I am planning to play with film: F3 plus some primes. I am really into b/w art-oriented photoghraphy at this moment.
Assuming that I am quite skilled at PS, I have a question: how to obtain a better b/w photo? Here are two choices:
1. By shooting color at Fuji Velvia 50, high quality scan and then digital b/w post-processing. This way I have more control on the channel selection.
2. By shooting directly on b/w Ilford. This way I don't have a creative control on channel selection, but the range of b/w film is much bigger than that of a slide film.
Which of the two is better? Or maybe there is a third way?
Posted by Edward Thomas on March 17, 2009 at 6:58 PM
You said it yourself, "the range of b/w film is much bigger than that of slide film." There's your answer.
If b/w photos/prints is your final goal and you're shooting film, by all means shoot b/w film. After 25 years in the darkroom, I still am not really satisfied with digitally converted b/w with few exceptions. But, I have scans of b/w film that print digitally that are better than anything I ever printed in the darkroom. So for fine art, the b/w film - scan - print workflow really works.
Thank you Edward, this is answering my question.
I have heard in the meantime that the color slides can't compare to the current digital sensors of top DSLRs, so this rules out the slide - scan - b/w conversion option. But the b/w film is definitely better than any b/w conversion of image taken in a digital camera.
Mathematically it makes perfect sense - isn't the b/w resolution of a digital sensor three times lower than its resolution in color?
And don't forget, the bigger the sensor, in this case the film, the better the end result gets. If you have to start from scratch with film gear, think about medium format. A huge step up from 24x36 and the used prices are way down. I prefer my 645 over full frame digital, assuming high quality scans.
Posted by Scott Brown on March 18, 2009 at 1:11 AM
"2. By shooting directly on b/w Ilford. This way I don't have a creative control on channel selection, but the range of b/w film is much bigger than that of a slide film. "
You can buy red, yellow, blue, etc filters to help control contrast, etc right onto the film...and then there is the darkroom process too...
A good article about filters for B&W: http://www.tiffen.com/tips_bw_filters.html
I shoot with my 1DM2n and 5DM2, but I still keep a roll of Ilford ISO50 B&W in my film camera for when I feel like I need to go back to the roots...
Go out and purchase the Ansel Adams books "The Camera", "The Lense" and "The Print". This is probably one of the best set of books to have if you want to get the most out of your equipment when photographing with B&W film. The books also have application for color fim. I absolutely treasure these books.
Discussion
5 repliesAssuming that I am quite skilled at PS, I have a question: how to obtain a better b/w photo? Here are two choices:
1. By shooting color at Fuji Velvia 50, high quality scan and then digital b/w post-processing. This way I have more control on the channel selection.
2. By shooting directly on b/w Ilford. This way I don't have a creative control on channel selection, but the range of b/w film is much bigger than that of a slide film.
Which of the two is better? Or maybe there is a third way?
If b/w photos/prints is your final goal and you're shooting film, by all means shoot b/w film. After 25 years in the darkroom, I still am not really satisfied with digitally converted b/w with few exceptions. But, I have scans of b/w film that print digitally that are better than anything I ever printed in the darkroom. So for fine art, the b/w film - scan - print workflow really works.
I have heard in the meantime that the color slides can't compare to the current digital sensors of top DSLRs, so this rules out the slide - scan - b/w conversion option. But the b/w film is definitely better than any b/w conversion of image taken in a digital camera.
Mathematically it makes perfect sense - isn't the b/w resolution of a digital sensor three times lower than its resolution in color?
You can buy red, yellow, blue, etc filters to help control contrast, etc right onto the film...and then there is the darkroom process too...
A good article about filters for B&W: http://www.tiffen.com/tips_bw_filters.html
I shoot with my 1DM2n and 5DM2, but I still keep a roll of Ilford ISO50 B&W in my film camera for when I feel like I need to go back to the roots...
Go out and purchase the Ansel Adams books "The Camera", "The Lense" and "The Print". This is probably one of the best set of books to have if you want to get the most out of your equipment when photographing with B&W film. The books also have application for color fim. I absolutely treasure these books.