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Re: [OM] (OM) Two new images on FB

Subject: Re: [OM] (OM) Two new images on FB
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 10:27:05 -0500
> You are quoting DR numbers for film higher than anything I have ever
> seen.  What I'm interested in is not the AG dynamic range but what Kodak
> or Fuji says about their films.
>
> Numbers I'm familiar with are more like 5-6 stops for slide film and
> 9-11 stops for negatives.  Do you have some non-AG numbers to dispute that?


Maybe tonight I will be able to pull up my test scans of Ektar 100.
I'm gone 4-5 days a week and don't always have the appropriate
computer with me that has the files. And when I do have that computer,
my schedule does not always allow me to do these kinds of things.

As to my wild claims about film, it is almost universally agreed that
Ektar has between 12-14 stops. What is funny is that the latest
variations of Portra far exceed that, but I personally haven't tested
the range, just enjoyed it. There are claims that the newest Portras
(160NC and 400) can capture anywhere from 16-19 stops depending on who
is doing the claiming. I cannot substantiate those claims, but don't
doubt them either. These films are in a world of their own. I recently
shot a project using Portra 400, which unfortunately I am forbidden to
share the images due to the client's trade secret issues, (I don't
even have the negs or files anymore as they were turned over entirely
to the client), but the range of detail at all brightness levels is
staggering. My understanding is that this film has no less than nine
layers--three of each color.

I'll have to word picture here, but in one photograph, the device
reflected my studio lights. I wanted to see how much highlight detail
was there, so I did a custom scan and proceeded to pull the exposure
and pull the exposure and pull the exposure. The end result was that I
could actually see the nylon fabric pattern of my softbox. Yes, this
also required a pretty good lens. :)  But I estimate that I pulled the
exposure of the scan/digital file back 8 stops and this was still
right up there near the top.

One thing that Kodak has done an excellent job of with the latest
formulations is that the film sharpness holds much better now in the
shadows. In the past, it would get muddy in the shadows, but 160N and
400 are both exceptional at holding shadow detail sharpness. Ektar
still gets muddy. (muddy is relative, one person's mud is another
person's concrete mix).

As to the claims that slide film only had 5-6 stops--that's pretty
much false. Even Velvia does a couple more than that. But if you
consider doing analog prints using "Cibachrome" printing and no
masking, yes, it's true But masking was a way for darkroom techs to
recover the hidden two stops that are there but more difficult to
extract. With a decent scanner that has excellent DMAX capabilities
(Like the Nikon V-ED or 5000), that's a non-issue and a skilled
operator will pull quite a bit more out than what the auto mode and a
flatbed scanner will do.

It is true that the dynamic range (or latitude or whatever else you
want to call it) of the latest negative films is staggering. To enjoy
this, you must have a good scanner and good technique. Otherwise, the
gains are marginal over the best of digital.

DXO did a little brief comparative between the Nikon D800 and I think
Portra 160NC. The film blew the D800 out of the water when it came to
the ultimate range. However, not content to let the old technology
win, they arbitrarily redefined the test to level the playing field by
messing around with the SNR floor. But then, if you applied their
other redefinition of ISO's, that ISO 160 film would be something like
ISO 40960. DXO likes to come up with their own definitions of
standards...

AG
-- 
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