Fine Grain B&W Film

[GeneW]

I have 'oficially' abandoned all Kodak b&w films for some time and am using only Fuji Acros 100 and Fuji Neopan 400 - they are amazing when it comes to low grain and ability to control highlights. Love 'em.

I've come to like Neopan 400 very much too, but I don't think it's "better" than Tri-X, just a little different. Tri-X is, I think, slightly grainier and a little sharper. I love 'em both.

Gene

 

[Rich Silfver]

Tri-X will always have a special place in my heart...that and in some of my cameras where I've forgotten that there's a film loaded 🙂

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Wow!! Thanks for the tips on scanning! This is not the first time I hear about that particular approach (scan big, and resize small later). In fact, the guy in charge of scanning here at the university lab told me about it, only he didn't go into that much detail.

I'm going to do it soon. In fact, I may re-scan the same shots I posted and show them to you. Most likely, the grain will not show up as it will be hidden or diminished.

Regarding sharpening... I'm not a big fan of the tool. I've used USM sometimes, and found it makes miracles in some shots while wrecking others, but then, it may be due to my scanning approach.

And, indeed, I'll try Acros! I think I just shot my last roll of T-Max yesterday! 🙂

 

[plexi]

Just a little regarding USM, a scanner really robs sharpness from a negative, so some USM is "almost" needed, just don`t use too much, and make it your last step before "save to web".
For a web image (around 900x600) USM settings around : 120%, 0,8 radius and 3 threshold works for me...


Acros is a truly great film, makes the loss of Agfa APX 25 easier...
🙂

Here`s an example of APX 25( still have some left in the fridge)

 

[back alley]

ok i need a photoshop lesson, brief is good.
unsharpmask (usm) to 'sharpen' a pic?
please explain.

joe

 

[charlesfoto]

Well, I'll go against the grain here(groan) and say that Ilford Delta 100 is, to me, the sharpest, least grainy film I've used. I've had good luck with the scans, and the prints from my pro lab have been excellent.

 

[back alley]

i used the delta films when i was shooting medium format and liked them very much.
of course 3200 was my favourite so grain was not my major concern.

 

[plexi]

ok i need a photoshop lesson, brief is good.
unsharpmask (usm) to 'sharpen' a pic?
please explain.

joe

Everything you need to know about USM

 

[back alley]

thanks amund!
i'll be back in about a week, should have it figured out by then 😉

joe

 

[SolaresLarrave]

One last question to Richard and Gene: when you guys scan your images... do you set a particular output size? My scanner's software allows that, which means I can scan a small slide into a large image of potentially large size instead of a heavily loaded and large file that renders a small print. My question is, basically, if you scan a high resolution, when you check the file in the Print Preview function in PS, do you see a large file (say, 8"X11") or is it a small print?

I'm fixing to scan some slides this evening and I'll do as you advice.

Thanks! A big lot!! 🙂

 

[GeneW]

One last question to Richard and Gene: when you guys scan your images... do you set a particular output size? My scanner's software allows that, which means I can scan a small slide into a large image of potentially large size instead of a heavily loaded and large file that renders a small print. My question is, basically, if you scan a high resolution, when you check the file in the Print Preview function in PS, do you see a large file (say, 8"X11") or is it a small print?

I'm fixing to scan some slides this evening and I'll do as you advice.

Thanks! A big lot!! 🙂

I never use the print preview function (don't own a photo printer) but here's what my 2700dpi 16-bit TIFF scan looks like in Photoshop. I looked at Print Preview and it gave the same dimensions for length and height.

Gene

 

[digitalox]

Thanks for that link to USM plexi, that was good stuff. Finally I have some idea of what that is supposed to do. I'll have to go back and experiment with that some more now.

I recently tried NeatImage. A great tool! The results on some images were really good. I'll post some before/after samples later tonight or tomorrow when I get to my laptop.

I've noticed some grain in my tmax too, but don't know if its my shooting, processing, or post-processing. I really need to figure it out. I want to buy some diafine, at least that pretty much pust the processing phase as a no-brainer and I can possibly rule it out.

--
Scott