Jan writes ... > [...] > > I have another question regarding the tonal info in color negs. I > learnt back in the analogue days that transparencies offer a > higher tonal range than negs. > And why would the fact that there is a bigger tonal range lead to > the conclusion that more contrast needs to be applied? Or am I > mixing tonal info and tonal range here? ...
As a real example, you'd need compare a chrome and a negative, both taken of the same subject. Put both on a light table, and ask yourself which shows the most contrast. Your imprssion should be that the chrome exhibits the most contrast (... in fact, the appropriate contrast ...), and the negative would need be enhanced with respect to contrast. This demonstrates that tonal info (shadows, highlights) are compressed within the negative's exposure ... exactly how many f/stops is difficult to measure, but I've read 13-14 f/stops for negs and 9-10 f/stops for chromes. Another measure of tonal range for chromes is the maximum optical density, which for any chrome is no better than 3.1 to 3.3. If you figure 3 f/stops per optical unit, then you end up with ~10 f/stops. I'm not say scanning negs is better than chromes ... in fact the opposite. But, if your subject included shadows on a sunny day, then for chromes, you probably needed to sacrifice detail in either the shadows or the highlights. hth & cheerios ... shAf :o) Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland www.micro-investigations.com =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
