Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,

>----------------------------------------------
>Digital imaging sensors are subject to the sensitivity of the sensor,
and they are limited to 11/12 stops at this point in time.

>I do this every day and I'm telling you my digital prints are better
than my darkroom prints
>----------------------------------------------

This is shaping up like one of those classic Theorist vs Practical
Realist kind of debates (remember the thing about bumble bees
shouldn't be able to fly?).   It often turns out that there is no
happy meeting ground in the middle because in a very real sense both
parties are "right".

My own experience is that during the past year I have been scanning my
best 4x5 and 6x7 Tri-X negs and making digi prints, and the prints are
better than I could ever do with the enlarger.  Since I'm using the
same image source, and it may even be that the scans have less
information than the negs, I attribute the difference to the ability
to have precise control over areas of the image that I couldn't ever
come close to in the darkroom.  

So it could be the software advantage that allows the practical
realist to overcome the theoretical limitations.  In other words,
while the neg may have more information than the digital capture, the
enlarger doesn't allow us to make use of it as well as software can.

Anyway, all of this makes for very interesting reading and I'm
learning a lot, so I won't be ignoring anyone's posts.  Thanks guys
for a great forum.

Regards,
Clayton