Color negative film has the advantage of low density range; that is, the
range in density of the film between clear film and the darkest part of the
negative is quite small. This makes it easy to scan. It also limits the
tonal gradations visible on the film, but you can't have it both ways.
Conventional B&W film usually has a very broad density range, often so broad
that it exceeds the scanning capabilities of many scanners. It also
provides extremely subtle tonal gradations (the flip side of having a broad
density range). But that tonality doesn't help you if you can't cover the
density range of the film with your scanner, so if your scanner is not up to
the task, you may wish to try chromogenic B&W instead.
Of course, each roll is different, and a roll of low-contrast images can be
scanned by anything. For high-contrast subjects, though, the chromogenic
film is handy. Witness my night shots on Portra 400BW; the narrow density
range of color negative film allowed me to get some pretty extreme contrasts
recorded on film (actually, the scanner might have been able to handle these
even on conventional film, since it's a pretty good scanner, but it was
easier with Portra).
Austin recommends finding a film with a range that matches the scanner, and
I agree, although finding such a film (that is, on that is a fairly close
match) might be problematic in many cases. Most films will probably be
relatively narrow, like Portra, and thus not nearly exhaust the scanner
capacity, or very broad, like Tech Pan, thereby easily blowing past the
scanner limits.
----- Original Message -----
From: "B. Alex Pettit Jr." <a_pettit_jr@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 02:52
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Optimal BW film for scanning ?
> Austin,
> I am now a bit confused: you are recommending using color negative
> film for B&W scanning ? Porta is BW but uses color chemistry, no ?
> Thanks,
> Alex
>
>
> > That all may be true, (and I agree with using color negative films over
> > slide films),
> > I must point out, that when you scan, your scanner has a particular
> density
> > range that it can capture, let's say 3.6, and the scanner will always
> > capture that range, no matter what the range of your film is. The
> unused
> > range is simply thrown out, via your setpoints.
> >
> > My suggestion to maximize your data capture is to use a film (I suggest
> > negative film, though it has a lower density range than slide, it
> has better
> > tonality...as in captures more tones) that is just below the density
> range
> > your scanner can handle, and learn to use it well.
> >
> > Austin
>
>
>
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