NL,
Very quickly my kit is becom...
Anonymous on
Camera Bags – They Are Always Too Small
New Cameras, Image Noise, and Film
Had a couple of interesting email conversations about my current existensial/camera acquisition crisis that meandered into a discussion regarding image noise and some comments I made a few posts ago on why image noise is not a huge priority for me. I have never owned a specialized noise reduction tool and to be blunt I can probably count the number of times that I have used noise reduction on an image. I am not at all disparaging those that use or depend on it. I just haven’t experienced making or viewing a lot of images where “noise” was the make or break factor. Don’t get me wrong, I would never put myself into a situation where noise/grain was completely inappropriate for a given subject or project. I wouldn’t choose a camera or a film a format (ISO setting) that would compromise what I was trying to do and rarely find myself needing super high ISO/film speeds in situations where I really really care about image noise.
Maybe I am a bit old fashioned but even my very first digital body looked fantastic at ISO 200 compared to film of a similar format at similar enlargement sizes. At ISO 1600 it sort of looked like 800 speed film at similar format and enlargement sizes. I was much more interested in how well it differentiated tones and color rendition and handling. Maybe that is why I never really chimed in and ranted and raved about noise. Maybe that is why I really liked the Nikon D2H.
Anyway for those that have not shot film and never care to I thought I would give you just a little bit of perspective. The shot at the top of the post was on 35mm TMZ, TMAX 3200P for you non-film people, shot at ISO 1600 developed in XTOL 1+2. The scan has no image sharpening and a real quick levels adjustment to get it to display like a print on grade 2 Ilford Gallarie (the only print of that neg I have laying around). The scan was 4000 dpi on a Nikon 8000ED scanner. As a note real black and white film is not the best stuff to scan in the world and you are looking at a completely neutral 8bit JPG, meaning you can only see 256 tones in this image. That doesn’t even come close to the tonality of a real print of this negative. What you can see is the image noise.
Here is a 100% crop to give you a better idea of what 35mm ISO 1600 film looks like:
Here is another one to give you a better sense of it:
Does the “noise” have anything to do with wheather this is a good image?
RB
Ps. Yes I did actually shoot a couple of weddings in my day.
Received a bit of correspondence on this from on both the nostalgic old film guys that were spurred into at least handling some of their old film gear that hasn’t seen the light of day in a few years as well as a couple of people that wanted to know a bit more about film (either never shot it or never shot it “seriously”, ie used print film sent it to the minilab and are way happier with their digital) and have only ever heard film discussed in very very loose non-objective “art” terms (ie really dark images with tons of digital post, but it’s gotta be on film because it’s art, web bullshit)
Anyway for the curious never shot film crowd I will try to post a couple more objective film scans for the curious and…
for those that asked.
This was shot in or around 2000 (don’t feel like looking it up) with a Leica M6 and 50 Summicron (new one).
RB
Oh one more thing, for those that asked me about weddings.
No I do not shoot weddings anymore – I did an okay job for the dozen or so that I did shoot but I do not like weddings and am not interested in weddings, therefore the best I would ever do is an okay job. I think the best images come from individuals that are truly engaged and passionate about the subject they are shooting.
However when I did shoot weddings my kit was as follows:
Leica M6′s with 35,50, and 90 with both TMZ and TX
Nikon F100 with NPH/NPS and then Portra NC 160/400 28-70 AFS and 80-200 AFS 2.8 lenses
And for the dreaded formals
Hasselblad 6×6 NPS, Portra NC 160, and TXP
One more wedding thing.
Of course I sold a few of the formals but the vast majority of images people wanted were the less formal stuff shot with my M6 and TX or TMZ and not once did anyone ever question the “noise” at 5×7 8×10, 9×12, or 6×9 (not many of these sold but were my favorite with black neg printed borders)