>> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on >> the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly complete.
> You picked it up, didn't you? > There's still a few people buying them on eBay.
Nah, they're practically worthless. I see them at my favorite recycled-goods store in Berkeley (Urban Ore) all the time. Used to think of buying them to sell them, but there's really no market there. (As an example, speaking of eBay, I got my 5x7 Elwood there--for $9!)
-- The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
"He not busy being born Is busy dying." R. Zimmerman
> today I saw an Omega enlarger put out on the curb on my way home.
Compared to how many computers put out for the trash?
The purpose of existence is to make garbage.
The National Lampoon in 1970(?) proposed a "Value Subtracted Tax" - A manufacturer would be taxed 15% of $999,000,000 for reducing $1B of forest to $1M worth of tacky coffee tables; Consumers would be taxed 15% of $1,000,000 for reducing $1M worth of tacky coffee tables to $0 worth of garbage.
> The National Lampoon in 1970(?) proposed a > "Value Subtracted Tax" - A manufacturer would > be taxed 15% of $999,000,000 for reducing $1B of > forest to $1M worth of tacky coffee tables; > Consumers would be taxed 15% of $1,000,000 for > reducing $1M worth of tacky coffee tables to > $0 worth of garbage.
"David Nebenzahl" wrote: > Wet photography is really dying
> Another depressing data point: today I saw an Omega enlarger > put out on the curb on my way home. (A little 35mm one.) Nearly > complete.
I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink from...
Today, I have the best darkroom I have ever had. Finest equipment. Best supplies. Easily handles all formats from half-frame 35mm to 8x10. Prints possible from reductions to 20x24. All b&w, no color - but that's by preference, not lack of market availability. Closed loop exposure and developing systems. Computerized tempering water faucet. High quality and consistent enlarging papers, both graded and variable contrast. Excellent developers, stop baths and fixers. (Homebrew, in my case.) Easily obtainable chemicals at reasonable prices, from the most basic to the incredibly esoteric. Even a bottle of Rodinal which, if memory serves, has been continuously manufactured since well before the end of... not last century... but the century before. The list goes on and on. Best ever of everything, hands down.
Today, I have the best film cameras I have ever had. Some vintage. Some pristine vintage. Some brand new. All users, and all used. And it's possible today to purchase brand new film camera equipment in all formats. Small, medium, large, ultra large, panoramic, stereo. View cameras and field cameras, 4x5 to 20x24. 35mm rangefinders and SLRs (not many, but there's still a few new ones out there). Single and twin lens reflex medium format. Fixed lens medium format and full-blown, interchangable lens systems. Both mechanical and electronic. Manual focus and autofocus. It's all there.
Today, I have the best film available in history. Ilford (bless 'em) for everything one would ever need in b&w, Fuji (bless 'em) for damn near everything else color - and some pretty good b&w of their own. Even Kodak has recently been spied lurking again in the shadows of the analog back alley. Slow, medium and high speed films. Infrared films. Negative films. Positive films. Hell, I recently even purchased some fresh Kodachrome from a small, local drug store. So it's all there. Just for the asking. And all the finest quality since Niépce started this whole mess in 1827.
Sometimes, I think it's worth remembering that the heavy end of the glass works better on the bottom.
> I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink > from... > [... snip great post ...]
Whether the glass is half-full or half-empty depends upon whether you are serving or drinking. Today we are drinking from the bottle being emptied by those moving to digital. It's good.
>> I suppose it depends on which end of the glass one is trying to drink >> from... >> [... snip great post ...]
> Whether the glass is half-full or half-empty depends upon whether you are > serving or drinking. Today we are drinking from the bottle being emptied by > those moving to digital. It's good.
Those moving to digital have not enabled Kodak to continue manufacturing their Elite Fine Art paper, which IMAO was the best paper I ever used.
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