[LargeFormat] Enlarging

[Clive Warren]

At 08:55 01/05/01 +0100, philip Lambert wrote:
>I would like to make big prints from rollfilm negatives but have no room and
>no remaining interest in  wet darkroom working.  Is it practical to scan in
>rollfilm negatives or 'chromes into my PC and print at least A4 and
>hopefully A3 in colour to a photographic quality- working in the light?  I
>see a stream of new inkjet printers on the market and some give poor
>results.
>Would anybody know of a good printer for up to $500?  Thanks    Philip

Philip,

The most expensive part of the equation will be the scanner.  Dedicated 
film scanners are rather expensive and flat bed scanners are a bit of a 
compromise.  One of the most cost effective options currently available is 
the Microtek ScanMaker 4 which was on special offer bundled with SilverFast 
scanning software. The model 4 has been superceded by a more expensive 
model which has the same CCD and internal components but a better optical 
system allowing higher res scans (so the manufacturers say).

The ScanMaker4 has a trannie/film tray so is not following the route of 
most other flat bed scanners that carry out their scans through the glass. 
I was lucky enough to pick one up recently and am very happy with it.  Have 
a look in the list archives for a longer discussion.

The Epson printers are probably the best purchase for photographic repro. - 
there are issues of colour casts from some of the most recent printers - 
there is probably a lot of info. on these issues on the newsgroups or znet.

Cheers,
           Clive