10-21-2010, 01:15 PM
[quote name='jenbenn' timestamp='1287663205' post='3718']
I dont want to shoot foul, but really, looking at pints from my slides (yes, properly exposed slides, printed by a professional lab for an exhibition) I see fundamentally less dynamic range in them compared to professional prints of my 50d and 5d Mark II files. The Prints from the slides show however a more pleasing rendition of the brightest highlights. Its not that the prints from digital clip earlier (this was counteracted in raw processing) but their highlights seem less natural and less smooth than the analagoue prints (difficult to decribe).
[/quote]
Maybe I used the term 'dynamic range' wrongly - in a more general way meaning the rendition of highlights and shadows - not necessarily in absolute terms. Like I said, I'm no scientist, but as I understand it digital sensors - just like in audio A/D converters - have no 'headroom' (once they clip, it's gone). And to my eyes, there are very fine subtleties in highlights and shadows in film that are not rendered using a DSLR.
Looking at some old B&W prints I'm seeing an incredibly smooth tonal range in the greys which I have never managed to achieve with a digital camera.
I dont want to shoot foul, but really, looking at pints from my slides (yes, properly exposed slides, printed by a professional lab for an exhibition) I see fundamentally less dynamic range in them compared to professional prints of my 50d and 5d Mark II files. The Prints from the slides show however a more pleasing rendition of the brightest highlights. Its not that the prints from digital clip earlier (this was counteracted in raw processing) but their highlights seem less natural and less smooth than the analagoue prints (difficult to decribe).
[/quote]
Maybe I used the term 'dynamic range' wrongly - in a more general way meaning the rendition of highlights and shadows - not necessarily in absolute terms. Like I said, I'm no scientist, but as I understand it digital sensors - just like in audio A/D converters - have no 'headroom' (once they clip, it's gone). And to my eyes, there are very fine subtleties in highlights and shadows in film that are not rendered using a DSLR.
Looking at some old B&W prints I'm seeing an incredibly smooth tonal range in the greys which I have never managed to achieve with a digital camera.