Sonnar, Delta 3200 and a trick

Pherdinand · 12-12-2004

Hi Forum!

Well, there was a thing that bugged me for a few days. The first roll I ran through the Contax with its sonnar 50/1.5 turned out oookay, but in lots of cases i was not happy with the sharpness. The unsharpness was quite noticeable on the prints; i semeed to see the same on the negs.

So i put them today under a microscope and used a digicam to "scan" the neg at a high resolution.

Here's a crop that corresponds to approx. 10x magnification.

Pherdinand · 12-12-2004

And here's one with about 42x magnification. That would mean a 1x1.5 m large print...

After these, i can say that grain is giant but there's plenty of sharpness in the frame(s). I wonder how did they do it in the lab, that the grain on the prints seems to be sharp but the image itself is blurry. Also, the contrast is, as i suspected, good in the negs but boosted way too much on the prints, where the white bald head of the guy is blown out and his dark shirt is plain black.

Sheesh. Now i'm really close to put the $$$ down for a film scanner.

taffer · 12-12-2004

What 'bout the 3170 Pherdi ? Could you finally experiment a bit with the pic I sent you ?

Pherdinand · 12-12-2004

Yes, i did, Taffer

thanks. Also, i got some sample from Denis and his microtek 6100 which is similar to the epson you have. Did not print, but on the screen they both seem to produce quite good scans, so probably i will go for them (otherwise, bye-bye medium format for me). Only thing is, the next few months are a bit unsecure for me, dunno yet where i will have to move, and i am considering to wait with buying a big funky flatbed scanner until i settle down. (Same stands for the B/W developing plans.)

denishr · 12-12-2004

Pherdi, it's about time you get yourself a scanner. You should also develop your own B&W. YOu don't need a "real" darkroom for that. Some kind of changing bag, a good developing tank, and the chemicals, and you're all set! After 2-3 hours the film is dry, and you can start scanning - and the results will be better than the sample from the lab you've mentioned...

Denis

taffer · 12-12-2004

Absolutely second that. If you do it right, it's you. If you mess it up, it's you. And trust me, if I can do it, then it's really HARD to screw it up.

I know first hand what's not knowing where you're going to be next month, so best of luck with that buddy !

Roman · 12-12-2004

A warning, though: contrasty high-speed film like Delta 3200 or TMax 3200 shot above its real speed (around 1000 ASA) is really hard to scan - I have experience in this field with my Umax Astra 4500 flatbed with transparency unit, with 'el cheapo' Mediax 1800 FilmScan, and with the Minolta DualScan III of a friend, and none of those is able to get real good results from my TMax 3200 negs (look at the 'TurlRewitz' scans in my gallery, which I'm less than satisified with...); 'real' B&W darkroom prints are usually much better, because you can use a lot of tricks for dealing with excessive contrast (pre-flashing the paper, split-grade burning in, etc.) and grain (part-time diffusion of the neg.)
But doing at least your own film developing will already be a big step into the right direction - hey, it's neither expensive nor difficult; I can recommend www.fotoimpex.de for supplies: the inexpensive A&P developing tanks are those with the easiest to load reels, then you'll need a changing bag (much more convenient than having to light-proof a room every time you want to evelop a roll of film, a few graduates, a thermometer, some film clips, neg developer (I love Calbe A49 - now sold as Adox ATM 49 by FotoImpex - for fast films and pushing) and fixer (Amaloco should be really cheap ín NL)(I don't use a stop bath with films), maybe some distilled water for final bath, that's it...

Roman

PS: A timer would be handy to, but not absolutely necessary...

doubs43 · 12-12-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by denishr
Pherdi, it's about time you get yourself a scanner. You should also develop your own B&W. Denis

Couldn't agree more. Here's a shot I took with an Iskra-2 folder and developed last night. I scanned it at 600 dpi to keep the file size reasonable. Developing your own can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it and takes very little room. It's also much more satisfying than letting someone else do it for you.

Walker

Pherdinand · 12-12-2004

hehh, good shot, Walker!

Thanks, Roman, for the tips.

Socke · 12-13-2004

Interesting thread. I tried Delta3200 in my Contax G2 and scanned the film with a Canon FS2710. The results were not to my liking :-)

As we can't link pictures from other websites, here's my old gallery with the best I could get out of Delta 3200:

Delta3200 in Contax G2 at a Club

Pherdinand · 12-13-2004

Socke, i like some of those images... True, there are some with motion blur (which is not bad at all), and on some photos i think the AF of your G2 was in trouble - like the first one, of the two girls.

Socke · 12-13-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Pherdinand
Socke, i like some of those images... True, there are some with motion blur (which is not bad at all), and on some photos i think the AF of your G2 was in trouble - like the first one, of the two girls.

Not the Contax, it was me! I didn't point the camera on the girls but on the wall :-)

Pherdinand · 12-13-2004

LOL
they made you dizzy heh?

Roman · 12-13-2004

Actually, those are pretty nice... (though I can see both problems I mentioned: problems w/ scanning high-speed films, which can be seen in the shadows - not 'black enough', but kind of dark-greyish, with random white pixels; and not the high accutance I like with TMax 3200 - still, very nice pictures, though!)

Roman