Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Don M <don@m...> 
wrote:
> Enjoyable post.
> Would you mind saying what other methods or materials you have used 
that 
> did not do as well as this?

I have used Digital Capture with D100 and conversions to greyscale 
in  photoshop with silver oxide filters.  That was not nessecarily a 
bad thing just not the post processing I wanted to do.  I wanted to 
do true Black and White, and I could tell the difference in my work.

Canon i9000 printer with regular Canon ink black only.  That IMHO 
made good Black and White.  Nothing to really hang on the wall and be 
proud of, and there was not enough tonal gradation, and the photo 
looked store processed.  It was not like a custom print.

Old HP printer with full color inks.  Just horrible.

Current Epson 2200 with photo black ink.  Horrible too much bronzing.


 
> Do you have a guess as to what part of the system is mostly 
responsible for 
> your success?   Or is it all the little things put together?
> 
> -Don M


I am now making the best possible negative for 35mm with fp4+ I have 
ever produced.  The Leica M system is truly a large leap in quality 
from my Nikon System (Nikon lover dont flame me).  Combine that with 
a great film like fp4+, and that helps a lot.  That is subjective, 
but the picture have a quality that just jumps off the page with 
minimal grain and great contrast and resolution even at 13x19 
prints.  I think that may be a key part of the quality difference.

The Epson 2200 is the best printer I have ever had and the 2880 DPI 
print resolution plays a huge part in the fact that the image is less 
pixelated then my previous print jobs on my old printers.  I think 
this may be important with Black only printing.

Despite all of the above,  the ink recommendation made the 
difference.  None of my black only prints, or black and white prints 
with full color inks have come close to what simple eboni black ink 
can do, and it is so cheap.

So I would say it is the combo of everything.  The great negatives 
help, the printer seems to work great but my other comparisons where 
not in the same class as the Epson 2200, and of course the ink is key.

As for the way I process the Negatives, I am not sure how much that 
matters especially with the way I scan the negatives. Even dense 
negative have all the information you need from the raw CCD output.

If you are interested in an 8x10 print of what I have been able to 
accomplish with this technique send me an e-mail and I will mail you 
the landscape picture I am talking about.  I can mail out a few 
pictures at least just to share my experience (I hope I dont get 
flooded with requests).

Thanks
Steve