Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/01/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Peter, how truly kind of you to take the time and trouble to respond so lucidly and demonstrably to my questions. Clair, claro. I need to get some better experiential knowledge of T400CN. It strikes me from your text and examples that for real available darkness, Tri-X or T-Max that I have been using recently may produce images that I prefer while for use outdoors or where there is ample light T400CN does a beautiful job, particularly if one scans to produce the final print. I still have some residual concern about the archival issue. Again, many thanks, Seth LaK 9 - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 1:00 PM Subject: [Leica] Re: Leica Users digest V26 #146 > > Seth: I've used T400cn a fair amount. As you say, it has great latitude > and scans well. It is also very fine-"grained" and has beautiful, smooth > tonality. It can be processed by any lab that does C-41 color negs. Since > it is a dye-cloud film, infrared-based dust reduction software like ICE or > FARE works well. > > As you also have heard, T400cn is lower contrast than, say, Tri-X. That > goes with the latitude. But, that can easily be remedied if you do a > little work with curves. So you have a film that can capture an unusually > wide brightness range, and what you do with that brightnesss range is up > to you. It helps to scan in 16-bit mode, as that gives you more numbers > to stretch in the curves without posterization. > > The pictures you get from T400cn in good light have beautiful gradation > and smoothness, almost like medium format. > > Now the bad news. T400cn can tolerate much overexposure, but little > underexposure--just like fast color neg film. The more you expose, the > less apparent grain. Shadows can get muddy and grainy in available light > situations. T400cn can get scratched if you even *look* at it sideways. > Many labs that can process the negatives don't understand how to print B&W > on color paper, so you get sepia, greenish or magenta-tinged prints. > Like all color negs, T400cn is not archival. Depending on the processing, > it might fade in a few years, or not. > > On the advice of a lab owner I know, I have been shooting T400cn (and > Supra 400) at ISO 200 when there is plenty of light, and I crank it up to > 400 when I need the extra stop's speed. This works well. > > Here are a few T400cn pictures from my ramblings. > > Outdoors at ISO 200, with orange filter. The blurring of the nearby trees > is due to a 35 mph wind. But look at the tonality, and how sharp and > beautifully textured the rocks are: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/california2003/JoshTree35.htm > > In dull available light, ISO 400: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/lhsa2002/13henning.htm > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/lhsa2002/14tuulikki.htm > > You can see the shadow muddiness in the dark clothing on this one: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/lhsa2002/36rabiner.htm > > And in Noctilux territory, but with a 50/1.5 wide open at 1/8 sec. I used > Neat Image on this one, and placed the black point up a bit so the > grainiest stuff would go completely black: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/lhsa2002/30ted.htm > > Finally, here are two shots taken at the same concert, under the same > contrasty, glaring toplight. One with T400cn and the other with Tri-X in > Xtol 1:3. You can do a side-by-side. > > T400cn: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/musicians/1-25AmosLoriErichWeb.jpg > > Tri-X: > http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/musicians/2-09SchulhofBowsWeb.jpg > > Hope this helps. > > --Peter Klein > Seattle, WA > > Seth wrote: > > > Funny, literally 30 minutes ago I picked up two rolls of T400CN to use > > on a business trip to San Francisco this Friday. I have limited > > experience with this emulsion. I have heard that it can lack the crisp > > contrast of silver films but that it is much easier to scan. Also very > > forgiving latitude as I discovered this past fall when shooting a roll > > exposed as for 800 and got very presentable images, though I did not > > enlarge to any great extent. I'd be grateful for any experience you > > would care to share. > > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html