Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/09

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Chalk and Charcoal in HC110
From: "Henning J. Wulff" <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 16:36:22 -0800

Walt D wrote:

>I'm always amazed when I hear otherwise fairly knowledgeable
>photographers talk about films and developers....as if the
>various combinations have fixed, unvarying tendencies...
>
>The so-called "soot and chalk" print quality is simply caused
>by high values in the negative being too dense (usually above
>1.25 net density or so) to print with any tone less than
>paper-base white.  It is not an inherent, unvariable trait of
>a given film and developer...read and heed the various books
>on the "zone system"....Ansel's books are good, as well as
>many others.
>
>If your high values are too dense to print on your favorite
>paper, simply reduce your development time....this will
>reduce the highlight density...some increase in exposure might
>be necessary to maintain required shadow detail.  If the

snip

I've been shooting some Kodak Ortho Type 3 film (2556 in 4x5 and 6556 in
35mm) for years, and the 'soot and chalk' rendition seems easy to come by,
but the 'soft gradation' pictorial results seem a lot tougher.....:-).

Here is a film that will let you use your Noctilux at full aperture on a
sunny beach, although the bokeh of the lens is hard to appreciate.

   *            Henning J. Wulff
  /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
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