Digital BW, The Print

Ernst wrote:


> ...
> Ask Paul here. I think he made the step from 645 to fullframe digital +
> the best lenses around + stitching and stacking methods 2-3 years ago. ...
>

Yes, I was going to comment about my current printing experience with the
medium format film compared to my current Leica M9 (18 MP CCD with no AA
filter).  An increasingly important factor is the optics.  (Forget old
retrofocus and zooms for top off-axis performance.)

Basically, only the Bronica RF645 (rangefinder) with 45mm (great) wide
angle (non-retrofocus) and with Technical Pan film files, of those I have,
are in the same league with the M9 (or other good full frame digital
cameras with top lenses).

I'm printing for the September show I'm having in Los Olivos (California),
using nothing but an Epson 4000 with the Epson-Noritsu dyes in it.  This is
on Red River metallic paper.  That medium is incredibly un-forgiving.

I'm running into medium format film files that looked great as 16x20 matte
prints and look horrible on this dye-metallic medium.  I'm having to
re-scan a high proportion of the files that were made before I bought the
Nikon 8000.  Much below that is going to have problems.  For top negatives,
I am considering drum scans.  However, I'm finding problems with the film
negatives that probably can't be cured by a good scan.

In general, while MF film can possibly capture more ultimate fine detail
(though probably irrelevant to 17" wide printers), the signal to noise
ratio (image detail to film grain) is not close to the digital capture
files.  Tech Pan has the fine grain, but with all of the films, there are
noise patterns that emerge in addition to the grain that limit the image
quality.  (And I was about as fanatical about my film & development
technology and processing as my digital printing.)

I like to present the viewer with a window to B&W reality.  I like the
cleanest window I can find, and I like the viewer's eyes to be the limiting
factor in the detail.  With the the 17" paper width and dye/metallic medium
I'm printing for this show,  the most carefully taken and processed full
frame digital files are way ahead of all of the medium format (currently
available) film I've used.  MF rangefinder Tech Pan is the only medium
format I've used that appears close.   (I still have a stash of frozen Tech
Pan, by the way.)

Today's solid state technology is way ahead of film with developer sloshed
across it.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com


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