Conventional photo film has a wider contrast range than any digital technology currently available. Photographers divide this range into 10 levels from total black to total white in measurable steps. Known as the Zone System of photography it is the entire basis Ansel Adams' entire body of work. Digital cameras using either CCD or CMOS chips simply do not have that kind of range. At best the high end cameras might have 7 or 8 zones, resulting in muddy shadows and blown out hightlights. In addition they are slow compared to film, requiring more light to make an exposure. Even though manufacturers might claim that the cameras have an effective ASA/ISO rating of 100 or 400, when compared to film, the digital cameras require a slower shutter speed or wider apeture to make an acceptable exposure. Just like MHz ratings in computers, Mega-Pixel ratings are just a part of the whole when measuring performance.
Cymbolic Science is no longer the only maker of digital laser plotters. Polielettronica, Fuji, Agfa, Noritsu, and Durst all manufacture digital RGB laser or LED plotters that expose onto conventional color RA-4 paper with quality equal to the LightJet. Most photo labs today either have one of these printers or can send work to a lab that does. Since the materials used are the same as conventional printing, the price is, or should be, the same as getting conventional reprints. Less if you consider that there is no film to process. For those who are not DIY'ers, these same labs will also have high quality scanners to digitize your prints and film to CD at a variety of resolutions.
Also, reasearch at Wilhelm Imaging shows that Fuji's Crystal Archive photo paper has a life expectancy of 68 years, making it the longest lasting color paper on the market, much better than the papers of the 1970s.
Slashdot Mirror
Conventional photo film has a wider contrast range than any digital technology currently available. Photographers divide this range into 10 levels from total black to total white in measurable steps. Known as the Zone System of photography it is the entire basis Ansel Adams' entire body of work. Digital cameras using either CCD or CMOS chips simply do not have that kind of range. At best the high end cameras might have 7 or 8 zones, resulting in muddy shadows and blown out hightlights. In addition they are slow compared to film, requiring more light to make an exposure. Even though manufacturers might claim that the cameras have an effective ASA/ISO rating of 100 or 400, when compared to film, the digital cameras require a slower shutter speed or wider apeture to make an acceptable exposure. Just like MHz ratings in computers, Mega-Pixel ratings are just a part of the whole when measuring performance.
Cymbolic Science is no longer the only maker of digital laser plotters. Polielettronica, Fuji, Agfa, Noritsu, and Durst all manufacture digital RGB laser or LED plotters that expose onto conventional color RA-4 paper with quality equal to the LightJet. Most photo labs today either have one of these printers or can send work to a lab that does. Since the materials used are the same as conventional printing, the price is, or should be, the same as getting conventional reprints. Less if you consider that there is no film to process. For those who are not DIY'ers, these same labs will also have high quality scanners to digitize your prints and film to CD at a variety of resolutions.
Also, reasearch at Wilhelm Imaging shows that Fuji's Crystal Archive photo paper has a life expectancy of 68 years, making it the longest lasting color paper on the market, much better than the papers of the 1970s.