Hello, new to digital

[brianf01]

Hi all, I have been shooting on film for the past 12 years (mostly hobby and art stuff, got paid for a few weddings and portraits) and finally decided to go digital.

Have not even looked at digital cameras in the past 5 years, was a "film snob", but the price and quality has changed so much, I am sold.

I'm probably going to buy the D10 this weekend and start doing a lot more free lance work. What held me back from doing photo work for money, was the cost of going to a printer and paying them $15 for what I could do for 50 cents in the university dark room. With Digital it seems a lot faster and less expensive.

What is the average cost if I wanted to have a photo lab/printing place print my pictures with archive type ink, where I could actually feel good charging someone for a portrait? I have heard around 35 cents, but Im not sure what size etc print that is for. As I said, I am just getting into the digital age (film wise that is).

[DaveG]

If you send your stuff in to a lab they will print it on regular photographic paper. As a matter of fact if you bring your film into that same lab your negs will get scanned and printed on the same stuff.

The Fuji Frontier and the Kodak eqivalent work this way.

My concern about the labs at the moment is that they print what you send them with little or no colour, density or contrast changes. So if you are a bit off so are the prints.

I'm also sure that this will change ("It's early days yet.") since if this hold true then the labs become commodities and then the cheapest one wins. A hundred years ago George Eastman said, "You push the button and we'll do the rest." Right at the moment that just isn't true.

[scottbergerphoto]

I don't know what a lab would charge, but it costs me about $1.00-$2.00 for an 8x10 print at home using Epson Premium Glossy Paper and an Epson Stylus 2200.
I've given up on non OEM paper as they just don't have the same gloss and drying characteristics.

For those of you that send your files out to a commercial printer, I have a question. Why spend so much money for a digital camera when for the same money you could buy an EOS 1V or Nikon F5 and use film?

[lightandlife]

Go to a print shop in your area and find out, and you can charge less. Photoprinting seems to be a declining industry, as everybody is using digital cameras and printers.

I also used to pay a lot to make prints, but stopped doing so 2 years ago. If others follow suit, it would be a serious problem to the film industry.

[CyberDyneSystems]

brianf01,

Welcome to the forum :)

If you are looking at a 10D then you are not the point and shoot type,... so at first you may be dealing with a photo lab for prints,.. but I think that given a little patiance you will see the "way" of digital is doing your own processing on a PC yourself.

It is easier to adjust to this if you already have an affinity for computers,. but in the long run, if you do not adapt to this way of working with images, you are only getting a small percentage of the advatages that digital has to offer.

That said,. if one is not allready versed in or inclined to undertake learning a bit about PCs,. don't let it stop you from starting with a great camera and a photolab. All I'm saying is that as a discerning photo enthusiast,. it will not be long before you are working in editing software and printing your own :D

[Webster]

While I love to print my own pictures, the fact remains that inkjet prints just do not have the lasting power I want - even when using pigment based inks - unless they are protected from the air. The accelerated aging tests touted by the ink manufacturers are just rubbish. I'm happy for people to have my framed inkjet prints, but for prints that will be left exposed, it's the labs for me. As far as color correction by the lab is concerned, I always tell the lab to do none anyhow. When I send a file to be printed, it's just the way I want it.

[brianf01]

Yes, I do web design for a living (did, got laid off yet again). I have used photoshop for the past 6 years and would consider myself an expert, hence the going digital. I can do all my burning and dodging, and exposure myself.

I looked around, and found its $8 for an 8x10 on photo paper from digital at a high quality local printer, cheaper if I get more prints. I guess its not bad since at this point I dont want to invest in a photo printer and ink. Plus I dont have to pay their fee for the custom print and crop stuff, I can do it all in photoshop.

I have been told its a good deal to print yourself if you buy in bulk, if not its kind of a rip off. A guy I work with that does high end art reproductions buys the super large size ink cartridges and says he saves about 40% doing this... Something to think about in the future.