Digital BW, The Print

Jerry,

Please understand that I was not dissing the D30. I have one and absolutely LOVE it; though I am anxiously anticipating the next generation
digital offering from Canon. I'm hoping we'll approach MF quality, at that time. I have chuckled as I read the numerous e-mails flying around
regarding digital vs. film, D30/D60 (insert hardware of choice here) sharpness, etc. I have many 11x17 landscape images from my D30 that I
am delighted with. I, too, was a REAL skeptic about the quality claims of D30 images, especially compared to scanned 35mm and traditional
Type C prints, before I personally viewed the results; based on a good workflow from RAW image files. I'm sold.

With regard to my statements concerning B&W from D30 files, I don't remember saying that they were not sharp. However, I have not been
able to produce 11x17 B&Ws from the D30 that can hang on the same wall as my LF output. And, for LF, I am not doing anything special--mostly
Tri-X scanned on an Epson Expression 1680 using Silverfast 6. The D30 images just simply don't have the "look" I'm after; richness of tonality.
Absolute sharpness has never been a major concern of mine even back during my wet darkroom days. Beyond the normal things one expects,
like pleasing composition, etc., I try to obtain a tonal "richness" to all my B&W prints with open yet contrasty shadows and highlights that "sing!"

The D30 B&W output, though nice, just doesn't "grab" me. I know that you know what I'm referring to here. Color images, on the other hand,
are absolutely AMAZING! I never knew what could be accomplished with digital until I stepped up to the D30. Before the D30, I thought digital
was digital, and sensor type--CCD or CMOS--who cares? As you know there ain't a 4-5 megapixel Sony, Olympus, or other, digital camera
that even comes close to the D30/D60, 1D, D100, S2, etc. OK, Canon, how about a 9-12 megapixel full-frame (or closer to it) CMOS sensor
with build quality of the EOS 1 series? Maybe the EOS 1C? I can only dream!!

Best regards,
Alan

-----Original Message-----
From:	Jerry Olson [SMTP:jerryolson@...]
Sent:	Saturday, September 07, 2002 2:37 PM
To:	DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject:	Re: [Digital BW] Digital sharpness vs film- Canon D60


> Hi Ross,

> Jerry has already responsed with some good advice, but I'll add my 2 cents...FWIW...

I agree with everything that Alan said, except the quality of a print
from the D-30. I have easily made 11x16 prints from the D-30 that are
VERY sharp in black and white. This doesn't apply to images taken at
infinity, just closeups. The D60 is quite a bit better than the D30. For
infinity pictures, especially with buildings and trees on the far
horizon, the digital cameras don't quite make it yet. There is just too
much fine detail to resolve. Here, I'm speaking of wide angle lens
photos. A telephoto lens wouldn't have that problem. Digital images are
sharpest the closer you get to your subjects. Closeups of people, cats,
dogs, flowers, etc. are very very sharp, even at 13x19 inches, where
landscapes aren't quite up to that yet.

Jerry

If you like, I can send you a JPEG image of a cat, and even though it's
just a screen resolution of 72 DPI, you can easily tell the original is
very sharp.


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