Digital BW, The Print

Darrell,

CMOS and CCD chips are more similar to slide film than
of black and white film, being as they have much less
latitude.  From basic camera controls in initial
capture, there is not a method to stretch the latitude
of the CCD.  

You can mimic the effects of n-1, n-2. etc., from
various controls in photoshop - but that defeats the
purpose of placing specific values or zones on site.

As the digital camera is just an imaging device, you
can apply zone system techniques for far less work in
photoshop.

My capture process:

1. Read scene with handheld lightmeter, placing my
important value.  I have determined the optimal ISO of
my 10d is 80 with my materials.
2. Capture in RAW mode.
3. Transfer images to photoshop as 16 bit tiff.
4. Convert image to greyscale.

At this point the specific zone placed will fall
exactly where I want it - without levels or curves
manipulation.  The process is quite simple, and saves
hours in photoshop.  I save this as my master file,
making any corrections then printing.
 
Write me directly if you would like to know my process
for determining the proper ISO for digital, as well as
constructing a zone ruler to see the latitude of your
imaging chip.

Don


--- darrelleifert <darrelleifert@...> wrote:
> Hi Folks --
> 
> Forgive me if this is a *very* basic question that
> has been answered 
> before, but a web search hasn't turned up much
> useful information.  
> 
> The well-known advantage of using B&W film is the
> ability to expand 
> or contract developing times in order to obtain both
> shadow and 
> highlight detail in the finished print.  When using
> a digital camera 
> to make what will eventually become a "fine art" B&W
> print, is there 
> any known technique that mimics the N-1 or N-2 film
> development 
> process?  Thanks!
> 
> -- Darrell
> 
> 
> 


__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com