Any successfulB&W digital images from 35mm film?

On Sun, 04 Apr 2004 04:53:26 GMT, (QkaG) wrote:

If anyone has made a digital image comparable to a darkroom print from
35mm film, I would like to know the "secret".

The secret is that it can't be done.


Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.darkroompro.com
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

I've had some reasonable success with 35mm black and white scans, but not
nearly as good of results as with MF. To a lesser extent, the same goes for
color. I use a Minolta Dimage Scan Multi at 2820 dpi in black and white
mode. I suspect a good scanner is very important here. The biggest problem
with black and white scans is printing. One or two black inks just doesn't
hack it! The HP7960, with three balcks, gives passable black and white
prints, but not quite darkroom quality. I have seen some excellent black
and white prints from scans professionally printed with four to six black
inks.

"QkaG" wrote in message
...
If anyone has made a digital image comparable to a darkroom print from
35mm film, I would like to know the "secret". I am using a low end Scan
Dual scanner with VueScan Software. The 35mm film is Panatomic X. I am
using an Epson Photo printer. I am only blowing it up to a 5X7 image.
But when I compare it to an 8X10 darkroom print, the digital print is much
grainier and the tonal value is not as great. I have tried to blur the
grain with Photoshop but it loses its sharpness. I have tried to control
the grain with VueScan but that too results in a less sharp picture and
the grain is still more noticeable in comparison to the larger 8X10
darkroom print. I can actually make a better digital image by scanning
the 8X10 darkroom print than scanning the negative.