[Leica] Re: Kodak BW400CN film

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Question:

I have never used a BW chromogenic film. I've done all my B&W  
photography with silver based films developed in the traditional way.  
But in the last couple of years I've abandoned my wet darkroom  
because of skin allergies to chemicals. I have been scanning all my  
color negatives to create a data base, using a Minolta Dimage 5400  
scanner. Apart from taking a long time, the ICE facility is marvelous  
for eliminating all those nuisance dust spots.

My specific question is - if I standardize on a readily available  
color negative film, say ASA 100 or 200 Kodak Royal Gold, scan the  
negative, then turn it into a grayscale in PS, will the results be  
comparable to a B&W chromogenic film. The Kodak web site seems to  
indicate that if you want prints, then silver based B&W films are  
preferable. Their reasoning seems to be that the dyes and base color  
of BW400CN makes printing difficult. But if I want to use an ink jet  
or laser printer, does it matter?

Larry Z