Digital BW, The Print

Just a few kudos for Tech Pan.  I used to use it in a former life as
photographer for the Indiana Historical Society.  When used (with filters)
to copy old photographs, it --better than other films-- brought out detail
(read that, data) that other films did not.  Sometimes I was shocked at
things I could see in the copies, but not in the originals.

Glad to know it's still being used.

Seth

=
=Ive just shot a roll of Tech Pan through an RB67.
=It was developed using a product called Techxactol which is 
=available from www.barrythornton.com.
=This stuff is truly amazing. As stated on his website, the detail of 
=tech pan is retained, but with the addition of sharpeness.
=I rated it as recommended at 32, and processed as prescribed for 
=about 7 min.
=It was scanned using a Nikon 8000. Clicking on "actual pixels" 
=in Photoshop revealed no visible grain at all. This by the way 
=is a 477 ppi file at 16 x 20, which will be printed 
=using Piezotone Selenium.
=Frank
=
=
=
=
=--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, HPA <tom@h...> 
=wrote:
=> I do alt printing on a professional basis, and scan both new negs
=as well as
=> hundred year old ones, some designed for bromide papers and some for 
=> printing out processes such as platinum. In answer to your
=question, the
=> short version is that you want to limit development to a range that
=your
=> scanner can handle.
=> 
=> Negatives designed for POP processes are so much denser than modern
=film
=> that it is nearly impossible to buy film good for platinum
=nowadays.  Agfa
=> P330p was a great one, but that disappeared last year.  Kodalith is
=now used
=> in its place, but cannot compare.  Ordinary camera films can be
=specially
=> developed to reach for that kind of gamma but the result is, by
=comparison,
=> not very satisfactory.  These dense negatives are impossible to
=scan on
=> ordinary flatbeds, and so when the new Artixscan came out with a
=scan depth
=> of 4.8 I bought it at once, and this scanner can handle most of the
=densest
=> films.  If you are already making alt process negatives, this is
=the scanner
=> for you.
=> 
=> If you are shooting ordinary camera film and simply want good negs
=for
=> scanning, I would recommend XTOL developer and real silver emulsion
=film,
=> for example the Tmax line by Kodak.  I hesitate to recommend the
=chromogenic
=> B&W films because they will fade long before your career is over,
=just like
=> most color film (except Kodachrome) unless you can afford
=refrigerated
=> storage for your processed negatives.  This is expensive, a
=suitable Kenmore
=> frost free refrigerator will cost about US$90 a year in electric
=bills.
=> 
=> I would recommend the Tmax over the old emulsions like Tri-X
=because of the
=> design of the gamma curve.  Tri-x was designed with a very long
=shoulder,
=> the purpose was because back in the 1950s most flash was bulb and
=could not
=> be controlled by amateurs.  Gross overexposure was common, so they
=used very
=> long slopes so that no matter how overexposed the film got there
=would be at
=> least some highlight separation in the neg that could be burned
=in.  With
=> the advent of TTL flash, overexposure due to flash was not an issue
=with
=> professionals anymore, so Tmax straightened out the shoulder and
=made the
=> highlight separation more linear.  This means more natural
=highlights.  If
=> you want to read the interview with the Kodak engineers who
=designed the
=> film, it was published in Darkroom Photography, July 1988 starting
=on pg. 42
=> 
=> Xtol is an extension of this philosophy, and is probably the
=biggest single
=> advance in B&W film in the 1990s.  I still use other developers for
=special
=> tasks, but it is no longer necessary to have a half dozen different
=kinds in
=> daily use.
=> 
=> If you do not get satisfactory results, read about modifications to 
=> development.  One treatment that I still have to do is for copy
=negatives,
=> where the result looks too flat.  This is because the shoulder of
=the gamma
=> curve is too flat (because the subject was too flat of course) and
=these
=> negatives can be toned in selenium, which puts a big lift only on
=the
=> extreme top of the curve.  Full instructions in Kodak's
=book "Copying &
=> Duplicating"(many editions) or in Ansel Adams series "The Negative"
=& "The
=> Print"(many editions)
=> 
=> One final note is grain, since this is a component of artistic
=expression in
=> fine art printing.  Starting with Tmax, film was coated under a
=magnetic
=> field to align the grain. The result as far as scanning goes
=depends largely
=> on your scanning technique and specific equipment.  If you are
=using a glass
=> carrier in a slide scanner, you may notice a big difference.  If
=you are
=> using open carriers to hold your film, the heat from the scanning
=bulb
=> usually causes enough motion of the film from heat expansion to
=render the
=> grain somewhat unsharp, but of course this is individual to each
=setup and
=> you will have to see for yourself.
=> 
=> Hope that helps.
=> Tom Robinson
=> >Subject: film processing
=> 
=> >I tried a couple of searches but I guess I didn't find the right
=key
=> >words.
=> 
=> >I would like to ask about the processing of black and white 
=film, for 
=> >ultimately scanning and printing on an ink jet printer. I 
=am curious 
=> >as to what kinds of negatives produce the best results. Would a 
=> >denser negative, like for platinum printing or a thinner 
=negative be 
=> >better for scanning? If this is not the right place for 
=this kind of 
=> >question, could some one please point me in the right dirction? I 
=> >went to a general photo forum, and people thought that
=I
=> >was crazy for wanting to waste a fine negative on an ink jet
=printer.
=
=
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