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Old 23rd October 2008, 03:29 PM
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Default contrast v resolution

Something which I have never been quite sure about is the question of resolution loss in the negative as result of increased dev/contrast.

When you increase contrast when printing the result is more clearly defined edges at the cost losing some very fine detail in the print. The higher the contrast, the less the print resolution. Yes?

But what about in the negative? If you increase development to give more contrast, does that lower the resolution of fine detail detail in the negative? It seems to me that it must but I'm not 100% sure. And as I write this, it occurs to me that since condensor enlargers require less contrast in the negative, then they should provide more resolution in both the negative and the print and that combined with condensor sharpness due to less umbra being formed around grain, should provide a noticeably better quality print in terms of both resolution and sharpness at the possible expense of slightly more visible grain.

I know some say there is no difference but I will be testing this out when I get my Modular 70 setup with its condensor head side by side with my L1200 diffusion head.

What do you think?
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Old 23rd October 2008, 06:24 PM
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Am I barking?
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Old 23rd October 2008, 07:04 PM
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Am I barking? - Probably Not. I'd be interested to know the 'technical' answer to this one. I would suspect that increasing contrast enhances resolution in the highlight areas, as details which were not apparrent at a lower contrast become visible, but reduces it in the shadow areas (but possible not as apparent). Test results would be useful.

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Old 26th October 2008, 07:18 AM
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Interesting Rob, that is not something I had considered before. In a nutshell, you are saying that if you photograph a low contrast scene, increase development time to improve contrast, some loss of detail may occur? I guess testing is the only way to find out?
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Old 26th October 2008, 10:34 AM
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I have reconsidered this. If you increase neg development, the negative density range increases within limits. However, the part of the range you use for printing is usually well within the absolute possible density range of the negative so an increase in dev should not lose resolution.
But with printing things are different because the paper range is limited to 7ish stops and increasing contrast does not increase that available range. Result is lost resolution when contrast is increased. There is obviously a balancing act of what is acceptable to the eye.
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Old 30th October 2008, 08:38 PM
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My experience is that in regards to a standard scene (and keeping grain to a min.) applying spot-metering from a Zone 2 (slight detail in dark shadows) to Zone 9 (clouds), if I over devv, I'll get more detail in the shadows, but blocking = less detail in the highlights and possibly risk a grainier neg by longer dev times. I have better luck putting those dark detailed shadows on Zone 3 and agitate less often in the same dev time. I've just started working with Pyro Cat HD and I'll see how that stained highlight works out.. the negs have looked relatively flat but print fine. Seems like condenser enlargers do have more sharpness sometimes, my father got great results with 6x9 negs, Beseler 23c with a Zone VI coldlight head. ..and then again, John Sexton's recent work is razor sharp with his LPL4500 Dichroics..
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