Does the "Leica glow" survive scanning and digital printing?

[Koolzakukumba]

Hi,

I'm thinking about taking the unusual step of going back to film from digital. An M6 with a few lenses is on the cards. I've read about the special quality of Leitz lenses and the "glow", etc. This seems to be pretty subtle and the question arose of whether or not it would still be apparent after a negative has been scanned, run through Photoshop and then printed out on an Epson photo printer.

I've become a bit disillusioned with the look of black and white prints that I get from the Epson 2100 and might be going back to the darkroom. If the Leitz special qualities are lost in the digital chain, then it would make my decision easier.

Any thoughts?

Regards,
Bruce

 

[matt fury]

I think the unique properties of lenses survive through a digital process just as well as they would in the darkroom. If you think about it, when you print on an enlarger, you're passing the image through another lens. If anything would kill characteristics, I think that would.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[Trius]

I don't see scanning and Photoshop manipulation as similar at all to the wet darkroom. Darkroom is pure analog, scan/PS/printer is analog-to-digital-to-digital. The "lens" in the digital process bears little resemblance to a high quality enlarging lens.

 

[markinlondon]

I don't see scanning and Photoshop manipulation as similar at all to the wet darkroom. Darkroom is pure analog, scan/PS/printer is analog-to-digital-to-digital. The "lens" in the digital process bears little resemblance to a high quality enlarging lens.

I'll go along with that. Surely the last thing you'd want from an enlarging lens is the kind of "fingerprint" we love in our taking lenses. Thus an enlarging lens should acurately reproduce what was captured by te taking lens.
Glow is one of those indefinable qualities. When Black & White Photography magazine here in the UK had an article on it, the reproduction of the pictures didn't really convey what was described in the text. My take is that "glow" is impossible to plan for, sometimes the lighting and exposure combine to produce it. My prints that show this character do not retain this look when scanned, but that's probably more to do with my scanning abilities.

 

[Koolzakukumba]

That is a bit uncanny, Magus. I've just read the thread you started and found it very interesting although, as you said, it moved away from your original question.

I can't agree with Matt Fury above (although I'd hate to pick a fight with a guy with a name like that!). Matt's arguement makes sense up to a point but the digital route takes it a lot further. The negative is influenced by the scanner's optics and then the pixels are worked on in Photoshop and then influenced again by the whole process involved in digital printing. I would have thought that the digital process would have weakened any subtle glow or quality that might have existed on the Leica negative. But I've never scanned and printed a Leica negative so I don't know.

By the way, I just got a roll of XP2 back from my local supermarket (!) and I can see what I think is a glow on some of the prints and that's in photographs taken using a Yashica 35CC at around f2.8.

Bruce

 

[J. Borger]

How about getting the R-D1 or M8 ... the Leica Glow survives direct digital capture .. all you have to do is use a lens that gives the glow .. like a 50 Summitar wide open.
So i assume it must also survive scanning if properly done

Epson R-D1 + 50 Summitar

 

[Bike Tourist]

I did what you suggest. I ditched all my Nikon digital gear in favor of an M6, an M7 and five lenses.

I had never had a darkroom for probably forty years, so being able to have a digital darkroom made me happy, indeed. I have no knowledge of a glow since I was a transparency shooter, both Leica and Nikon, for many years. I always considered all the Nikon lenses very sharp, but some lacking contrast. The Leica lenses all had that hard-to-define "color contrast" that made slides pop. Now, I am scanning film, both color and b+w, a new experience for me.

Unfortunately, some of the stock agencies I deal with shrink back in horror when they encounter grain, which they equate with noise. I had to buy a Sony A100 and a few lenses in order to produce the grainless, noiseless, featurless ultra-sanitized images they prefer for stock.

But I still would rather shoot Leicas when I feel the need to create!

 

[jaapv]

I would say you can scan it, maybe -with a steep learning curve- print it, but it will definitely not show up on a computer-screen.

 

[jaapv]

How about getting the R-D1 or M8 ... the Leica Glow survives direct digital capture .. all you have to do is use a lens that gives the glow .. like a 50 Summitar wide open.
So i assume it must also survive scanning if properly done

Epson R-D1 + 50 Summitar

I'm sure the print looks a lot different, Han. On my screen the highlights in the face clip...That is not to say I don't like the atmophere here, because I do.🙂

 

[J. Borger]

I'm sure the print looks a lot different, Han. On my screen the highlights in the face clip...That is not to say I don't like the atmophere here, because I do.🙂

Guess you have to calibrate your screen Jaap 😱
Or me ..😀
Anyhow ..... the good thing is i could always go back to the raw and save the highlights .......
Can't waite to try the older glass on the M8!

 

[pvenables]

I would have thought Leica "glow" was subjective. All I can say is that my Nikon-scanned and Epson R2400-printed pictures are at least as good as ones I've had printed [in a darkroom] professionally, at 7x5" anyway, and that's with the bare-minumum of knowledge/experience with scanning, and with bog-standard Epson paper.

The printer/scanner cost me £1000, and will continue to cost me in paper and ink. For me, though, the outlay is worth it.

Paul

 

[ghost]

the leica glow is basically a glow you can get with any lens, but leica users are convinced is unique to their lenses.

 

[kbg32]

With todays digital darkroom, you can add the "Leica glow" to anything. Even if you don't shoot with Leicas.

 

[jaapv]

With todays digital darkroom, you can add the "Leica glow" to anything. Even if you don't shoot with Leicas.

Please state your workflow for that. I've never succeeded doing that.

 

[VinceC]

>>With todays digital darkroom, you can add the "Leica glow" to anything. Even if you don't shoot with Leicas.<<

Perhaps theres a market for different Photoshop plug-ins ... Leica glow, prewar Elmar swirly bouquet, Canon Glow, Spirotone Lack of Glow, Mirror Tele donuts, etc.

 

[Bill58]

>>With todays digital darkroom, you can add the "Leica glow" to anything. Even if you don't shoot with Leicas.<<

Perhaps theres a market for different Photoshop plug-ins ... Leica glow, prewar Elmar swirly bouquet, Canon Glow, Spirotone Lack of Glow, Mirror Tele donuts, etc.

Vince:

Great B.S. How about f---up shots due to out of focus, wrong aperature, etc.- my specialties?

Bill

 

[J. Borger]

the leica glow is basically a glow you can get with any lens, but leica users are convinced is unique to their lenses.

Not with any lens ...not even with every Leica lens .... but i agree it can be achieved with non-leica lenses too. My Canon 35/2,8 serenar glows wide open too😉

 

[JohnTz]

I too am wondering about this. I just went back to film with an M6 and 50 cron and 90 elmaritM...i love the equipment...the shots are very nice but I am concerned I am lossing something since my photo lab that develops B&W, prints digitally...can't seem to find a lab that does it the old fashioned way anymore unless i pay for hand printed enlargements...maybe time to start developing and printing my own shots...if I can convince my wife to turn one of the bathroom to a dark room ;-)

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

I have not tried yet to scan Leica negs, since I have done so far just one roll,which is not developed yet. However I constantly scan BW negs (mostly Ilford FP4+ and HP5+) taken by Contax 645 AF and Konica Hexar AF with my Nikon Coolscan 8000 ED. I want to ensure you that bokeh and all the beauty is still there after scanning. You may see some picures in my galllery here or on my web page.

regards,
Alex