Digital BW, The Print

There are a couple of digital myths here that I think need to be 
clarified.

On Sunday, December 28, 2003, at 03:32  PM, Alan Zinn wrote:

> As a digital virgin - having just gotten a Canon A70 from Santa I'm 
> having
> fits simply trying to get a candid picture with the freaking digital 
> lag
> time!

The lag time is usually related to the fact that you are using a 
consumer model point and shoot camera, a comparable point and shoot 
film camera would have the same problem. Many people blame this 
incorrectly on digital when it is a function of the autofocus system. 
With some cameras you can get slow write times to the storage media but 
usually only when trying to shoot bursts.

> They have a distinct digital look when examined closely.

I hear this often and it is almost always an issue with how the image 
was processed in the computer after it was shot. Many photographers do 
not understand Photoshop and others get carried away with what they can 
do. You can easily get the same look from negs if they are over 
processed in Photoshop.

I have asked this in other forums and have never gotten a real answer, 
what is a "digital look?"

> Did anyone see the current N.G.. aviation issue?  It was their first
> all-digital shoot. Check out the actual mag.. Tell me if I'm full of 
> it,
> but I swear every image had a distinct "outline" effect around 
> adjacent large tonal
> areas. I'm probably not describing that well, but take a look.  Is 
> that an
> artifact of the camera or reproduction?

This is most likely another problem with not knowing Photoshop, it 
sounds exactly like bad Unsharp Mask settings.

If you want a "film look" you can set up a work flow to get that from a 
digital camera, and if you are scanning negs you are already doing some 
of it. The biggest issue isn't how the image was captured but rather it 
is handled between capture and print. And that part is the same whether 
you shoot digital or shoot film and scan.

Cort

--
Cort Anderson
Training Wheels, llc
www.trwheels.com
620-488-2960
620-488-3196 fax