Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/01

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Exploring Leica
From: Chris Bitmead <chrisb@ans.com.au>
Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 14:26:36 +0000

Scott Busby wrote:

> 1.  In black and white work, what are the film preferences and developer
> combinations favored by the group? Why?

I don't necessarily see why you should change from the FP4 you
are used to. But since you will be moving from MF to 35mm which
has lenses that are a couple of stops faster in general, _maybe_
you might want to get a slower film. That is if you intend to
work the same way you used to.

If that is the case, I can highly recommend Agfa APX 25 which has
finer grain than any other film except Technical Pan, yet it has
much wider exposure latitude which makes it more suitable for
general usage.

> 2.  In color, what are the preferences?  Are chromes preferred over
> print film?

For me yes, They just look wonderful on a light table. Much more
vibrant than prints. I'm told that this is because they can
record a much higher tonal range. Whatever, they just look great.
Personally I prefer Kodachrome.
 
> 3.  When enlarging images, what is the acceptable limit?  I've never
> enlarged a MF neg beyond 11X14. I know the answers to the above
> questions will determine this.

Of course depends on how you define acceptable and how close you
want to view the print. I've done very sharp 20x24" prints from
160 speed film. But you can see grain if you stick your nose
right up to it.

Also you can find the general characteristics of various films
here...

 
http://www.ans.com.au/~chrisb/photo/technical/film/index.html

- -- 
Chris Bitmead
http://www.ans.com.au/~chrisb
mailto:chrisb@ans.com.au