Cropped 6cmx6cm to 8"x10" or 11"x14"?

Anyone try doing this yet? I've searched for information on digital negatives, contact printing and medium format film, but have come up with less than snake eyes.

Is it worth the bother to take a cropped 6x6 negative, print the scan to OHP and contact print 8x10 or 11x14? Or will there be a totally unacceptable degradation in ultimate print quality--"quality" defined in the conventional sense, i.e., a print that shows decent tonal range and detail? I fear the answer is "don't bother". :rolleyes:

I'm willing to try this in the hazy not-too-distant future if no one else has tried it yet, though I would amazed to find out that no one has.

nocrop said:

Anyone try doing this yet? I've searched for information on digital negatives, contact printing and medium format film, but have come up with less than snake eyes.

Is it worth the bother to take a cropped 6x6 negative, print the scan to OHP and contact print 8x10 or 11x14? Or will there be a totally unacceptable degradation in ultimate print quality--"quality" defined in the conventional sense, i.e., a print that shows decent tonal range and detail? I fear the answer is "don't bother". :rolleyes:

I'm willing to try this in the hazy not-too-distant future if no one else has tried it yet, though I would amazed to find out that no one has.

Click to expand...

I hope I am not misunderstanding the question. This is standard workflow for anyone shooting medium format and using a process requiring contact printing (platinum, carbon transfer, gum, ...). It is possible to produce prints larger than 11x14 of the highest quality -- sharp and exhibiting a full range of tones.

pschwart said:

I hope I am not misunderstanding the question. This is standard workflow for anyone shooting medium format and using a process requiring contact printing (platinum, carbon transfer, gum, ...). It is possible to produce prints larger than 11x14 of the highest quality -- sharp and exhibiting a full range of tones.

Click to expand...

It is certainly possible to make high quality contact prints from 6X6 with alternative processes by scanning the negative, working on the file, and printing a digital negative.

In this process the quality of the scan is very important. Epson consumer type flatbed scanners are simply not capable of capturing all of the detail in well-exposed and developer medium format slides and negatives. For this you need to scan with a dedicated film scanner or a high end drum scanner or professional qualty flatbed. A consumer flatbed like the Epson V700 may give acceptable results up to 8X10 from MF scans, but for printing larger you probably need to step up to a better scan.

Sandy King

Thanks to both of you! My questions are answered. I'm saddled with an Epson V500, so if I try this, it's off to the local pro lab. I have some 4x5s that I can't scan on the V500, which provided the initial motivation for my questions. I'll have to try both formats in the future, using a pro scanner, as Sandy suggested.