Re: [Leica] Re: B&W Scanning

["Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com>]

I've heard that the most common error of amateur photographers is underexposure,
and if that is the case, maybe they crank up the contrast to compensate for
underexposed negatives.  All I've noticed is that most one-hour labs produce
rotten prints.  The exceptions are Fuji Frontier output, which seems to be
pretty good, and the one-hour lab at Disneyland, which is a sort of Kodak
flagship lab and seems to watch over things pretty carefully.  But in general I
never buy prints at all, as they are just a waste of money.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Unsworth" <mail@steveunsworth.co.uk>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2001 21:56
Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: B&W Scanning


> In my experience all high street labs I have tried produce prints, colour
> and black and white,  that have too much contrast. I wonder if it's an
> attempt to make the prints appear to have more 'punch'.
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Mxsmanic
> Sent: 29 July 2001 20:31
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: B&W Scanning
>
>
> Rei writes:
>
> > i recently began processing my own B&W negs again
> > and the difference in scratches and spots is
> > amazing.
>
> The quality overall is better, too.  I'm far from meticulous in developing
> my
> own black-and-white, but I _still_ get far better results than the lab gets.
> I
> think it is because they use a very aggressive, high-speed Ilford chemistry
> that
> agitates a lot and develops in like 30 seconds.  They get more contrast and
> grain than I do.  In fact, I almost gave up B&W after having them develop
> some
> stuff, because it looked so coarse and contrasty.  I finally did it myself
> because I wanted to use Tech Pan a bit, and lo! Tri-X came out beautifully
> when
> I did it myself, as did everything else.  And like I said, I'm not exactly
> meticulous about development; I imagine that a really careful photographer
> must
> get even better results.
>
>