Digital BW, The Print

Can we just kill this repetitive subject right here ­ please.  I think we
all know where this will end up.  Read the archives!


From: "Austin Franklin" <darkroom@...>
Reply-To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wed, 12 May 2004 16:46:21 -0400
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Re: Film vs Digital Capture

Crown_Red,

> Bottom line - today a real B&W scanned negative will beat a 6mp
> digital image by about 10%. With an 8mp camera the advantage drops to
> 5%. With an 11mp camera the advantage is gone. By advantage I mean
> sharpness, resolution, and tone control.

This is utter nonsense.

> I studied negative scanning for months and followed hundred of
> Internet BBS discussions by people sharing techniques for overcoming
> the problems of scanning B&W negatives.

Exactly WHAT problems?  Be VERY specific.

> All scanners are engineered
> to scan color

That is NOT true.  The Leafscan 35 and 45 can scan B&W in B&W.  Drum
scanners, as they have separate channels, can be set-up for scanning B&W as
well.

> and do a poor job with B&W (they don't do a very good
> job with color either),

Again, utter nonsense.  IF you know how to use the scanner, you can get
exceptional B&W scans from an RGB scanner.

> so people have come up with hundreds
> of "tips" on how to overcome the problems inherent in scanning
> negatives.

Not for me they don't!

> But the major roadblock for me was time. It takes forever to scan
> negatives.

I won't bother to address this issue right now...as it is a separate issue.
For *some* people, digital does have some advantages, but not for all, and
as far as time goes, digital can take significantly longer.

> But the digital camera B&W process has it's problems too. The biggest
> problem for me is too many choices. I've collected about
> 7 "techniques" for converting the color digital image to B&W.

The BIGGEST problem is the fact that you are using an RGB sensor, in a Bayer
pattern that only captures %50 Green, %25 Red, and %25 Blue information.
You first have to understand that, before beating your chest about the
(dis-)advantages of digital B&W image capture.  Digital cameras that are
monochromatic are available, but you are apparently not using one, so that
doesn't enter into the conversation.

> That
> control, plus selective masking (dodging and burning) in Photoshop
> means I can review hundreds of "versions" of a B&W image in a few
> minutes.

You can do the exact same to a scanned negative.

Please, have your ducks lined up before attempting to discuss this subject
in an authoritative manner.

Regards,

Austin





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]