Digital BW, The Print

Steve,

>But doesn't greater dynamic range require, all else being equal, a 
>larger pixel?

No, it doesn't.  That's what everyone assumed up until this year's
digicams hit the market.  The canon G6 has 7mp on a 1/8 chip, and has
lower noise and greater dynamic range than the G5 with 5mp on the same
size chip (it actually has lower noise and DR than my pro-1 with 8mp
on a 2/3 chip-it's amazing).  That was the crux of Michael Johnston's
column on the subject on the Lum. Lndscp web site awhile back, where
he put forth convincing reasons for full frame sensors not becoming
the standard.   Everything is trending smaller, not bigger.  They keep
improving on it and nobody knows what the limits are yet.  All the old
wisdom is up for grabs right now.

Regards,
Clayton


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