Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]hey Mike, actually, Woody Walters, you may know him (he sometimes writes for shutterbug, does a lot of Art Fairs (until he started teaching at a comm. college in Iowa)) uses Tech Pan for pretty much everything ( 4x5 and 8x10 of course). but 'pictorial photography' is what you stated and he is pictoral. I use this (tech pan 4x5)for pictographs/petroglyphs and anything else that I want to boost my zones. If it reads 1 zone of contrast, I can end up with 4 or 5 when I develop it along with my tmax in normal dev (tmax replenisher developer as 1 shot). It's a wild ride and cetainly fun, and its' tonal aspects are acceptable. Rob Mueller Studies in Black and White www.studiesinblackandwhite.com rob@studiesinblackandwhite.com - -----Original Message----- From: Mike Johnston [mailto:michaeljohnston@ameritech.net] Sent: Monday, January 03, 2000 6:55 AM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: [Leica] Don't read this, Bernard P.S. Lest anyone think I'm serious, Tech Pan sucks for pictorial photography. I've only even known one photographer who can make that stuff look decent, and he was a Kodak Staff Photographer for 30 years. The only thing it's useful for is technical photography and as a replacement for N+3 through N+6 development when your usual film won't handle that degree of expansion. Furthermore, anyone who uses any film slower than ISO 100 for general photography in this day and age is inviting more technical problems (in terms of motion blur, camera shake, and wide apertures) than can possibly be compensated for by the slower films' alleged properties. T-Max 100 or 100 Delta in Xtol will probably LITERALLY out-resolve any traditional 25-speed film, but with the 4X increase in speed factored in it's _nolo contendre_ as to which will yield higher image quality in most picture-taking situations. Anyone who uses a 35mm film slower than ISO 100 is using the wrong format, except perhaps if all their shooting is done under studio conditions. A 4x5 rig is simply not that expensive, especially if your preferred 35mm brand is Leica. You can buy a whole 4x5 setup--new--for the price of one of the more expensive Leica lenses, and have cash left over for film. Invest in one! To those who prefer Leicas yet are concerned that slow films might be "best," get with the program--you need to look at more great Leica photography. Most of the great Leica photographers did not, and do not, use namby-pamby, candyass slow films because they were afraid of a little grain. They used faster films because they were concerned with being able to photograph the world around them with some degree of freedom. Sheesh! - --Mike