Topic: your lightroom digital darkroom

[tkmedia]

Since some have asked... I know a lot of people on here don't have a darkroom but more of a digital darkroom. Do most people here have a more modest setup or insane like mine?

here's my primary "lightroom setup"! I dont use darn adobe lightroom btw.... It's also used for tv recording and other devices stream from it throughout the house. Not shown is another slightly unassembled Mac G3 setup for my older Creo XY scanner, a agfa imagesetter, ABdick offset press and a Nuarc graphics arts camera in the garage. The workstation is a omni rack from my old music keyboard setup (Apple Quadra 840AV and Atari ST), but now mostly cobbled together slightly 10 year old PCs. My bottom keyboard tray broke after 20 years.. I retired the cash register scanning setup.

Scanning
Scan system (35mm)
Shuttle XPC: Pentium 4, 3 GHz, Windows XP SP2
15" Samsung LCD 4:3 monitor
Pakon F135 plus scanner

Scan system (120)
whitebox. Gigabyte board, AMD Athlon II X3, 3Ghz, Windows 7
Epson "V500" w original and V600 holders.
Acer 19" LCD 16:9 monitor

tv recording
Outdoor antenna and Indoor antenna
HDHomeRun two of them (4 OTA tuners) connected via ethernet to switch

System 1 (recording/serving)
whitebox. MicroStar board; Intel 35w Conroe-L Celeron 1.6GHZ
Windows 7, Media Center

System 2 (recording/encoding)
Lenovo ThinkCenter A60. AMD Athlon 64 X2
Windows 7, Meda Center

Light box
Rubbermaid desktop keyboard tray
Omnirax workstation
Canon 4x6" dye sub printers

not shown
Scan system (misc)
Apple PowerMac G3 (Blue and White), PowerPC G3 350Mhz, Mac OS 8.5.1
Creo/Kodak/Scitex EverSmart Jazz 12x17" scanner

Agfa imagesetter
Agfa Viper RIP : Apple PowerMac 8100, PowerPC 601 80Mhz, 2 gig scsi hard drive

[Francois]

I have only one word: Yikes!

[oldwino]

I'm not sure about all the computer stuff (Atari?!?), but is that a Mamiya Press camera I see?

[ManuelL]

Wow, is that Mamia Press connected via HDMI already or is it the old version with serial port? 

I have a computer that is 8 years old and sounds a bit rachitic, but the Epson V700 scanner and Epson R3000 printer connected to it do everything I want them to. 

[Francois]

Old computers are nothing to be ashamed of. I bought mine in 2006, added some memory and a video card over the years. Right now it runs Win7 decently on an old IDE drive that's connected to my SATA using a 2$ bridge adapter... and it works just fine (though a bit slow I must admit).

[tkmedia]

I'm not sure about all the computer stuff (Atari?!?), but is that a Mamiya Press camera I see?

The workstation (desk) was used for a music creation system called Cubase which started on Atari computers as Atari's in the 1980s had built-in MIDI. These systems were commonly used until the late 1990's. They are still being used for for professional work but less so today.

I had a nice Roland Juno 106 "keyboard" synth.

[thatguychad]

35mm Pakon 135+ scanning system:

HP Pavilion P2 Desktop (AMD Fusion E-Series Dual-Core, 3GB DDR3)
Windows XP with updates through September 2014 (some unofficial)
17" LCD shared with an old Mac G4 tower running MacOS 9.2.2

Medium format scanning system (Epson Perfection 4990):

Custom built Intel Core i7 (i7 3770, GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP5 TH, 32GB memory, 256GB Crucial SSD)
39" Seiki 4k TV as a monitor (unsure if I'll keep this setup - 4k is only at 30Hz and there's some input lag)
or 27" 2560x1440 IPS LCD (may revert to this monitor)
Windows 8.1 Pro

My HTPC is an old Core2Duo with 4GB of ram and 4 OTA tuners, but it does share the 9TB worth of Drobo hanging off of it for all of my "backups" (yes, I know RAID is not a backup)

[tkmedia]

I'm more used to hand me down computers that cost less in price but more in time. Most base model computers currently seems fast enough for me for 90% of the time. Before in the 198X-200X or so I always bought mid range level computer/s components with minor upgrades, as I was doing more with computers than most average users. As for scanner systems I tend freeze the configurations and not update the systems because they seem to break so often usually with OS updates.

Common Francois, you do seem ashamed as you removed that photo!

[mcduff]

Tony that is a sweet bunch of stuff, including the prepress gear. Agfa imagsetters were the bees knees!! Do you still use it?

My kit is pretty basic, a 5-6 year old imac at home and a v700 at work attached to a even older Mac. I have often thought about getting a film scanner but my experiences with them (we used to have a Polaroid one) was that while the quality is great, most of them take too long for my temperament. I really should get one of those pakon units, if nothing else to clear up the backlog from the 80's-90's.

To talk about the software part if my digital darkroom. I generally use silverfast with the v700. I like its look but definitely do not find it fast compared to the Epson software. I find its version of digital ice works better than epson's tho. I do find it a pain as I usually feel the need to adjust the levels for each negative. I usually scan at a higher res than I know the v700 can really handle (3200) and save as a high quality jpeg (one less than max in silverscan). This makes for fairly big files when I shoot 120, but my rationalization is that my image archive is smaller than if I was a digital shooter ;-)

[LT]

Omg omg omg

[Ed Wenn]

Er...

[Ed Wenn]

I have a more modest setup for photography-ing pursuits. One old HP slimline desktop PC (Win 8.1), one Epson Perfection 3200 flatbed scanner and a couple of monitors.

In addition to that, we actually have a TON of computers, tablets, phones, laptops etc. around the house, but they're not for scanning/processing purposes.

[SLVR]

Omg omg omg

WWLD

[Francois]

Common Francois, you do seem ashamed as you removed that photo!

I was feeling a bit "inadequate"...
Lets just say I'm a bit more minimalist...
Still running an old AMD Athlon 64, Windows 7/Windows XP (I have two drives), Epson 4490, Wacom tablet, Selphy printer, HP desktop printer, Brother label printer, IT Instant scanner, Spyder, USB Lava lamp, USB toy owl, chicken USB stick, Vesta flash with HV sync, Astrobeck postcard, Dali clock, bag of googly eyes, silicon "brass" knuckles, wind-up caterpillar...
As you can tell, most of this stuff is highly photography related

[tkmedia]

Agfa imagsetters were the bees knees!! Do you still use it?

Recently.. no. I still have boxes of film. but I used it for some of the previous years postcard exchange, "printing" the digitized scan to the imagesetter, tray process the negative (auto processors are more wasteful but better for large qty) and transferring via cyanotype. While I dont have a traditional photography darkroom, I do have bits and pieces of hazardly setup prepress darkroom.

[Bryan]

Francois, I like your photo of the Bolex H16 Rex, I have a Bolex H8 Rex, basically the same camera for 8mm film. 

My digital darkroom setup includes an iPad mini, Olympus OM-D E-M5, a piece of white translucent plastic and a Bogen tripod.  I use the iPad mini and plastic as a light table to scan my negatives with the OM-D.  I edit my photos on the iPad with Adobe Photoshop Express. 

[gsgary]

At the moment just using a Toshiba laptop intel2 core duo, windows 7 and V500 scanner and 2 external hard drives, got a desktop upstairs but don't use it much but will probably use it more when i get my darkroom set up

[LT]

WWLD

World Wide Lens Day?

[jojonas~]

impressive, tk!

I've got: dell inspiron 1525 running (lol) vista with (lolol) 2 GB ram and a v500 on the side. works for me

[mcduff]

Omg omg omg

Dear oh dear oh dear.

Leon, have you developed a keyboard-stutter?? Or is it merely the shock of realizing you have left the children alone on their own for too long?

[mcduff]

Agfa imagsetters were the bees knees!! Do you still use it?

Recently.. no. I still have boxes of film. but I used it for some of the previous years postcard exchange, "printing" the digitized scan to the imagesetter, tray process the negative (auto processors are more wasteful but better for large qty) and transferring via cyanotype. While I dont have a traditional photography darkroom, I do have bits and pieces of hazardly setup prepress darkroom.

I have one of your cyanotype's from a couple of years ago, so I think I may have seen output from it. That would be great for that. Whenever I have done a cyanotype I have used a digital-internegative but it has always been a crappy one from a laserprinter onto a piece of acetate.

[Indofunk]

At the moment just using a Toshiba laptop intel2 core duo, windows 7 and V500 scanner and 2 external hard drives, got a desktop upstairs but don't use it much but will probably use it more when i get my darkroom set up

Wow, that is EXACTLY my setup! The laptop screen is the WORST for editing photos, I have to darken it all the way and then lean the screen back about 10-20 degrees off of a right angle (guess that makes it 100-110 degrees, for you mathematicians [mathsematicians???]). Sometimes I'll edit on my work computer which is a desktop with a Acer screen, that gives much more consistent results.

Oh, I use Lightroom the program. If you use LR too Gary then we are essentially the same person

[LT]

Leon, have you developed a keyboard-stutter?? Or is it merely the shock of realizing you have left the children alone on their own for too long?

Brilliant. Thanks for getting the joke. Love the idea of you all running riot for the child minder, and now the parents are home to clean up the mess.

 

[LT]

...and to join in the thread:

I use an epson v700, a 2009 macbook pro with an LG external screen running photoshop and Lightroom (although I tend to only use LR for digital captures ), a Wacom tablet and an Epson R3000 printing on harman baryta, ILFORD mono silk or Canson baryta photographique.

However .... I much prefer my darkroom. I just can't get into it much at the moment, so needs must and all that.

[SLVR]

WWLD

World Wide Lens Day?

What Would Leon Do? 

[jharr]

I am on a Dell something or other laptop. I scan with a V700 and edit with Photoshop CS5. I have used Linux/GIMP in the past and loved it, but couldn't get the family to buy in. Plans are to build this and have a proper photo/video workstation, but you know... life.

[gsgary]

At the moment just using a Toshiba laptop intel2 core duo, windows 7 and V500 scanner and 2 external hard drives, got a desktop upstairs but don't use it much but will probably use it more when i get my darkroom set up

Wow, that is EXACTLY my setup! The laptop screen is the WORST for editing photos, I have to darken it all the way and then lean the screen back about 10-20 degrees off of a right angle (guess that makes it 100-110 degrees, for you mathematicians [mathsematicians???]). Sometimes I'll edit on my work computer which is a desktop with a Acer screen, that gives much more consistent results.

Oh, I use Lightroom the program. If you use LR too Gary then we are essentially the same person

I only have Lightroom 1.4 but don't use it  and I have a little more hair and I'm not a demon trumpet player I've got a harmonica but im useless

[Adam Doe]

... an old AMD Athlon 64, Windows 7/Windows XP (I have two drives), Epson 4490, Wacom tablet, Selphy printer, HP desktop printer, Brother label printer, IT Instant scanner, Spyder, USB Lava lamp, USB toy owl, chicken USB stick, Vesta flash with HV sync, Astrobeck postcard, Dali clock, bag of googly eyes, silicon "brass" knuckles, wind-up caterpillar...
As you can tell, most of this stuff is highly photography related

... an epson v700, a 2009 macbook pro with an LG external screen running photoshop and Lightroom (although I tend to only use LR for digital captures ), a Wacom tablet and an Epson R3000 printing on harman baryta, ILFORD mono silk or Canson baryta photographique.

However .... I much prefer my darkroom. I just can't get into it much at the moment, so needs must and all that.

So, Francois, Leon and any others who use a wacom (or any) tablet, I'm curious as to how you incorporate it into your photo workflow. I've always used a mouse and am wondering about the benefits and if you use it for most photo processing or just specific bits. Thanks.

[tkmedia]

I was thinking about buying a 'old' Microsoft Surface tablet, first generation used ones can be had for under $300 and can run a 'real operating system' instead of a lite phone based OS. I was thinking about getting it for spotting B&W photos. I borrowed a more purposeful wacom Cintiq and it worked great for that. but that was 10x the cost.

[mcduff]

So, Francois, Leon and any others who use a wacom (or any) tablet, I'm curious as to how you incorporate it into your photo workflow. I've always used a mouse and am wondering about the benefits and if you use it for most photo processing or just specific bits. Thanks.

Adam, I have tried them on and off over the years (decades). They never really did it for me, but YMMV. If I was drawing in illustrator all day I think I would have been on board. But as I was mainly working in Photoshop (image editing vs 'painting') and in page layout (if you remember them ) programs, I found the mouse better. I tried one again recently and I found that for image editing in photoshop (mainly zapping dust and scratches) that it just did not cut the mustard. Perhaps if I was doing it all day.

My favorite pointing device is one that a lot of people hate. I like the Magic Mouse (Apple's wireless mouse with a touchpad on top of it instead of a scroll wheel) for image editing. Mainly because I find it great for scrolling around with when I am zoomed in. Like a trackpad you can give a quick swipe and it will move where I want it to go. I know a lot of graphics app users hate it tho (including mac users) but I prefer it (and its kind) over the conventional mouse. I have seen other mice like this but have only used the Apple variety.

I case I get accused of apple fanboyism (and I really should not be as Apple pisses me off a lot these days) my absolute least favorite mice were also apple mice: The Mighty Mouse (which was OK until its scroll ball died - and they all died fast), and the evil hockey puck shaped mouse that came with the first iMacs.

[Francois]

So, Francois, Leon and any others who use a wacom (or any) tablet, I'm curious as to how you incorporate it into your photo workflow. I've always used a mouse and am wondering about the benefits and if you use it for most photo processing or just specific bits. Thanks.

Well, I still use the mouse for most of the everyday computing. But I always switch to a tablet when doing photoshop.
I have a small Bamboo Touch tablet (it's their smallest) and it does make photoshop work a lot better. What I like about it is the pressure sensitive stylus. If you want to do heavy, you just press more on the tip. It makes retouching jobs more seamless. But the smaller model has a few disadvantages. Since everything on the tablet is the same as on the screen, it's sometimes hard to work with the small menu bars. I also find double clicking to be sometimes not obvious. But the features and buttons can be customized for each program separately. It's also more ergonomic than the mouse. I always use it when I hurt my wrist or shoulder and it feels much better.