[Leica] Digital enlargement & enlightenment, please.

[datamaster at northcoastphotos.com (Gary Todoroff)]

Here's a project that pushed the film/digital limits - original was a 
"highway tunnel of trees", portrait-format photograph taken with M6, 
35mm Summicron on Velvia 50. The client wanted the print in 
landscape-format. For the bicycle room in his health club. As a 10x16 
print. That's 10x16 feet. From half the frame of the 35mm transparency!

After scanning the slide with my Imacon Photo scanner and a few hours 
massaging with Photoshop, I had scraped every bit of photographic 
data I could out of that thumbnail sized piece of film. The detail 
really held up quite well at billboard size, and the client loved it.

I've made other clients happy with a catalog photo from a three 
megapixel Vivitar camera. I've used a point and shoot Ricoh for 
20x30" prints that look very sharp and hang in offices at the Fire 
Department, Coast Guard and City Hall. I still take the Hasselblad up 
for aerials. Mostly I'm breezing along with my "Lympa" Olympus E-330, 
thrilled with the results at 7.5 megapixels both with Leica and 
Olympus lenses. And yesterday I was sorting through some old stuff 
and could not bear to throw out an old pinhole camera I had made out 
of a soapbox, which had taken some great shots on 5x7 enlarging paper.

  Like Ted, says, it all depends on what you need to make the client 
(or yourself) happy.

Gary Todoroff (mostly lurking or shooting lately)
http://northcoastphotos.com/Lympa.htm


>Quite frankly it depends on how big a print you are going to make? 
>Which is no different in making an 8X10 wet tray print or a 4'X6' 
>print off the same neg!
>
>Right here is the question..... "how big do you intend on making it?"
>
>I work with a Leicanon 20D and make 13X19 prints that take your 
>breath away. Of course some folks figure that's not possible. ;-) 
>However, I don't look at the number things!  I only look at... "How 
>good is this photograph and will the client be happy with it?" And I 
>as a professional pleased with what I see?
>
>And quite frankly in the reality of the world in earning your keep 
>or "impressing friends and family" with your prints that's all that 
>matters. Other than the obvious.... "how satisfied are you and does 
>it meet a quality standard you accept?" And or, are happy with it?
>
>But for heaven sake forget the damn numbers and look at... "how good 
>does it look to you?" That's all that matters!
>
>ted
>