Film black and white vs digital black and white

[Derrel]

Here is real film with LOTS of grain....Tri-X 35mm...shot with a lens made during the Johnson Administration era, the 35mm O.C. Nikkor, and developed in Agfa Rodinol, a developer know for its rather big, but very sharp-edged grain...shot in 1985, but scanned on a low-end Minolta film scanner in the 2000's. This was shot hand-held at around 1/15 second with an old Nikon F Photomic FTN.

R59-15A-Dana_Tri X1986.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com

 

[Josh66]

Not bad. See, even though there is a fair amount of grain - there is still a lot of detail.

I actually quite like Rodinal, lol. It's quickly becoming my main developer (edging HC-110 out).

 

[FeelTheMomentForever]

I love the developing and processing of the film b&w, one thing i miss the most is a darkroom. I think that it is the feeling of knowing that you did all the work to produce beautiful images vs a machine doing it. I also feel that b&w from film even transfered to digital produces better photos, but if you have the time and knowledge you can edit a digital b&w to be equally pleasing. Its all a matter of personal opinion I think.

 

[unpopular]

Yes, based on my own mental image of the light that was present when that was shot, I think it would be possible to capture that scene in one exposure using a good, modern d-slr; especially one of the high-end ones that are testing out with the 13.9 EV dynamic range...

I wasn't trying to prove a point, I was just curious what people would think. If a modern DSLR can take on nearly 14 stops of latitude, that is damn impressive.

As for the muddiness, you know I prefer lower contrast that most people. No offense taken at all.

RE: tone curve, that is prob essentially what I'm doing

 

[Alpha]

I find BW conversions to be especially challenging, though I don't doubt it's possible to equal film. I think film is much easier to use in that regard.

 

[Arpeggio9]

This is Fuji Superia 400 desaturated.

Not picking on (just) you (I see it ALL the time on Flickr) - but why convert color film to B&W? Why not just shoot B&W film?

Serious question. Is there some advantage I don't know about?

Just kind of messed around with processing on that one and I liked it better that way at the time. I don't really like to do that any more at the final stage, but often I just take the color away from my photos just to see what they look like as far as mood and light goes. Sometimes color film can pass as B&W film photo because there is still that contrast and grain. It's not a match for true B&W film tho'. I am seeing that more and more.

 

[Corto]

Digital:

Film:

Just Different, Both can look great in their own way.

 

[compur]

Here is real film with LOTS of grain....Tri-X 35mm...shot with a lens made during the Johnson Administration era, the 35mm O.C. Nikkor, and developed in Agfa Rodinol, a developer know for its rather big, but very sharp-edged grain...shot in 1985, but scanned on a low-end Minolta film scanner in the 2000's. This was shot hand-held at around 1/15 second with an old Nikon F Photomic FTN.

R59-15A-Dana_Tri X1986.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com

A beautiful photo that shows the wonderful characteristics of film.

 

[gerardo2068]

I think the whole film vs digital it's kind of pointless.

Back before the electric guitar came around there was just acoustic guitars. I'm sure same topic was talk when a new generation were going straight to electric guitar and never even touch an acoustic guitar. With acoustic guitar there were so many classic creations out there, but without the electric guitar there would not be many of the classic songs that many people talk about till this day.

Electric piano, synthesizer and all those electric instruments.

Digital photography its just another tool to let creativity run free. Many technics and results will be very different from film but it don't take away from many wonderful images that has been created from manipulating digital images.

Just like with the acoustic guitar, film will always have its own technics, character and purpose to be.

Instead of bragging about one or the other I just enjoy both of them for what each of them are able to do and the good things they have brought to us.

 

[Cruzingoose]

If you think your Mac Quadra or Windoz 3.11 box still has important files on it, you may want to check again. My Mac won't even power up and I've got all kinds of images and animations on it

... pull the hard drive and install on another, functional machine?

The Windoz drive is kaput. It won't stay spinning even without a computer, just klunks a bit then quits. The Quadra is perhaps one of Mac's goofy boxes. I did not realize this 'till long after I bought it. Apparently the OS is "blessed" and "married" to the computer. According to the folks on the Mac List, it may not work on any other Mac, unless it is set up as a secondary drive. I don't have another Mac right now, but interested in buying one if anyone here wants to part with one on the cheep.

 

[epatsellis]

That's a good analogy.

Many fine old things have been replaced by modern cheap things that supposedly look just as good ... but they don't. Not when you compare them side by side.
....

While mostly true, if you spend some time at the link I posted earlier, you will in fact find that there are b&w digital solutions that outperform film in sharpness and detail. Can you achieve this with a DSLR? Probably not. But DSLR's are just the tip of the digital imaging iceberg, so to speak.There's a whole lot more out there that is readily available that can make film seem lo-res by comparison.

 

[compur]

... if you spend some time at the link I posted earlier, you will in fact find that there are b&w digital solutions that outperform film in sharpness and detail.

Thank you but I don't care about sharpness and detail.

 

[o hey tyler]

Everyone seems to be all over the place and what little technique there is is vague and imprecise.

Welcome to photography in the digital age.

You can process film in a number of different ways as well. Some might deem them "vague" or "imprecise"... but they get the job done.

 

[thepaulreid]

Film has 'soul'. If you can see it and value it, then it is for you.


Will she come back by The Paul Reid, on Flickr

 

[gsgary]

Film has 'soul'. If you can see it and value it, then it is for you.


Will she come back by The Paul Reid, on Flickr

I love this shot :thumbup: i have just got my hands on a Mamiya C330