Film vs digital - resolution

[gsgary]

I love the shot. I found that a lot of my Dad's 2 1/4 negs from the early 60's were so grain smooth. It has been great working with them.

Thankyou but probably not a patch on your dads

 

[gsgary]

Thanks, Gary. So, film-shot photos do lose their sharpness after a limit of magnification...

So do digital, this has had virtually nothing altered in PS

 

[amolitor]

I have seen some VERY interesting comparisons posted on-line; one in which film's resolving ability was shown to be amazingly high.

One of the other features of film is that it's spatial resolution rolls off more or less forever. You have SOME information at extraordinarily high resolutions, just not very MUCH information. Eventually the amount of actual "image data" (using that phrase very informally) the film is gathering drops beneath the "noise floor" and is no longer distinguishable from the randomness that exists in any recording medium.

Digital, on the other hand, simply cuts off rudely. These details, you can see 'em; those details are just gone.

This is a general property of digital versus analog in all media, and for modern versions of all the media the differences are -- in normal usage -- well below our ability to perceive them, be it audio, video, photography or.. um, whatever else there is. In heroic test setups, the differences become clear. Somewhere in the middle, we have normal uses that happen for whatever special reasons to be quite close to the edges, and we may or may not be able to perceive differences.

Generally, analog will have more noise, and high resolution material will gradually slip underneath the noise. Digital will have less noise, but will cut off the higher resolution information. It's a tradeoff.

In those cases matters of taste come in. Some people will prefer film, some will prefer digital.

 

[AaronLLockhart]

Here's an example of 120 FP4 developed in Rodinal

and a 100% crop

For that being 120 film, it sure does have very little grain.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Any image is going to lose sharpness the more you enlarge it from its original size. With film it can depend on the size of the negative - with large format cameras the negative is large enough it's possible to just make a contact print. The speed of the film can make a difference in quality too; lower ASA/ISO or light sensitivity tends to have less grain in the emulsion.

Nice photo Gary. I think there can be more difference in B&W between film and digital than with color, I find it hard to define but it seems to me to have such a different look and quality.

 

[gsgary]

Any image is going to lose sharpness the more you enlarge it from its original size. With film it can depend on the size of the negative - with large format cameras the negative is large enough it's possible to just make a contact print. The speed of the film can make a difference in quality too; lower ASA/ISO or light sensitivity tends to have less grain in the emulsion.

Nice photo Gary. I think there can be more difference in B&W between film and digital than with color, I find it hard to define but it seems to me to have such a different look and quality.

Thankyou very much