Daylab Question

sillyphaunt · May 13, 2005

I got my Daylab on Tuesday, but just had the first chance today to do some prints.

Now my problem is that it seems like they're all coming out over exposed. The slides look fine, but the print is still very light. I put it to its darkest setting on the exposure setting thing, but still its not very good.

The prints I was trying were mostly greens in color (trees and such) is it just that green doesnt show well? Am I missing something? I do have the film type on "3".

OKay, adding some examples: Here's the slide original, scanned into my computer:

Here's the polaroid print (I did a bit if messing on it, but kept it the same so you could see the color)

terri · May 13, 2005

Oh dear....that's no good, is it??

Let me see...first off, if the scan of your slide is a pretty fair representation, I think it's a mite overexposed, which is not going to help when using it on a slide printer. Be critical of your slides and only choose those which have a fair density to them.

Q: Do you have a light table? It's a great tool for viewing slides, and when you're using a slide printer, I like to keep a slide very similar to the one I'm using in the Daylab out on the slide printer, to help me judge against the Polaroid print. That saves me from having to remove it from the slide carrier and re-compose. Light tables are not expensive.

The print you made has wayyyy too much red in it. Q #2: what are the settings on your Daylab color head? Always start with them in the 0 position, shoot a test, and then judge what color filtration you need to add from there. Right now I'd suggest adding cyan.

The lightness of the print: sometimes that darkness knob isn't enough, you're right. You need to just add neutral density using the color head. For instance, adding magenta and cyan at the same levels won't disturb your color balance (if you like the color but the print is too light) but will void each other out, acting only as a ND filter.

There's some trial and error involved when getting used to the Daylab. One thing I can absolutely suggest: go purchase a Kodak color print viewing kit. It's an invaluable tool. The kit is comprised of various degrees of colored filters which you can hold over your print to determine whether or not to add or decrease a color. It's been used in darkrooms forever, but I love it for the Daylab! You won't be wasting print after print just guessing.

mmmm, that's all I can suggest at the moment.....go check your color head for those settings.

Good luck!

Edit: one more thing: just like with a camera, read the manual (such as it is) that comes with the Daylab. It's admittedly sketchy, but gives a handy table of how to add/subtract colors with the Daylab. Color printing is not easy, and basically this is what you are learning to do, pretty much on the fly. Study that manual and use a nicely lit room when you work.

Be patient. :mrgreen: