'what's New - Professional Print Processing

[jfinkel]

Hi all,

I still shoot film and have a few prints I want done professionally. The last time I had this done, years ago, I had some beautiful cibachrome prints done. Is this process still available or is something new and improved out now? Thanks for your help....

[Photo-John]

This is a very good question. Cibachrome is almost impossible to find now. I printed on one of the last Cibachrome (called Ilfochrome Classic) processors in California, back in the mid-nineties. That machine was shut down in about 1995.

Thinigs have changed a lot since then. I wouldn't go back to Cibachrome if you paid me to. Color digital printing is far superior, both in terms of longevity and in actual print quality. The best prints now are printed optically to photo paper with a digital printer, or made from high-end inkjet printers. Both prints have their own specific qualities. But both have excellent archival life, great detail, and great color. And the control you get from scanned film is far, far better than what we used to be able to do in the darkroom with an enlarger.

I recommend looking for a good lab that can scan your film and set up the files well and then print them for you. The LightJet printer used to be the digital optical standard. But there are a lot more options now. And currently, I'd go with an inkjet for their superior archival qualities and the print quality they offer. Recent high-end large format inkjet prints I've seen have blown me away.

[fx101]

This is a very good question. Cibachrome is almost impossible to find now. I printed on one of the last Cibachrome (called Ilfochrome Classic) processors in California, back in the mid-nineties. That machine was shut down in about 1995.

Thinigs have changed a lot since then. I wouldn't go back to Cibachrome if you paid me to. Color digital printing is far superior, both in terms of longevity and in actual print quality. The best prints now are printed optically to photo paper with a digital printer, or made from high-end inkjet printers. Both prints have their own specific qualities. But both have excellent archival life, great detail, and great color. And the control you get from scanned film is far, far better than what we used to be able to do in the darkroom with an enlarger.

I recommend looking for a good lab that can scan your film and set up the files well and then print them for you. The LightJet printer used to be the digital optical standard. But there are a lot more options now. And currently, I'd go with an inkjet for their superior archival qualities and the print quality they offer. Recent high-end large format inkjet prints I've seen have blown me away.

I had some "digital cibachromes" done at elevator digital in torronto (I live in NY though). They drum scan film if needed and print on a lambda durst laser enlarger at 400dpi onto ilfochrome classic. It's expensive but it ends up better than anything else, even traditional analog cibachrome. For a lot less, West Coast Imaging does prints on Fuji Supergloss (very very close to Cibachrome look, feel and gamut) and they use an LED based Chromira which produces superior dmax and blacks than the laser based enlargers. I have most of my stuff done at WCI and they are fantastic. You can safely ignore inkjets for glossy work since you get bronzing. For matte work and black and white they are great though.