Digital BW, The Print

On Friday, April 26, 2002, at 02:38 PM, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

> "jackperk" <jackperk@...> writes:
>
>> All,
>>
>> I was told once that a useful workflow is to shoot color film to
>> produce B&W prints . . . that that procedure offers more control than
>> shooting B&W originally.
>>
>> Two questions:
>>
>> 1. Do you agree? What is your experience with such workflow?
>>
>> 2. What do you then find the best way to translate the color to B&W?
>> Selecting on of the channels? Blending channels? Using Grayscale?
>>
>> Sure would appreciate any input. TIA.
>
Jack,

Although I almost always shoot 4x5 T-max 100, I have experimented with 
Fuji Astia 100 chrome film in 4x5. Astia is a less contrasty alternative 
to Provia and DisneyChrome (Velvia). Astia allowed me to capture my 
image, scan it and get a well exposed and printed image. Using my Howtek 
D4000 drum scanner this was not a problem. However, with that said, I 
have also experimented with Fuji Velvia in 6x6 and scanned those negs as 
well. The results, even with the drum scanner were not as smooth and 
lovely as with B/W T-max 100.

Remember that T-Max 100 has 22 stops of exposure latitude. That means an 
awful lot when working with a scanner with limited dmax. I would tend to 
overexpose slightly and under develop  by 20% for a scanner with a 
limited dmax. That way you are ensured of getting a detailed negative in 
the shadows and at the same time holding tons of highlight detail. 
Scanning a "flat" negative makes life much easier when you begin 
printing from scanned files.

Mike