[rollei_list] O.T Polaroid type 55 b+W film and DIGITAL Photography
- From: Newhouse230@xxxxxxx
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:21:05 -0400 (EDT)
Yes Kirk,
Very nice gray scale .
I can remember one of the full-time photographers who worked at Polaroid
while I did shot an interior of the Old North Church (?)
in Boston using a Speed Graphic and Polaroid positive/negative type 55
film. He made a 16 x20 print on Agfa Brovira. The tonality was exquisite;
the highlights retained great detail as did the shadows. Some prints
are a such a thing of beauty, that you always remember them even if the
subject is relatively mundane.
One area where digital capture still fails , in my opinion, is in the
dynamic range and the shape of tonal curve. It is pointed out that today's
digital dynamic range for is equal or superior to slide films. This may be
true, but it is not even close to color or black and white negative film.
I am forever cloning subtle detail into blown highlights of digital shots
to get acceptable prints. The Polaroid negative produced by the Type 55
film of 45 years ago could produce some really beautiful images.
To wander further O.T. I wonder if one of the members with a more
technical background can predict if/when the dynamic range and tonal curve of
digital images will improve in the way that CD sound quality did.....going
from a very 'clipped' quality to something that could yield improved audio
nuance. I am not an audiophile, so I don't know the technical terms, but to
my ear CD's of early vintage completely lacked 'sweetness' and character
but have improved over the years. I can't help but wonder if the same thing
will be said for digital image capture.
Charlie Silverman
In a message dated 3/27/2012 12:53:31 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
thompsonkirk@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Last week someone mentioned the BW Polaroid film that was used for
view-camera exposure testing, but allowed you to preserve the Polaroid print
and
even its negative. It yielded quite lovely tonal transitions – often better
than the actual film exposure. Perhaps you can still see this in a scan
of a 4x5 Polaroid print:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thompsonkirk/6212011748/in/photostream
(To Don Williams: The little print was scanned on the flatbed part of a
Canon 9000F, and then enlarged. I still use it for that.)
Kirk
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