Digital BW, The Print

Hi, Jamie.  I don't print as large as you want to, but I do have experience
with 4x5 and 8x10 field cameras.  Just a few practical considerations:
First, with negatives or chromes, bigger is always better in an absolute
sense.  LF lenses aren't as sharp as good 35mm lenses, but they don't have
to be - 20 square inches of film is just going to capture more information
than 1 x 1.5".  But...photographing with LF is more contemplative, always a
tripod, meter readings, calculating your DOF and nothing happens really
fast.  View cameras shine with WA and normal lenses, and you're not going to
find any lens as long as you can get with your 10D.  If you scan a 4x5 neg
at 240, 16-bit grayscale, that will give you a 200mb+ file and a 40" wide
print with no cropping (If I've blown the math I'm sure someone will
correct).  So, if you start adding PS layers you will have a pretty big file
to work with, probably not that big of an issue with the computers we have
now.  A good drum scan is going to run about $100 anyway.  So if you're
lucky enough to get five keepers on a trip, you're out $500 more or less
before you even contract out the printing.

To get the best negatives with LF, for all practical purposes you have to
develop them yourself once you have your film speeds calibrated for
different placement of shadows and highlights (zone system).  Again, that is
not a problem but it is time-consuming and about as exciting as mowing the
grass.  You really have to be in the mood for it.  On the road, you will
need to seal off the hotel bathroom to change film, or go with Ready-loads.
Experience has taught to always have a Polaroid back to check focus and
exposure.  On the bright side, you can buy excellent LF gear and lenses
pretty cheap right now.  If you like the serene, contemplative approach and
just looking at the scene on the ground glass, LF may be for you.  Just a
few thoughts - hope it helps some.

Regards,

  --Ken Carney
    www.kencarney.com  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: jamie gannon [mailto:jamie@...] 
> Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 6:36 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Would like to GO BIG - Start with large 
> format neg?
> 
> List,
> I am interested in comments on process and equipment.
> I currently am making pleasing prints with an Epson 3000 and 
> Piezotones, shooting with Canon D10 in raw. Converting to b&w 
> 16bit. No display calibration or purchased profiles. 
> Using QTR. All trial and error I suppose. Lots of test strips 
> and the best softproofing I can manage. Working on Mac, first 
> gen mid tier G5 with Apple 21" display. I would like to print 
> the images much larger! I will outsource the printing. But, 
> my files are not suitable right?
> When opening the raw image I use the 'raw' preview 
> environment in PS and turn down the saturation completely, 
> adjust the various image sliders till I get a decent 
> histogram. I open as rgb, 16 bit, 300 ppi and at 6144 x 4996 
> (is this interpolating the image larger than its native 
> res?). After converting to grayscale I end up with a 48mb, 
> 16bit image. After tweaks and very minor cropping I have 
> roughly a 20 inch image at 300ppi. How large can this go?
> If I want significantly larger prints am I better off 
> shooting large format (4x5) and drum scanning the negs? I 
> would not have access to or a budget to rent some mega-mega 
> digital camera.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jamie
> 
> 
> 
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