Question about Contrast

Dwayneb9584 · 05-11-2011

Hey everyone,

So I've been shooting my work with my Zeiss Ikon Rangefinder for less than a year now and love it. I shoot with a voigtlander Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 PII lens with HP5 plus 400 film. I develop in Ilford Ilfotec DDX and fix in Ilford rapid fix. I've been noticing that a lot of my photos have been very contrasty and I've done some research and this could be the lens that does this. So I sometimes stop down while shooting or even do less agitation while developing. Any tips on getting more shadow and softer images. Is it the lens, film, or developing process, my guess it's the lens. All help will be greatly appreciated. You can see what I mean on some of the images from my blog here www.blog.dwayneburgessphotography.com

Colin Corneau · 05-11-2011

Each lens has its own signature. I won't claim to be knowledgable enough to say which lens does what (since a lot of this is personal taste or bias, anyway).

What will affect contrast in film work at least as much, if not more, is your treatment of the film. Specifically development.

Try 'pulling the film'...shooting at a lower EI and developing slightly less.

FWIW I've never seen CV lenses as being terribly high contrast, but I digress...

Dwayneb9584 · 05-11-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin Corneau

Each lens has its own signature. I won't claim to be knowledgable enough to say which lens does what (since a lot of this is personal taste or bias, anyway).

What will affect contrast in film work at least as much, if not more, is your treatment of the film. Specifically development.

Try 'pulling the film'...shooting at a lower EI and developing slightly less.

FWIW I've never seen CV lenses as being terribly high contrast, but I digress...

Thanks a lot for the fast reply. I'm going to try and develop slightly less on my next process.

Doug · 05-11-2011

If you're short on shadow detail in the negatives, then you'll need to give the shot more exposure. When shooting, make sure to include a significant shadow area as you meter. Then, a bit less development time will keep more detail in the highlights (reduce contrast). Report back!

Roger Hicks · 05-11-2011

Less development = less contrast, regardless of exposure.

True ISO of HP5 Plus in DD-X is about 650, so you're unlikely to be overexposing normal subjects, and even if you are, overexposure does NOT increase contrast. It does however bring bigger grain and less sharpness.

Doug's advice about favouring the shadows when metering is however spot on. Several of your pics have very long subject brightness ranges, and it may be that the bright areas (e.g. windows or doors in the middle of the composition) are leading to underexposed shadows.

Cheers,

R.

Dwayneb9584 · 05-12-2011

Hmm I see. I'll keep this all in mind when I bring it out tomorrow. I have 12 frames left so I'll check for any noticeable differences once I scan it. Thanks a lot guys. I'll be sure to report back with details.

Dwayneb9584 · 05-12-2011

Hey all,

So I came back to report after shooting, processing and scanning today. I only did a few frames as I have a bunch. I scanned them at 2400 ppi on a Plustek 7600i SE scanner. I exposed for the shadows in some areas. I shot it with the Ziess Ikon, 35mm color skopar PII f2.5 and Ilford HP5 Plus at 400. I was around f8 and f11 for most of the shots today. This took place after 6pm. These are straight from the scanner with no post. Let me know all of your thoughts. I was thinking if I were to push the film to 800 will it help darken the shadows and get more detail?

Sorry but I tried to post the images in this post but It didn't seem to work. Here are the links from flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwayneb...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwayneb...in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwayneb...in/photostream

zvos1 · 05-12-2011

I really like the photos from your blog (from the link in the original post), but then again I am a sucker for contrasty photos. Lot of contrast is not necessarily a bad thing, however as other have said it is most likely due to your development.

Doug · 05-13-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwayneb9584

...So I came back to report after shooting, processing and scanning today. ... These are straight from the scanner with no post. Let me know all of your thoughts. I was thinking if I were to push the film to 800 will it help darken the shadows and get more detail?

These look very "normal" in tonal range to me, good shadows and good highlights. I think you're "there"!

Dwayneb9584 · 05-13-2011

Ok cool thanks guys. I guess I wanted sort of a soft glow to my pictures. Similar to what you can achieve with the Leica lenses. So it's really all about the glass I guess.