Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/05/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> How are you converting? I just use the Lightroom convert to bw, nothing special. If you > do the latter the skin tones do end up too dark, but they did the same if > you tried to print colour media onto B&W paper back in the day. Now that you mention this, I remember it quite well. ?I find > with proper channel mixing or an intelligent conversion program like SE Pro > that my skin tones end up exactly where I want them. > Hmm. I have an old copy of SE, don't know if it's "Pro" or not. Will have to check it out. >> There's an amazing amount of shadow detail to make up for this, so a >> little >> dodging looks terrific. > > > One of the things I am reminded of every time I use B&W film is that > getting enough shadow contrast (contrast, not detail) to keep me happy, and > balancing that with sharpness and overall tonality, is hard. This is generally what separated the pro emulsions from the consumer bw's (TX-Pro vs Verichrome Pan). Taking TX roll film and knocking back the iso to 250-300 w/adjusted dev times pretty much duplicated the pro version. I am painfully > aware that the problem with digital is still highlight rendition and > gradation, Right, we basically have to think Kodachrome not Kodacolor. If you overexpose color you've still got pretty colors in the blocked up highlights, whereas printing an overexposed bw neg is a pia assuming you've got the highlight detail to work with. I'm experimenting with cutting back my development times and increasing contrast as necessary in Lightroom post scan. Also low contrast on the M9.