photography – webionaire

The depth of products for photographers, particularly darkoom equipment, declined rapidly in the 90s, the time that most of the current beginners opened their eyes. Providing information about how things were done is more useful if provided with enough background to provide grounding. Rather than tieing their laces together, shut up.

Everyone asks for “it” — upon its production, most have a reason for no longer needing it…

So, the boxes of knowledge weren’t needed.

Amateurs make more requests than most makers can satisfy. As a market declines requests are as likely to be fantasy, role playing more likely. These assumed buyers flee, actually, they never existed. They were suspects, not prospects. No way to close that deal. Most online communities are intended as gossip centers. Sales talk. Buy and sell is the way of exchange. Few members have depth of experience. Most members, most people, even those declaring themself curious, have a narrow decade of knowledge… frequently, craft-skill is more limited than academic transferable awareness; even this is lost after a decade of disuse.

What we have is a gathering of curious, unskilled people passing on hearsay as teaching.

Peak commercial darkroom equipment sales was in 1979. The commercial, custom printers knew this; honest sales reps were quite clear about upcoming deals to be made, going so far as advising other avenues of purchase.

—How Groups Grow: dilution or distribution of effort. Online communities cluster in skill pools much as occurred in regional settings . These skill pools are never culture-free clusters.

The AGO Film Processor and B’s Processor are both designed for home film development, but they differ in functionality and design. The AGO offers automated agitation and is compatible with Paterson tanks, while the B’s Processor rotates the entire tank and is known for its compact size and ease of use. Here’s a comprehensive comparison of the Ago Film Processor, B’s, Jobo Silverbase, and Pira Darkroom Helper based on their functionalities and notable features.

Feature	Ago Film Processor	B’s Film Processor	Jobo Silverbase	Pira Darkroom Helper
Type	Automatic rotary processor	Standard processing unit	Compact rotary processor	Darkroom assistant tool
Compatibility	Works with Paterson tanks	Various standard tanks	Compatible with JOBO 1500 series tanks	Designed for darkroom setup
Film Formats	35mm, 120, custom reels	35mm	35mm, 120, 4×5	Various formats
Temperature Control	Adjusts development time automatically based on temperature	Manual control	No water jacket; suitable for room temp	Not applicable
Programming	Pre-loaded programs; customizable	Manual timing	Automatic rotation with set speeds	Generic darkroom support
Power Source	Battery operated	AC powered	AC powered	Not applicable
Cost	Approximately $500 USD	Varies (generally lower)	Approximately $515.90 USD	Not applicable
Suitability for B&W	Excellent for B&W and color	Primarily B&W	Designed for B&W film processing	Focused on assisting darkroom tasks
User Experience	Easy temperature and time adjustment	Requires manual intervention	User-friendly rotary agitation	Supports various darkroom processes

Detailed Insights

Ago Film Processor

Technology: It automatically adjusts development times based on temperature fluctuations. It can optimize processing for various color and black-and-white films.
User Experience: Battery-operated, allowing flexible usage in small spaces.
Pros:
- Automatically compensates for temperature variations.
- Includes pre-loaded programs for diverse chemical kits.
- Efficient for both black-and-white and color processing.

B’s Film Processor

Technology: A more traditional processing unit, requiring manual timing adjustments.
User Experience: Generally more affordable but less feature-rich.
Pros:
- Cost-effective option for users who do not require advanced features.Around $145
- Simpler operation for those familiar with manual processing.

Jobo Silverbase

Technology: Rotary processor that employs magnetic rotating for even chemical distribution without a water jacket.
User Experience: Known for its compact design and efficiency, particularly for black-and-white films.
Pros:
- Compact and user-friendly.
- Excellent reproducibility of results.
- Allows use of less developer with one-shot solutions.

Pira.mx Darkroom Helper

Estimated cost $250

Basing a product on Jobo or Patterson seems safe. Jobo having vocal suppoters, Patterson being owned by a larger manufacturer with multiple product lines.

Products fail by being used as merit badges, marks of distinction, instead of making art. With the online photoworld, it is enough to say you do, then hide behind a ready alibi. “You can’t see it on the web, it is too analog perfect to be digitized.” They abhor “art-speak” as they engage, mostly in “craft-speak.”

Parrots don’t print. They hate artspeak. They love craftspeak

The market for dye transfer Materials is nonexistent . it is a fantasy . they transfer materials must be made for someone who is using them intently consistently . The firms which can coat Silver sensitive Materials are reducing their small capacity or closing it completely . In 2010 there were several times more coaters than are available now . In the US, of the three firms that could’ve coded Silver sensitive emulsion, two have left that market . Both of those locations coat emulsions for dry lab photography .

For most of the 21st century dye transfer has existed as a small scale competitive conversation transacted online . very little of the discussion has involved experience based opinion .

Why didn’t another able coater supply a version of matrix film to the still hungry marketplace after FK’s collapse? Certainly there were coaters with excess capacity along with the ability to formulate their version of the open source Browning/formulation. Even the clamor among the alt-print world for silver solutions to the “make it bigger” topic will not support a lab film. Digital negs rule, even among the darkroom adherents. Oddly, even after many complain about the inferior negatives produced using inkjet / overhead film workflow.

The question ~~ONEIDA~~ posed was about markets for a product once made. If a film sells, others will fill the orders.

EFKE (FK) wasn’t profitable. They couldn’t sell enough film. Matrix film was a risk that failed as revenue.

Bergger Printfilm was a toll coating based upon Efke Printfilm. It was designed, and released to satisfy the ALT photography printmakers searching for solutions to making enlarged negatives for UV sensitive contact processes.

Like AI’s arrogant children, they ignore the question in order to make a point: they know better, not just more, but more as well as better. They don’t need to read the question. Easy as Pie.

Time spent to learn:

Mr. Answerman has accumulated over two years talking about color photography, using as his merit badge knowledge of dye-transfer. This time is if he spends only 5 minutes reading and posting on each of his posts across three frequented forums. Two years is more than enough to master the process. More time than even the name-dropped heros spent.

NB: the durable dye-transfer groups — nope!

key patent by Wey and Whiteley.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debye–Hückel_theory
Russell, Chemical Analysis in Photography
Croome, Photographic Gelatin
Deryagin, Film Coating Theory
Zelikman, Making & Coating Photographic Emulsion
Gorokhseskii, Spectral Studies of the Photographic Process
Duffin, Photographic Emulsion Cheistry

BERGGER_PRINTFILM_DATASHEET Download

This isn’t tuesday– suppose you were learning a subject that had deep, long-time history, would you start at the end? Which end? This from the early part, that which made the thing possible was a set of references, most of which are lost on the shelves of unvisited libraries. Nonetheless, here, 1945, photochemistry sources used by the original makers of color systems:

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Tag: photography

NB: Phantom Markets