Digital BW, The Print

Guys-

  I can tell you that college and university students, at least those 
I've talked with over the past two years, are embracing large format 
film-based photography with a real passion. I think this is, in part, a 
reaction to digital. It also speaks to their attachment for working in 
the wet darkroom. Lastly, the internet has made it possible for people 
interested in alternative processes to communicate on a level unheard 
of before.

  Marshall McLuhan understood this phenomena perfectly: old technologies 
never die, they become art forms.

As for the availability of film, especially for large format, I don't 
see this as the looming issue others do. In fact, the sooner that the 
large (and routinely unresponsive) companies get out of the way the 
sooner small companies will fill the void. It wouldn't surprise me if 
the range of choice narrows, but I strongly believe that film will 
continue to be commercially available for a long time.

A more pressing issue, for those working in color, is the machine 
processing that's been so commonly available through local labs. I do 
think that many small labs will contine to phase out color film 
processing for sheet film. As their machines die, or become too 
expensive to repair, they'll opt out. The best lab in our part of the 
country is now doing E-6 runs only twice a week.

Bill K.

 -----Original Message-----
 From: Paul Roark <paul.roark@verizon.net>
 To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
 Sent: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 09:07:31 -0800
 Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Digital vs. Film: the ANSWER

 > > Question: What MP count is going to be needed for a sharp
 > > 30 x 40 B&W print from a digital camera? ...


 > You can go here:
 >
 > http://www.mamiya-op.co.jp/home/camera/digital/zd/sample/sample.html
 >
 > and download a 10 mb file from the new Mamiya ZD 22 mp camera.
 >

  I just downloaded, sharpened, and printed as a B&W the landscape 
sample.
  I'm sad to say it's not close to my 645 Tech Pan. But, it could be the 
Jpeg
 or other problems of the sample.

 Paul
 www.PaulRoark.com




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