[Dabhand16]

Woody, another surviver from Luton/Dunstable!! Did you ever go to the better nightclub, the California?

I always had a problem with having my own darkroom. I started City & Guilds and joined a club just to access a darkroom! Now, I can do everything I ever did in the dark sitting at my computer, (well, almost everything) and I can see the effect instantly, and reverse it if I have over/under done it.

I think you have overlooked a very important point in your thesis. Although lots of people have decent digital cameras now, I would never consider not employing a professional to formally record an important event. There is no way that an average photographer can match what a pro (or very serious amateur) can do. And I'd want my wedding or other important event to be photographed with a medium format camera for preference, or at least, a top end digital/35mm. I'll concede that an MF camera would probably not be the weapon of choice to use in a club, but like for like, digital is now better than 35mm film. You only have to see some of the shots of bands on this forum to see wqhat can be achieved. If you had your D200 in the days you were doing the nightclubs, you could have done the processing quicker, and maybe, better.

If anyone thinks that they only need to get Uncle Fred to bang off a few happy snaps to give them a record of a special event, then good luck to them.

The real loosers in the digital revolution are the processing companies. Joe Average can now produce their own prints that are as good as they can get from the High Street. At far greater cost, of course, but cleaver marketing of the hardware has fooled them into thinking that it is a good idea to do your own printing, and a whole new industry has grown from it.

I know exactly what you mean about the buzz from seeing a print appear in the dish. But it is nowhere near the feeling you get when you realise that the films you have just taken from the developing tank have been bleached out by the fixer not having the right dilution.