Photography - b+w versus digital

PhotoBanter.com (http://www.photobanter.com/index.php)

- 35mm Photo Equipment (http://www.photobanter.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6)

- - b+w versus digital (http://www.photobanter.com/showthread.php?t=22184)

b+w versus digital

i keep hearing how b+w is better than digital b+w reproduction. What most
people seem to be missing is that b+w film is largely biased towards blue.
Thats why the filters are necessary. The fact that digital cameras don't
get the reproduction film can with or without physical filters is
irrelevant. What is more likely is that the reproduction of colours is far
more balanced than with ordinary film. To holding digital up to film
standards and saying "tsk aint there yet" is slightly inaccurate. The truth
is we are used to seeing film emulsion approximation of colours as opposed
to what a truly equally sensitive and balanced medium can achieve. Digital
being digital using softwawre to do any corrections isn't cheating. Putting
images through various image processing algorythms is just as fair as
putting on various colour filters to counter the blue bias, then varying the
paper grade in order to get the level of contrast suitable for each image.

Just because you have a yellow filter on your lense does that really mean
you have completely compensated. and not only that but not over compensated.
Bearing that in mind is it truly fair to hold up a straight digital print
and hold up your print on multi contrast paper and shot through your bog
standard yellow and filter and say tsk they are not the same, digital
obviously isn't as good"?

hold at arms length, light blue touch paper and stand well back ;op

Yellow-green filters give a most realistic rendition.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Yellow-green filters give a most realistic rendition.

It is still just a rendition.
Basically, we're just comparing the results to what we're use to see i.e.
film photography and movies.
We don't know how the world would look in B&W because we see it in color.

"PGG" wrote in message
news:pan.2004.12.10.23.57.33.703000@NO_SP_A_Myahoo .com...
That is old information about the blue-sensitivity. Sure, B&W films from
50 years ago had this problem.

Now adays, besides Tech. Pan, most modern B&W film has pretty equal
sensitivities.

I doubt it.

Mr Jessop wrote:

"PGG" wrote in message
news:pan.2004.12.10.23.57.33.703000@NO_SP_A_Myahoo .com...
That is old information about the blue-sensitivity. Sure, B&W films from
50 years ago had this problem.

Now adays, besides Tech. Pan, most modern B&W film has pretty equal
sensitivities.

I doubt it.

It depends on how you define "pretty equal," the sensitivity
still shows a peak in the blue, but there has been a distinct
shift over the years as is shown by the change in filter factors.

filter 47blue 58green 25red
------ ------- -----
1951 pan X, plus-X Super-XX 5D/10T 8D/8T 8D/4T

Current Plus-X, Tri-X 6D/12T 8D/8T 6D/4T

T-Max films 8D/25T 6D/6T 8D/4T

The 1951 figures are taken from a 1951 Leica Manual,
the current figures are from Kodak pdf files.

Peter.
---

On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 17:32:53 +0000 (UTC), Peter Irwin
wrote:

The 1951 figures are taken from a 1951 Leica Manual,
the current figures are from Kodak pdf files.

Peter.
---

2 different sources..

This gives a wide margin for error..

Colyn Goodson
http://home.swbell.net/colyng
http://www.colyngoodson.com