Lens contrast and Ilfochrome

[captyng@vtx.ch (Gerard Captijn)]

> From my
>limited experience with Cibachrome, I know this material gives rather
>contrasty prints; I've seen comments that Ilfochrome raises the contrast
>of the image causing loss of shadow detail. I wonder- could the lower
>contrast of some Leica lenses actually be of benefit in this instance?
>Does anyone who prints Ilfochrome have an opinion on the lens contrast
>issue as regarding the end product- the Ilfochrome print?

Great choice, Ilfochrome! Ilford sells the paper now in 3 different
gradations so you can chose your paper (or rather plastic) as a function of
the contrast of the slide. The glossy material has an exeptional color
rendering. An enlarger with a diffusion lightsource will probably be better
for Ilfochrome than an enlarger with a condensor and you should be very
prudent when handling wet Ilfochrome as its surface is damaged very easily.

In terms of older versus newer Leica lenses, IMHO a lens should produce
image contrast as close as possible to, and ideally identical to, the
subject contrast. If the difference between the lightest and darkest area of
the subject is, for instance, 1:128 (7 diaphs) the lens should produce 1:128
on the film. Nothing more (impossible anyhow), nothing less. The
photographer can reduce contrast, if desired, when taking the picture,
during development or in the darkroom, but it should not come unsollicited
via glass that is doing a less than perfect job.

One should also not forget that in terms of printability of colorslides, the
lower contrast of older Leica lenses is far less important than the subject
contrast, which may vary from very low (streetscene on a foggy day, late
afternoon, in Stockholm in winter) to very high (streetscene on a sunny day,
at noon, in Mexico City in summer). My suggestion is try different
Ilfochrome papers for different slides: things will somehow work out. And
you have  always the option to make a B&W contrast reducing mask for the
exeptional ultra high contrast slide.

Gerard Captijn,
Geneva, Switzerland.
Fax: +41 (22) 700 39 28.