Digital BW, The Print

Manuel,

You wrote:

>I am considering moving up from 35mm into medium format. Specifically,
>I am thinking about getting a Mamiya's 645E camera and an Epson 3200
>scanner to print bw on my existing epson 1280 using quadtones.

>Does anyone have experience with such a setup? Should I expect
>significant print quality improvements? Right now I use the HP S20xi
>scanner on my 35mm negatives.

I shoot medium format ("MF"), and with Tech Pan or Tmax 100 (with much more
work), I can print 22 by 28 prints that are perfectly sharp and almost
entirely grainless.

However, using MF equipment in an of itself does not guarantee better
sharpness.  I'm very skeptical that any "affordable" flatbed scanner can
deliver sharpness that is equivalent to a film scanner with even close to
the equivalent dpi.  My Epson 1600 delivers sharpness that is about equal to
a good 800 dpi film scanner.  When I used the Epson 1600, I enlarged the
images onto 8 x 10 film first.  Even an 8x10 print interpositive is better
than a direct MF scan with the 1600.  The Nikon 8000 was a huge step up for
me, eliminating a major barrier to my accessing my negatives.

MF cameras are also no guarantee of superior image quality even on the
negative.  All such cameras with "reverse curl" backs put a bend in the film
that stop it from laying flat on the film plane.  Even the old twin lens
reflex (my Rollei F & GX, for example) have film flatness problems.  For
perfect sharpness, I used to shoot only every other frame with a TLR and my
Rollei SL66.  My Bronica 645 RF and Fuji 645 Zi are the only MF cameras I've
owned that can be shot like 35 mm cameras and have flat film.

Also, on light or even medium weight tripods, be careful about mirror slap
and focal plane shutter momentum.  Even if the mirror is pre-released, the
movement of that big focal plan shutter must be in line with the tripod mass
for that mass to be an effective damper.  If the shutter is moving
horizontally, you'll have a heck of a time taming it.  (This is true to a
lesser extent even for 35 mm.)

On the other hand, the MF cameras with leaf shutters are virtually vibration
free.  I use a very light tripod with leaf shutter cameras, which makes
those MF systems lighter than 35 mm systems.  (And as an aging backpacker,
weight is very important.)

So, MF will definitely help with grain, but for sharpness, careful work is
needed to get close to the full benefit out of that film size.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com