Digital BW, The Print

Alessandro,

I am using a Polaroid SprintScan 120 at 4000dpi for my 35mm and 6x7cm 
negatives. For 4x5 I am using a Linoscan 1400 at 1200dpi.

My personal inclination in recent years has been to not print 35mm 
larger than 8x10. Out of curiosity I did print a 35mm Tmax 400 neg on 
13x19 paper and was very surprised and pleased with the results. The 
grain was very nicely rendered and I felt it was better than what I 
would have gotten in the darkroom in terms of sharpness.

I can't give you any good feedback on the FP4+ in 35mm as I have not 
used it enough. The speed is a little too slow for handheld work and 
if I am going to carry a tripod I take the Pentax 67 or the 4x5.

On the slower speed films with the pyro, the grain pattern is not 
readily discernable with the 6x7cm negs in the 4000dpi scan. I don't 
know if this is due more to the scanner resolution not being high 
enough, the grain masking effects of the pyro developer or a 
combination of the two.

I have shot some Supra but have not tried scanning it yet. With all 
the advances in film technology in recent years the sharpness gap 
between B&W and color is probably shrinking and may no longer be as 
critical as it once was.

Martin Wesley


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Alessandro Pardi 
<alessandro.pardi@i...> wrote:
> Martin,
>  
> thank you for your very detailed answer. There's a lot of 
information and
> food for thought, here, especially this pyro developer and Gigabit 
film I
> never heard about. I have finally found a B&W lab I can trust, so 
I'll ask
> them about this.
> Just out of curiosity, what is your scanner and how large can you 
print with
> 35mm FP4+ and (especially) TMax400? I'm thinking about 13x19, and 
am afraid
> that grain may be an issue with but the slowest film.
> About the sharpness of color and B&W film, this is exactly what I 
expected
> to see in my PanF vs. Supra test (I shot exactly the same scene, 
with a
> sharp prime lens), but apparently my 2700dpi scanner isn't enough. 
Let's
> wait for the Canon FS4000 and see...
>  
> Thanks again,
> Alessandro Pardi
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Martin Wesley [mailto:mwesley250@e...]
> Sent: martedì 23 ottobre 2001 23.02
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...
> Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Film poll
> 
> 
(snip)