Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/05/01

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Subject: [Leica] Scanning Tri-X
From: richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man)
Date: Thu, 1 May 2014 19:19:05 -0700
References: <5362E532.6000409@cox.net> <5362ED19.4000004@cox.net>

Oh absolutely! I bet it does a VERY good job and may be easier to use than
some other options most of the time. I just hate reviews where they go all
gushing on one aspect (sharpness) and proclaim a solution is the greatest
thing since sliced bread.


On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 5:55 PM, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote:

> I just thought it was something to try, as in you don't really know until
> you try...
>
>
>
> On 5/1/2014 7:31 PM, Richard Man wrote:
>
>> That so called test is missing a lot of points, e.g. dynamic range of the
>> film vs. the 5DII sensor etc.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 5:22 PM, Ken Carney <kcarney1 at cox.net> wrote:
>>
>>  Peter,
>>>
>>> The OKC Lug was having a somewhat similar discussion at our luncheon
>>> meeting today.  I am happy with digital b&w prints, but I can relate to
>>> the
>>> impulse to revert to film (for most of my darkroom years, I printed
>>> platinum/palladium contact prints in preference to store-bought silver
>>> paper).  First, I would suggest that you develop your own film.  I
>>> wouldn't
>>> leave the most important part of the process to someone else.  You don't
>>> need a full darkroom, just a place to load the reels and drop them into
>>> the
>>> developer tank and you can use the developer that you prefer.  I have a
>>> Nikon LS-4000 35mm film scanner that is OK, though as you note "16-bit"
>>> over-sampled scans take a while.  I am spoiled since they are not that
>>> close to my 4x5 and 8x10 film scans.  Here is an interesting approach I
>>> may
>>> try someday:
>>>
>>> http://www.addicted2light.com/2012/11/23/best-film-scanner-
>>> canon-5d-mark-ii-vs-drum-scanner-vs-epson-v700/
>>>
>>> Good luck and I hope this helps.
>>>
>>> Ken
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/1/2014 4:31 PM, Peter Klein wrote:
>>>
>>>  I've embarked on an experiment to see whether I want to shoot B&W film
>>>> again.  The "Nurse" picture I recently posted was the beginning of that
>>>> experiment.
>>>> <https://www.flickr.com/photos/24844563 at N04/13892553280/>
>>>>
>>>> Here are a few things I've noticed while "recalibrating"
>>>> myself--otherwise known as "how the heck did I do this back in '06?"
>>>>
>>>> Here's a side by side of the same Tri-X shot, scanned at 4000 dpi (left)
>>>> and 2000 dpi (right). The negative was developed in Xtol 1:2 by
>>>> Moonphoto,
>>>> a good B&W lab a few miles from my home. The scanner is a Canon FS-4000,
>>>> running under VueScan.  Click the double rectangle above the picture to
>>>> see
>>>> it full size.
>>>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/album170/
>>>> GrainAliasTriX4Kvs2Kdpi.JPG.html>
>>>>
>>>> The 4000 dpi scan is shown at 50%, 2000 dpi picture at 100%, so the
>>>> image
>>>> magnification is equal.  Note that the 2000 dpi scan appears to have a
>>>> bit
>>>> coarser grain due to aliasing.  But remember, this is with the negs
>>>> magnified quite a bit.  If I view the whole frame at a reasonable screen
>>>> size, the difference hardly matters. In fact, some available light
>>>> pictures
>>>> might appear slightly sharper at 2000 dpi due to slight added texture.
>>>>
>>>> A few more things.  My scanner has a "multiple exposure" feature, which
>>>> can get into dense areas of a picture.  It was very helpful for
>>>> Kodachrome
>>>> slides, even though it takes much longer.  But it's pointless for this
>>>> type
>>>> of picture.  It can help with overexposed negatives, or very
>>>> high-contrast
>>>> shots.  Similarly, the multipass feature (take several scans and average
>>>> them) may be helpful for underexposed or very low-contrast pictures, but
>>>> again, it's not necessary on reasonably normal negatives.
>>>>
>>>> Why did I bother doing this?  Time. Here are scan times for the various
>>>> options:
>>>>
>>>> 4000 dpi, single exposure    2:50
>>>> 4000 dpi, multi exposure     7:15
>>>> 2000 dpi, single exposure    0:55
>>>>
>>>> The next thing I'll try is using the lab's own 2000 dpi scans. Another
>>>> lab near my ex-employer did 2000 dpi scans that I didn't like, too
>>>> contrasty and worse aliasing than shown in my examples above.  If this
>>>> lab's 2000 dpi 16-bit TIFF scans are as good as mine, I might as well
>>>> use
>>>> them for casual stuff, and save my own 4000 dpi scans for the really
>>>> good
>>>> shots, especially those I want to print.
>>>>
>>>> Another thing I'm going to try is to see how much worse my Epson V730
>>>> flatbed scanner is at this. The V730 is probably faster for the lower
>>>> resolution scans, but the question is whether I'd be happy with those
>>>> scans
>>>> for casual screen-size posts, vs. my 2000 dpi scans or the lab's.
>>>>
>>>> As an aside, both my horribly out-of date Leica M8 and my Olympus E-M5
>>>> are much better, technically, that Tri-X ISO for ISO.  More detail,
>>>> sharper, blah blah blah. But that's not why I'm trying B&W film again.
>>>>   This experiment is about look, feel, texture, and tonality.  Time will
>>>> tell whether it's something I want to stay with, or just an exercise in
>>>> misplaced nostalgia.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks to Ken Norton on the Olympus list for his recent post that got me
>>>> started:
>>>> <http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/msg19437.html>
>>>>
>>>> --Peter
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Leica Users Group.
>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>



-- 
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>
// http://facebook.com/richardmanphoto


In reply to: Message from kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney) ([Leica] Scanning Tri-X)
Message from kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney) ([Leica] Scanning Tri-X)