Digital BW, The Print

> > I have been using MIS quadtones for about a year now and I am
> > starting to get comfortable enough with the results to enter some
> > prints into competitions.  Since most juried compatitions require
> > slides for entry, I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good
> > choice for slide film to use to photograph black & white prints.

In the past, we did a lot of copy work, including copying b&w photos.  We have found that Fuji's Velvia
transparency film was very neutral, and provided a smooth tonal range.

That said, your lighting setup is just as important as your film in getting 'neutral' results.  We used
ProFoto strobes, which are very neutral (color temp) at any setting.  This would be true of all of the 'high
end' studio strobes, like Broncolor, Elinchrom etc.  The problem with using the less expensive strobes (like
White Lightning) is that their color temps change with power settings (the lower the output, the cooler they
get), and even on the highest settings, they are still 'blue'.

The problem with tungsten film and hot lights, is that the lights change color temperature as they age, so
there is some lack of consistency, they are still pretty good.

The idea of going to a color film, as compared to B&W, is that all black and white images actually do posses a
color, and b&w film would not represent that.

Harvey Ferdschneider
partner, SKID Photography, NYC


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