Digital BW, The Print

Hi Mark,

I don't do anything special, but I do use a Leaf 45 film scanner...and it is
the only scanner I know that scans B&W as B&W, not as RGB.  This may account
for the exceptional B&W scans I get...and as I've said, it works superbly
with my D-76 1:1 and Tri-X/Plus-X.

Regards,

Austin

> Tri-X and D-76 1:1 is my personal favorite for traditional
> processing, has been for years, but you suggest that you do something
> special to reduce the grain quantization in the digital processing,
> what is it?  *I* am not happy with how it scans/enlarges from 35mm
> negatives.
>
> mark
>
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Austin
> Franklin" <darkroom@i...> wrote:
> > Getting good B&W negatives is not only based on the film choice,
> but the
> > developer and development dilution and development time.  I
> strongly suggest
> > trying D-76 1:1 for Tri-X (and Plus-X).
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Austin
> >
> > > since no home scanner can accurately capture the actual visible
> grain
> > > of Tri-X you are stuck trying to process around this failure...
> you
> > > may be able to do this to your satisfaction, but I have not, nor
> have
> > > I seen anyone else's work that satisfies me... though I haven't
> seen
> > > your work of course.  the scanner scans across the grain and
> > > quantizes the image as it should, but that does not mean that the
> > > results are pleasing.  With finer grained films the images already
> > > look smooth and the averaging that occurs during a scan just
> > > maintains the smoother look.  For large format work, the
> quantization
> > > of Tri-X is not so much an issue because, even though it looks bad
> > > when you zoom in, you don't have to enlarge it as much and it is
> left
> > > in the sub-visible realm.
> > >
> > > how do you process out the obvious grain quantization from your
> Tri-X
> > > scans?
> > >
> > > mark
> > >
> > > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Anthony G.
> > > Atkielski" <anthony@a...> wrote:
> > > > Mark Hahn writes:
> > > >
> > > > > I've yet to see anyone's 35mm Tri-X scanned really well on
> > > > > any home scanner though... which is a shame, because I love
> > > > > Tri-X ...
> > > >
> > > > Tri-X can easily be scanned from the scanner's standpoint, but
> get
> > > the
> > > > results you want requires a lot of tweaking and practice.