Digital BW, The Print

>>For B&W film, it is best to use a chromogenic film ...
>> The chromogenic films use a C41 process,...

>Not true at all. If you are using ICE for dust removal, then, yes, you
>cannot use silver films. Otherwise, they are no problem. ...

I use both types of film with my Nikon 8000 and find each film has
advantages and disadvantages.  For taking fast, hand-held shots, T400CN is
my choice; for landscapes Tech Pan is my favorite (although I've been having
inconsistent development problems with it -- the subject of another post).

Speaking of chromogenic films, I recently shot a roll of Kodak T400CN and
tried an interesting method to improve its quality for landscapes.  Although
I like the T400CN when I need speed, I really don't like fast film grain for
landscapes and large prints.

So, here is a solution that worked rather well.  For a landscape that had
sky in it that I thought needed to be grain-free, I put the camera (medium
format Fuji 645 Zi) on a tripod and took 3 quick shots on T400CN.  I kept
the shots together on the film strip and scanned each one, with the grain
reduction option turned on.  In Photoshop, I combined the shots by using the
clone tool, after careful alignment (on a detail in the frame at 1600
magnification with the clone tool size a 1 pixel).  The first 2 were
combined at 50% in one continuous clone with a 999 pixel brush.  The third
was added at 33%.  The detail for the non-sky parts of the image can be
taken from any of the shots.  No multi-sampling is needed where there is
detail, although for a few things the multi-sampled file is even better for
non-sky parts of the image.

At any rate, the resulting sky is essentially grain-free.  Just as scanner
multi-sampling reduces random electronic noise, camera multi-sampling can
reduce random grain (film noise).  It's a bit more work, of course.
However, the approach allows me to have fast film in the camera for shooting
people (snaps of the kids on a family trip in this case), but still have the
ability capture high-quality landscapes without changing films or carrying a
separate camera.

Paul
http://www.PaulRoark.com