFFs. I just want as much image information as possible. I post process in Photoshop. For printing, I use an Epson 3800. I feel that I have the scanning down very well but I must invest time in mastering the printer. My printer is capable of much better results than I'm currently getting. I haven't taken the time to know its nuances. Still, I very much prefer a traditional chemical print and if I have the opportunity to set up a proper darkroom, I will do so.

[Greg Nissen]

I haven't printed out any of my pictures past 5x7 (i know, sad) but it's been working well for me. Recently i've had some problems with it, but that's after a year and lots of moving it so i'm sure its just getting worn down. I know a lot of people like the Epson V700 or Nikon coolscan 5000. I've been thinking about upgrading my scanner though recently. Look at my gallery for IQ of the scanner.

[Nando]

You mentioned your scanner getting worned down. The lifespan of the equipment used in a hybrid process really concerns me. The short life-span of a digital camera is one of the reasons why I still shoot film and will continue as long as I can. I've had my Nikon scanner for four or five years now. For about a year, its been making some funny noises. Sometimes, it has trouble aligning the frames and I will have to eject and reinsert the film strip to correct the problem. I've had my Microtek for two years. It already exhibiting some weird behaviour. I bought my Epson 3800 printer at the same time as the Microtek. The primary page feeder (at the top) has stopped working - it doesn't grab the paper properly. I'm using the rear feeder now that requires pages to be loaded one at a time. I live in a small town far away from any major city. The printer is too heavy and too big to send away. I cannot find a tech willing to come out here and even if I did, I'm sure that the repair would cost a significant amount of money. Then there is the issues with computers...

There is very little that can go wrong with an enlarger. I have friends that are happily using enlargers over 50 years old and that never run into problems. Honestly, the more I use a hybrid workflow, the more I want a darkroom!

[Greg Nissen]

if i could have a darkroom in my home, I would, but it's something that is likely to never happen. Having a scanner in my home? Very easy...

In order to use a darkroom, i'd have to pay $10 an hour on top of chemicals and paper. Far too much for my college-student budget, sadly

[photoeclipse]

Hi, I likewise use a hybrid workflow. Like Nando, I currently have a Coolscan V and use Vuescan for b+w and colour neg, but am expecting to receive a Coolscan 9000 in the next couple of days, so I can do better scans of medium format. I've been using a V700 but it just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. My printer is an Epson R2880 which is being serviced at the moment. It is very expensive to run - the inks are costly and don't last very long (especially at A3+ !!).

I also have a wet b+w darkroom and will be trying to get out there more, as I find it worth the effort. With a darkroom print on Agfa MC Premium or Seagull you can see the depth of the print, as opposed to an image just sitting on the surface with an inkjet (even on quailty paper like gold fibre silk). Having said that, the inkjet prints can be surprisingly good, and at even fairly close viewing distances it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart.

[Neil]

I use a minolta 5400 mk 1 scanner for the digital part,it has a cold cathode light source as does my analogue enlarger which is unfortunatly over a thousand kilometres away.Ive found that by using the scanner at its best and then photoshop to adjust ,burn in etc I can get a print exactly as I want it.I dont think Ive ever done that with the traditional setup unless very little needed to be done to theprint.Part of me wishes that Id never bought the scanner.