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Author Topic: Best b/w film/developer combo for scans  (Read 1503 times)

cmox

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Best b/w film/developer combo for scans
« on: January 11, 2008, 11:41:53 am »

You may call me old-fashioned, or, better, "retro"...    

I use film, and I have no plans to change that, especially because a 39 MP camera is not in my budget.

Unfortunately I do not have enough space for an enlarger and trays... just enough for my PC and an Imacon 646 scanner.

I shoot 35mm and 6x7cm, edit the scans in Photoshop and print very large B/W prints (Epson printer).

My favourite films are Tmax 100 and Tri-X, they are souped in XTol 1:1. These are good films and a good developer, but there is a disadvantage.

My Imacon works like a condensor enlarger and emphasizeds the grain. As the grain becomes very visible I can not sharpen my landscape images as much as I would like to.

I heard some reports that it might be a better idea to use a developer that creates sharper negatives from the beginning so that there is not so much sharpening necessary... or staining developers... other friends tried to convince me using C-41 films like XP2... but I prefer silver films.

According to your experience, what is a better combination for very high quality scans for very high quality super-large prints?
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pfigen

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Best b/w film/developer combo for scans
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2008, 02:32:31 am »

I love T-Max 100 developed in T-Max developer and scanned on my Howtek drum scanner. The advantage of the real drum scanner are that it's not problem to scan the entire frame or multiple frames, rebate edge and all, but more importantly, you can vary the aperture to control grain if necessary. Scanning Tri-X at 8000 ppi usually wants a 6 or 9 micron aperture rather than the 3microns that are "native" resolution. T-Max100 seems to be fine at any resolution up to the full 8000 ppi, the highest native optical resolution. I've found that the tonality of analog sensors (side window photomultiplier tubes) affords much smoother gradations than CCDs and never ever clips any detail, unless of course you tell it to. In theory, the drum scanner, which only "sees" a few microns at a time should be even worse than the Imacon, but perhaps it's the size of the fiber optics bundle light source in relationship to the small spot the scanner reads that keeps the grain minimized. In any event, they are the best black and white scans I've seen from any scanner.
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