Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/04/12

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Subject: [Leica] Comparing film and digital resolution
From: wildlightphoto at earthlink.net (Doug Herr)
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 10:20:08 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
 
FRANK DERNIE wrote:

>>>
But surely a single grain in film is either exposed or not, whereas a pixel 
has, depending on the sensor, thousands of brightness levels. So they are 
not directly comparable and it would require a big patch of film containing 
thousands of grains to display the range of tones a single pixel is capable 
of, though clearly a patch of pixels would be required to compare the effect.
<<<

Exactly.  Film can out-resolve many digital sensors if the image is 
restricted to black & white, no gray, no colors. B&W test charts are ideal 
to demonstrate the resolution of film; real-world subjects, not so much.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com