Printing Large from 35mm B&W

[gbb]

Hi,

I've recently started doing street photo after doing mostly mf, and have noticed that several photographers I like print their work in 35mm very large (Salgado and Nachtwey, for instance). When I go over 8x10 in 35mm it starts to get pretty grainy and indistinct, so I'm wondering what people who've seen large prints from 35mm think of them, and whether there's a way to get more out of a 35mm 400asa frame. I'm talking about black and white work, printed wet. I'm also curious whether digital printing looks better or worse a theses sizes (say 16x20 and above). The Nachtwey prints in the movie about him seemed huge to me, which is what started me thinking. TIA,

GBB

 

[RML]

Aren't bg prints like that supposed to be seen from further than arm's length? Bigger grain would then be much less of a (visible) problem. A lot has to do with the viewing distance.

 

[siverta]

Grain is what b/w-photography is all about, isn't it? =)

Try using a more "finegrained" b/w-film-developer (like XTOL, perhaps). Personally, I see a huge difference between HC-110(B)-developed negs and XTOL(1:1)-developed negs.

A TV-screen, btw, is very low on detail - so I don't think that comparing real-life prints with prints seen in that film is a good thing to do.

Sivert.

 

[hth]

I have printed at 24x30 (cm) in darkroom and A3+ digitally from B&W negs. I have good success (I think) with 24x30 and Tmax 100, as well as A3+ from Tmax 400 and FP4+.

Tmax is less grainy and will stand larger enlargements without showing grain, if that annoys you.

I have seen large B&W prints at exhibitions that I have enjoyed without really paying attention to whether I was annoyed by the grain or not. I have no idea what film and format was used at these.

Large prints like this are normally viewed on a wall from a distance and that works just fine for me.

Try putting it on the wall or at least get further away and see what you think.

/Håkan

 

[varjag]

There are several rules that help with making large sharp postives:

- expose correctly (and don't push)
- use the slowest emulsion possible in given circumstances
- use reasonably sharp glass
- fine tune your process.. depending on your preferences you may arrive to either fine grain or acutance developers
- use good enlarger with very good projection lens
- unless you're a fairly skilled printer, pass stuff larger than 8x10" to a competent lab.

But of course as being mentioned above you can get away with lot of imperfections if your shot is captivating and when the works are viewed from reasonable distance.

 

[kaiyen]

Other than the basic grain structure of a film, the factors that affect grain are overexposure, time in and temp of developer. So make sure you don't overexpose, and go for the minimum development time at a given temperature to achieve minimum density to get shadow detail. Time and temp in developer are inversely proportional, so you can't decrease both.

Others have mentioned choosing the right film and developer. The basic grain structure of some films - TXT, for instance - is far coarser than others, such as TMX. TMY and TXT are actually fairly close by many accounts. You can combat this with a fine(r) grain developer, but then you lose sharpness.

I think that the recommendations for XTOL and any other phenidone/ascorbate developers (FX-50 and PC-TEA, IIRC) are your best bet. Good sharpness when diluted but still excellent grain-control.

FWIW, I've printed to 16x20 from an FP4+ negative in Perceptol with _ease_. I could've gone bigger if the enlarger let me.

allan

 

[markinlondon]

I recently became obsessed with grain and went chasing the magic bullet (with hilarious consequences :bang: ). When I recovered my sanity and started viewing my prints from a reasonable distance I realised I'd had nothing to worry about in the first place.

This cost me three months of testing and 100' of Delta 400 before I realised I didn't really like the stuff.

I am now back to using HP5+ and Ilfosol-S and very happy with the combination. It's grainy but it doesn't matter unless you stick your nose on the paper.

Mark

 

[Finder]

Print as large as you like. The viewing distance is the thing.

Grain is not a fault, but a property of film. There is little you can do about it (there is so much developers can do). Since density is a significant contrubuting factor, make sure you have control over your exposing/processing. There is no mystery. You just need to work on your skills.

 

[jon furer]

I was fortunate enough to take a weekend workshop with Jim Megargee (MV Labs in NYC). Jim prints Nachtwey's work. I was totally blown away by the image quality. The key is proper exposure and development for sure. Jim generally uses HC-110 for his development. I highly recommend Jim's workshops for anyone in and around NY.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

I am not a very good photographer, but here is my free opinion.

When using minature format to enlarge to 16x20, your photo taking and print developing techniques must be absolutely perfect. Any mistakes you make in any step of the total process will be magnified 16 times in the final print.

1. Use a rock solid tripod.
2. Use a shutter release (cable, air or electronic).
3. Use mirror lock up on SLR cameras if they have it.
4. Make absolutely certain that you have focussed correctly.
5. Use a shutter speed slower than 1/15 of second or faster than 1/60 second.
6. When enlarging make absolutley certain that there is no vibrations occurring that cause the enlarger to vibrate.
7. Use the shortest exposure time that gives proper print exposure to eliminate negative "popping".

But if you want to hand hold a camera at 1/15 of a second and shoot Tri-x at iso of 1600 and then enlarge to 16x20 and you like the results, GREAT!!! I am happy for you.

Wayne

 

[Gman]

Another very important element in all of this is to be sure your enlarger is in correct alignment. Than means getting a good alignment device (like the Laser Alignment Tool from Versalab is quite good ) and checking it every few months or so.

You would be amazed how sharp your prints can be once you do a good set up- especially if it's something you never really paid much attention to before.

Jeff

 

[Theo-Prof]

Another very important element in all of this is to be sure your enlarger is in correct alignment. Than means getting a good alignment device (like the Laser Alignment Tool from Versalab is quite good ) and checking it every few months or so.

You would be amazed how sharp your prints can be once you do a good set up- especially if it's something you never really paid much attention to before.

Jeff

I have to agree with Jeff and add that film flatness in the carrier and sharpness of grain across the entire print is important. I can handle grain in a print as long as it is uniformly sharp across the whoe print.

Kevin