> I personally haven't been exactly impressed with the >results I've gotten scanning B&W directly from negatives. I also >haven't been very impressed with the results when trying to print >these scans with an HP color printer My experience is the same. I can't get scanned B&W negatives to look really good. Send me into a darkroom with negs and paper and I'll come out with prints I like, but I just can't get results I'm pleased with on the computer. That said, the computer is a *great* tool for learning what you can do, and what needs to be done, with a black and white negative. I don't have a home darkroom so I pay by the hour for the use of one at a local co-op. I scan my negs at home and manipulate them on my computer, experimenting with dodging and burning and adjusting the contrast (I use the brightness/contrast control in Photoshop rather than the levels histogram, because it more closely approximates the effect of different paper contrast levels). By the time I take the negative into the real darkroom to make prints I know pretty much what I need to do. Saves *lots* of darkroom time and photo paper (both of which = money). Just one more example of how digital and traditional photography can complement each other. -- Mark Roberts www.robertstech.com - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
