Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/10/25

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Subject: [Leica] Re:Black&White Question
From: JBelen@aol.com
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 16:51:28 EDT

>Is it reasonable for someone to expect to get "outstanding" "Leica-Quality" 

>black & white prints if he does not do his own developing and printing?  

>Does 

>the lack of control at those stages defeat the purpose of shooting B&W 

>pictures with a Leica?


A very good point, Jack.


I do not develop/print myself, and on those occasions where I handed over 

black-and-white films to the commercial lab, the results were nothing 

else but average. Sharp, yes, but everything was in shades of grey (no 

true blacks).

So, I'd guess one ought to keep matters in own hands, if not send the 

films to a custom lab that will charge you a small fortune.


It's a no-win situation for me, as an amateur photographer and keen for 

quality results (admittedly, the situation is different for a pro 

photographer who can charge his/her customer), so I simply quit shooting 

b&w. If ultimate quality is required, I take slides. At least here there 

is no intermediate step (printing) involved and good Leica slides really 

shine !

What does one tell the lab, specifically, in order to obtain the best 
developing and printing results?
Thanks,
Jack