Digital BW, The Print

I just did a job this week that was scanned 16 bit greyscale from
about 12 - 35mm Scala frames that were perfectly exposed. They drum
scanned beautifully (as underexposed frames do not) and these are
going to make some really beautuful inkjet prints. The tonal
distribution is unique and I love it. It is sad that this material is
going the way of the buggy whip, but that's life. 

During Christmas I am going to be shooting black and white with an RZ
67 and drum scanning (I don't trust taking my 4x5 on the airplane to
Louisiana). Does anyone have any suggestions of which brand of the
chromeginic black and white film to use? I never thought I'd see the
day that I would abandon tri-x but now is the time. I was going to go
with the Ilford XP because I have some familiarity with it, but
someone recently had great results with Fuji and suggested it... does
it matter? I may go to 44"x60" with these, which I have easily done
with Provia film from the same scanner. I'm thinking 100-320 iso.

John 


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Jordan Wosnick
<jwosnick@f...> wrote:
>
> 
> joshscapes wrote:
> 
> > And don't get too attached to any one digital camera, lens, 
> > computer, ink, paper, color film, temperature in a day, clouds in 
> > the sky...ect.
> > 
> > What kind of a comment is that?  I'm sorry.  I don't mean to sound 
> > harsh or sarcastic (well maybe a little).  But in this day in age 
> > does someone really need to be told not to get too attached to any 
> 
> Josh, I agree for the most part with the content of your e-mail. I 
> myself don't even own a digital camera and sincerely hope that film 
> remains available for a LONG time. I didn't intend to be provocative.
> 
> But AgfaPhoto (the film, paper and chemistry branch of Agfa that 
> emerged after the parent company declared insolvency earlier this 
> year) has indicated that it failed to find a buyer and is wrapping up 
> operations at the end of 2005.
> 
> http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/10/19/afx2285533.html%3E
> 
> Long discussion here: http://www.apug.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20610
> 
> AgfaPhoto laid off all of its staff earlier this fall. I think a 
> European company bought up its stock of B&W paper and some chemicals 
> and is selling it until it's gone. There was also talk of Fuji buying 
> up some of its materials and/or IP, and of a company buying the colour 
> mini-lab part of the business, but I don't know if these deals 
> materialized.
> 
> The 120-format B&W films were discontinued earlier this year. 
> Production of all Agfa films and chemicals has ceased. That's why it's 
> becoming difficult to find APX films and Rodinal, as fans buy up the 
> stock everywhere. Lots of discussions of alternatives to these films 
> and developers are currently underway on photo.net, APUG, etc.
> 
> Given the fact that Agfa is basically out of business, and that Scala 
> requires a proprietary process, I think that settling on Scala now may 
> not be a wise idea. There are alternatives for B&W slides, but they 
> are generally not as convenient.
> 
> Jordan
> www.photosensitive.ca
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> Jordan Wosnick
> jwosnick@f...
>