Digital BW, The Print

(snip)
>
> Number isn't a good word for this concept, unfortunately.  It's not an
exact
> number I believe is cared about, but that one can "observe" (by what ever
> methodology) an image has more tones than another image, rather than
knowing
> the exact number.  I'll have to really think about that, as the "number"
of
> tones will be a range I believe, and not fixed...

I very much understand visually what you are getting at, or at least I think
I do. The best example I can think of is say comparing an 11x14 print made
by enlargement from a 35mm neg to an 11x14 print contact printed from an
11x14 neg. For me personally the larger negative has a tremendous appeal as
a printer.

I am one of those rare photographers who actually enjoys the printing part
of the process the most. I still am a "binge shooter" who goes out with the
idea of gathering more negatives to print rather than a seeker after images.
(I am not sure I am making sense or not, and I certainly can't recommend
this as a way to practice the art of photography.)

So if you could shoot exactly the same scene starting with 35mm 400 ASA
film, then move to 50 ASA film, then to 6x6 100 ASA, 6x7 100 ASA, 4x5 100
ASA, 5x7, 8x10 11x14, 16x20 and 20x24, and then print them all to 11x14 we
could sit down and look at the results and say this is what I mean by
improved or greater tonality. I suspect that we would be in general
agreement.

I also think that we would see that the changes from step to step diminish
with less and less perceptible improvement in tonality as we go up in
negative size. At an 11x14 print size I cannot always see any meaningful
difference between prints from my 6x7 and 4x5 negs.

I believe there are several factors involved. There is the size of the image
grain in the print, the amount of contrast between individual grains and the
resolution (as in line pairs per mm) of the print. Coupled with this are the
viewing conditions including level of illumination, viewing distance and the
quality of the eyes involved. I doubt that print emulsion or dither pattern
is a large factor except in relation to close viewing distances. I think a
lot of it has to do with resolved fine texture and how that relates as
variation in tone.

I know that all of this is very real but I do not know how to quantify it in
a single value or even a small set of values. My feeling is that even if I
could, the decisions would be largely artistic choices.

Martin

(snip)