Gast
Hi everyone,
I’ve been looking for a transparency grey scale but haven’t found one yet.
Doesn’t anyone need one of these anymore? What do people do who print using alternative methods, or simply want to produce accurate black-and-white prints?
Or do I have to perform exposure on it from a single piece of film without calibrating it?
So, I’m looking for:
1 film mat, approx. 2-4x5", with, for example, 11 fields with defined densities ranging from 0 (or the mat itself) to approx. 3.
Best regards,
Martin
Gast
I recently bought a transparency grey scale from Foto Brenner. They’re actually the only supplier I’ve been able to find. The selection isn’t very wide.
The grey scale has 14 grey levels, each differing by a density of 0.15. That corresponds to half a f-stop. I used it to match the contrast chart of my inkjet printhead to the photographic paper. It worked a treat. The charts that come with the photographic paper are only estimates.
Best regards, Renate
Gast
Hi Mirko,
Are you really going to let that slide? And then sell loads of fine art paper? I don’t know ;-)
Best regards
Martin
RomanJRohleder
The ones sold by Brenner and Phototec have been repeatedly criticised elsewhere – too low a dMax, too coarse a gradation.
You can get ‘proper’ wedges from Stouffer in the US at www.stouffer.net; I regularly borrow a DuPont one from a friend and use my densitry strips (subjected to exposure and calibrated with Sensitizer). That’s sufficient for many applications and costs nothing.
Stouffer supplies them in all sizes, gradations and densities, and the prices remain roughly within reasonable limits given the USD/EUR exchange rate.
MirkoBoeddecker
I’ve been getting in touch with Stouffer on and off since 1996 :-(
They always turn me down: “No, we don’t need a dealer network” was the reply.
What can I say…
I’ll give it another go next week.
Best regards,
Mirko
RomanJRohleder
Actually, any criticism of the wedges available in Germany should also mention their generally limited range of densities. Oh well. Now it’s here.
Gast
I’ve been getting in touch with Stouffer on and off since 1996 :-(
They always turned me down: “No, we don’t need a dealer network” was the reply.
Everyone I know who has a decent grey scale gets theirs directly from Stouffer in the US. So it may well be true that they don’t need a dealer network ;).
Mine (31 steps, 0.1 logd per step) came from a bulk order and, if I remember correctly, cost me €17 including a share of the postage. It slipped through customs as a letter. Not exactly cheap, but very, very useful.
But I do think it would have been helpful to be able to order this item from the Impex catalogue. Then I could have spared myself the detour via the Brenner part B).
Regards
Joost
Renate
If I can get hold of something better than the Brenner one, I’ll snap it up straight away. But it’s the best I’ve managed to find so far, and it’s done the job. I’d never heard of Stouffer’s before today. But it’s never that easy to get hold of things from the US on your own. I’d rather leave that sort of thing to the professionals and pay for the service.
Best wishes, Renate
MirkoBoeddecker
And we’re already on it.
There’s a new contact person at Stouffer, and as I’m currently in the US, I thought I’d give them another call.
The problem is customs and VAT.
So even if they were to give us a 20% discount, if we were to resell the goods without making a profit, we’d still be 1.5% more expensive than a letter that slips through and doesn’t have to pay either customs or VAT.
On the other hand, you wouldn’t have any deductible input VAT or a tax-compliant invoice.
Let’s wait and see what the new lady at Stouffer has to say about the issue.
Our problem is that we have to make a profit per catalogue page, as each page costs us around €1,000 a year.
So a certain amount of turnover has to be generated, and if every second person buys directly, it backfires on us.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Buy one of each, as long as you don't stray too far from the US price...
T2115C 21 .15 1/2 3.05 1/2 x 5"
T3110C 31 .10 1/3 3.05 3/4 x 8"
R3705-1C 37 .05 1/6 1.85 1/2 x 8"
Fly safely!
Gast
Right then, lads,
let’s cut to the chase:
The burner costs 17.95 as well, and apparently isn’t all that useful.
Sending it by post is always a bit of a gamble, but even in the best-case scenario it’s clearly no cheaper.
Since we’re not talking about consumables here, but about durable (with careful use) tools, Ole and I can’t finance the catalogue page on our own (which might also fit the Retro POP and the long-promised IR filters), but a pricing structure that’s both reasonably customer-friendly and covers our costs should be possible. I’d rather fork out a fiver than get carried away hunting for bargains in the US over something like this.
Regards
Martin
Gast
Hi Mirko,
After checking with Stouffer, I could do with a
T2115C and a TP120-21C.
Best regards,
Martin
MirkoBoeddecker
IR filters: we’re sticking with Heliopan for the time being.
In the end, they weren’t quite as cheap as the Far Eastern manufacturer had initially claimed.
After all, Heliopan does supply almost all the ‘models’.
Our problem with Heliopan was that they had granted exclusive rights for the US and the UK, meaning that Retro and JandC couldn’t source the filters through us.
So I had to look for an alternative.
But we’ve sorted that out now.
Best regards,
Mirko
Gast
Hi Mirko,
Any news regarding Stouffer?
Best regards,
Martin
