[Leica] IMG: New TMax400 film evaluation.

[robertmeier at usjet.net (Robert Meier)]

Very interesting comparison, Len.   And rather surprising.   

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leonard Taupier" <len-1@comcast.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 10:38 PM
Subject: [Leica] IMG: New TMax400 film evaluation.


>I finally was able to get a few rolls of the new Kodak Tmax400 film  
> to compare to the older film. Except for the new box, the new film  
> has a black backing instead of the pink/beige backing of the older  
> film. After developing the negatives look the same.
> 
> I ran my test using two camera bodies and one lens. I loaded my M6  
> with the old film and my M7 with the newer film. I shot the same  
> photos with each body and transferred the lens between bodies for  
> each shot. The lens was a 50mm Summilux Asph. Each of the duplicate  
> photos from each body was exposed exactly the same.  The lens  
> aperture was between f5.6 and f11 for most of the photos. Most of the  
> photos were taken outdoors on an overcast day.
> 
> Both films were developed in Xtol 1+1 for 8 3/4 minutes at 68 F.  
> Agitation in the developer is constant for the first 30 seconds and  
> then 5 seconds every 30 seconds. The negatives were scanned with a  
> Nikon Coolscan 9000. Except for cropping there was no post processing  
> at all. What you see is how they came out of the scanner.
> 
> You can see some photos here. There are crops of the full frames.
> 
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/TMax400/>
> 
> My impression is the new film is nearly identical to the old film.  
> Actually the old film has very slightly higher contrast and  
> resolution. The test charts represent a resolution of 72-80 lpmm for  
> the old film and 64-72 lpmm for the new film.  Both films are  
> excellent though.
> 
> Len
> 
>  
>  
> 
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