The modern Kertesz prints I saw in Paris were darkroom prints, it was a a day or so days after the Channel Tunnel fire so 1996. I would definitely say that the prints off early didn't look as sharp as the originals I'd seen in the late 1980s at the Barbican in London, this was really because they were printed far too large, I can't recall the exact size but around 12"x10" or slightly larger.
Kertesz's original pre-WWII contemporary prints were small none larger than half plate 8½ x 6½ inches, a variety of sizes and many less than half that size, possibly contact prints, but had and incredible feel a and quality that was completely lost in the modern "large" prints off the same negatives.
I saw the Kertsz "Early Work" exhibition by chance, I'd gone with two friends to see the major Ansel Adams exhibition "Classic Images" at the Barbican, this was a large exhibition of his major work, As we came out we spotted that there was a second exhibition in the foyer/bar? of the theatre, the Annsel Adams exhibition had been excellent but all three of us were blown away by the Kertesz exhibition which had a completely different feel, less technical and with a lot more soul.
I'd add that a lot of the retro look came from the lenses of the day and also how you work with them. The commonest pre-WWII design was the Tessar or similar and used hand held and at wider apertures the edge and particularly corner sharpness sharpness drops off and there's also less depth of field decreases, add to that films were quite a lot slower so lower shutters speeds. This is one reason Kertesz chose to only make small contemporary prints.
However if you shoot on a tripod at the optimum aperture a lens like a Tessar performs as well as modern Plasmat.
Ian
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