Digital BW, The Print

Hello Wendel,

>Are you shooting the digital camera as though you have slide film 
>when you judge exposure? 

Maybe, but I don't think of it in terms of certain kinds of film, I
just expose to get the best histogram.   I'm a long-time zonie/spot
meter user and I think in terms of putting scene values where I want
them.  With the digicam the histogram has replaced the spot meter. 
Different tool, same results.  Whether I'm emulating some kind of film
doesn't enter my thinking.  Anyway, my question has nothing to do with
an exposure problem.  The images are well exposed and I'm getting what
I want.


>Since BO printing has fewer values between black and paper white 
>than "quadtone" printing

Wendel, this is an old myth that has long since been dispelled.  The
finest degree of division we have to work with is the 256 value RGB
system, and BO printing is perfectly capable of rendering all of these
tones.  I can move a point on a curve by 1 RGB unit and can see a
difference in the print, it is that sensitive.  If you print the
enhanced step wedge you'll see the same smooth ramp as any other
system.  It will appear grainy in the midtones, as if it was from
Tri-X compared to T-Max 100, but there aren't any abrupt jumps because
it can't render the gradations.  If the viewing distance is such that
the graininess isn't apparent, it will be indistinguishable from the
others.  There are 256 values from black to white.  BO printing
doesn't change that.

What I'm finding in my digital images is that smooth upper zone areas
are being printed without the typical grainy look that I assumed was
part of the territory for BO.  If my idea is correct about the driver
responding to the film grain, even though the print is too small to
see the grain, then this is going to open up a whole new zone of
perception for BO printing.

A year ago I was lamenting that digital capture didn't give the Tri-X
look that I was so used to after so many years of using it.  That
hasn't changed, but now that I have a decent camera and am beginning
to do serious work with it, I'm finding I can get very pleasing
results.  It doesn't look like Tri-X, but I like what I'm getting, and
I'm just barely scratching the surface.  This definitely has my
attention.  

I received an email from someone this morning who verified this.  He
said, 

"I too have found that my BO prints from my 6 MP digital camera 
are smooth, almost grainless in comparison to my Medium format
scans, and not just in the higher tonal ranges"

I think I'm getting excited <g>.


Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm