Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/06/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Johnny Deadman writes: > The biggest hassle for me with the chromogenic > films has been getting a tonality I like. I periodically try chromogenic films, and each time I do, I get "flat" results that I just don't like. Not only that, but if I want results like that, I can just shoot Provia and desaturate the result in Photoshop, and it looks exactly the same. The problem is that color images converted to visually-correct grayscale seem to lack "punch." Tri-X, in contrast, for whatever reason(s), renders black-and-white tones wonderfully, and I keep coming back to it. > You'd think you'd be able to pull them into > shape with a photoshop curve that gives them > more of a toe and shoulder but it's much harder > than it sounds. Part of it, I think, is that chromogenic films are more panchromatic. There is nothing you can do to change spectral response in Photoshop for a black-and-white film ... if red and blue render with the same luminance in a pan film, for example, you're out of luck--you'll never separate them. I think that Tri-X's poor sensitivity to red somehow separates things better in many real-world shots.