"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.
Ken
