[Leica] The Slippery Slope

[pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein)]

Using B&W ISO 400 or faster film, I've found that I can print up to 8x10 or 
8.5x11 using scanned negatives, and the quality is about as good as an 
optical print.  Now I'm putting aside here the difference between a 
silver/fiber print and an inkjet print.  The MIS carbon inks are wonderful, 
but in a different way from a silver print.

Go up to 11x14, and it's a different story. I think here we're a little 
past the "sweet spot" for the scanning process at 4000 dpi.  The film grain 
and the pixel size interact such that a digital print is a little rougher 
than a wet print.  For lower-ISO film, that print size of diminishing 
returns may be a step bigger.

So I scan and print my own stuff up to 8x10 or letter size.  If I need 
bigger, I go to a lab.  It's really not worth my investing in a wet 
printing setup at this point in my life, when there are so many demands on 
my time.

I'm lucky that there's a good camera shop I can swing by on my way home 
from work. They will develop my B&W film in Xtol and give me a low-res scan 
along with 4x6 prints. They usually do a pretty good job, and I only have 
to scan the "keepers" I want to work on further.   I might break out the 
old tanks and reels at some point, if quality goes down or the price gets 
too high.

--Peter