Digital BW, The Print

Clayton, thanks for the detailed insights. I've come to the conclusion
that 20D et al are halfway steps, too expensive for 8mp...I think
they'll become much cheaper soon... and I really dislike the SLR form
factor. The digicam concept makes more sense to me (Pro-1 & Leica D2),
especially since I rarely consider extreme lenses. Therefore I'll
probably shop for a good price on Pro-1...

Portrait suggestion: Hassleblad Softar.

Djon


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Clayton Jones"
<cj@c...> wrote:
> Hello Djon,
> 
> >Clayton, a while back you discussed your use of the Canon Pro-1 
> >in B&W photography. As I recall you weren't happy with rendition 
> >of skin tones...
> > 
> >Have you taken this further, gotten better results, or moved along 
> >to another digicam? My reason for asking: I notice Pro-1 bargains, 
> >though I'm tempted by soon-discontinued Leica D2 bargains, despite 
> >the lower resolution...
> 
> One of the Pro-1's strongest features is its lens - it is incredibly
> sharp (it is the only L-class lens Canon has put on a fixed lens
> camera).  I am continually impressed with it.  But it's also my
> biggest complaint as a portrait lens - it's totally unforgiving.  You
> can literally count the hairs on a mole.  I've resorted to using
> slight gaussian blur to tame it.  It also tends to give a flat look to
> skin tones, so I have to be more aware of getting some modelling from
> the light.  I did a couple of portraits with rather flat light and was
> not real happy with the results.  I managed to get something usable
> but it wasn't great.  But I'm finding that with some light modeling it
> does a much better job.  I've done some very nice portraits with it as
> well, but I have to be concious of what I'm doing - not a bad thing I
> guess <g>.
> 
> The biggest disadvantage of a fixed lens camera - you're stuck with
> that lens.  In my 35mm and 6x7 work I had favorite portrait lenses.  I
> had a Tamron zoom on a Minolta 7000i once that, for whatever reason,
> was a superb portrait lens, but was just so-so as a landscape lens. 
> And it's not just sharpness.  There are other qualities that can be
> designed into a lens.
> 
> For landscape work I love the Pro-1.  It's incredible sharpness and
> extreme DOF make it great for that.  You can shoot at wider apertures
> at higher shutter speeds and have fewer problems with windblown flora
> movement and still have full DOF.  I tend toward small prints - even
> in the film/darkroom days my biggest prints were 11x14.  The Pro-1 at
> 8mp can deliver excellent 11x14s so I'm very pleased with it.  I took
> it to Death Valley Nat'l Park in January and returned with a bunch of
> very fine images, and it was a joy to use.  I'm totally spoiled by the
> twisty view screen.  I use it like a miniature view camera.
> 
> Steve Karafyllakis got one and he recently showed me two nearly
> identical 11x14 prints of a flower, one from the Pro-1 and the other
> from 4x5 (can't remember what film).  They each had pros and cons, and
> the Pro-1 version was equally good.  In some ways I liked it better
> (maybe Steve will add something here...).
> 
> 
> >though I'm tempted by soon-discontinued Leica D2 bargains, despite 
> >the lower resolution...
> 
> I did a lot of research before buying this, including downloading and
> printing dpreview sample images of various cams.  I concluded that 6mp
> was not quite enough to allow some cropping and still give excellent
> 11x14s.  IMO, 8mp is the minimum for a good fine art landscape
> digicam.  The D2 is less noisy and from what I've read seems like a
> much better street machine.  If you like careful tripod work I highly
> recommend the Pro-1 (it's not a good sports/action rig, and focuses
> slowly in low light).  
> 
> Rumor has it that Canon & the others won't be upgrading these
> pro-sumers because the latest technology improvements and lower cost
> DSLRs are rendering these pro-sumer bridge cams obsolete.  If that's
> true, the Pro-1 will remain a one-time wonder box and probably will be
> in high demand once people realize there won't be a replacement.  In
> the forums it's approaching worship status among those who like it,
> very much like the G3, which has reached cult status and is getting
> harder to find and bring high prices.  If you think it will fit into
> your style of work I'd snap up one while they're cheap.
> 
> Regards,
> Clayton
> 
> 
> Info on black and white digital printing at    
> http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm