[Leica] Comment on T400CN

["Paul Schiemer" <schiemer@magicnet.net>]

Didn't personally shoot the stuff, just ran into it in the communal darkroom
where I do some work.  Guy was having a fit trying to get a print out of it.
Due in part to his lack of expertise, and because the negs are just so
'different'.
I'd been curious about it, how convenient it must be, eh?  So I decided to
help him.  All but one of the images were fashion shots outdoors, bright
sun, reflector, and bracketed. We picked one of a woman in leather jacket to
print through (onto Kodak B&W paper).

I pride myself on being able to judge a neg quickly and, at least, get
within the ball park with an initial test exposure.  Then I dial it in with
a 2 sec. step test strip.  Not with this stuff!

It's just plain weird to asses, which will be overcome with experience I
suppose.  Even with the test strip it was hard to judge where the optimum
print would land.  I guess I was looking for the 'telltales' found in normal
B&W- the contrast ratio, shadow detail and specular highlights.  Sure, it's
all there, but not like a 'real' neg.  [Holes have a tone.]

The resultant print was muddy and flat, by comparison to the TriX neg I was
pulling off my enlarger next door.  Different images mind you, different
exposures too, but there's a quality missing in the T400CN print.
Maybe there's a special way to dial out the mask?  I read the instructions
and, typical Kodak, very basic; no real clue on how to get them to be snappy
prints (not like 'snappy' shots).  "Punch", 'snappy', whatever you call it.

It's probably a good thing to have on hand just in case a story editor or
designer asks the pro to do some B&W during the same shoot.  You can expose
it and run it at the same time your color stuff is getting done.
And it probably won't be around long- the way things come and go at big
yellar.

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