Digital BW, The Print

Anyone wanting to see first hand what impact negative size has on the
final print should go the Library of Congress web site and download
the 12mb TIF of Walker Evans' "Floyd Burroughs, Cotton Sharecropper,
Hale County Alabama"
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?fsaall:43:./temp/~ammem_27kv::displayType=1:m856sd=ppmsc:m856sf=00244:@@@
and then print it. Don't do any PS adjustments other than normal
printer profile, just send the raw 400 dpi 8x10 to the printer. Look
at the print and think about it coming from a 12 meg file but being
from an 8x10 neg.

Bob Michaels 


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "randyrancier"
<randyrancier@y...> wrote:
> I used to be primarily a large format photographer 4x5 & 5x7, as 
> well as doing a fair amount of 35mm B&W. I worked in silver and 
> palladium print making. I am fairly new to digital photography and 
> up to this point have only worked with digital images from my 3 
> megapixel camera; I've really enjoyed it, and it has gotten me back 
> into photography.  The digital darkroom is much more convienient 
> than a wet darkroom, hallelujah!
> 
> In the near future I am going to get a wide format Epson printer so 
> I can do B&W right, with the new B&W pigment inks.  From what I have 
> been able to gather from various sources on the web for ultimate 
> control and quality the way to go is using a film camera and then 
> scanning the negatives.  Not desiring to pull out my old 5x7, or 
> purchasing a scanner that handle it.  I will be looking at some 
> second hand medium format equipment, probably 
> Mamiya.  I really like the size and convienience of the 6x4.5 size 
> cameras, but I haven't ruled out the possiblity of the 6x7 format.  
> My question is will I see much of a difference in quality in 16x20 
> size prints, between the 6x4.5 and the 6x7 format???  I plan on 
> doing color as well as B&W prints.  I will probably use high 
> resolution color negative films and the new higher speed B&W 
> negative films that are color processed.  I may have to resort to 
> processing my own higher speed B&W negatives if I can't control the 
> highlights, with the other films mentioned, in my outdoor night 
> photography.  I apologize for the length of this message!
> Thanks to those who respond.
> Randy