[Leica] Re: Shadow noise in scans

[ericm at pobox.com (Eric)]

Peter:

>You can see the noise in the darkest 
>areas.  This is the kind of noise I am often plagued with.  It tends to 
>happen more often in available light pictures than well-lit outdoor 
>shots.

I've found that I get more grain when my exposure isn't quite right:

http://canid.com/current/bear_hug.html

When I do a better job exposing the negative, I get better results in terms
of grain.  This one was taken within 5 minutes of the 2nd.  On the same roll
of film and in somewhat similar lighting:

http://canid.com/current/crackers.html

Bear hug was slightly underexposed.

It's a balancing act.  For a given film/developer combo, there will be
certain tones that show more grain.  In my experience, giving those areas
just slightly more or slightly less exposure will change how the grain shows
in the final result.

Both of these were shot with Neopan 400.  For comparison, here's a shot on
Neopan 1600 that shows less grain:

http://canid.com/johanna/balancing_act.html

It's almost magic.  There are just certain sweet spots for given lighting
conditions.  A stop in either direction can really change how the grain
appears.  I've noticed a difference with just half-stop differences, as
well.

--
Eric
http://canid.com/