Any correlation between negative densities and Zones will be dependent on the photographic paper one is using.
the easiest way to get a good print is with a good negative.
One way to get high acutance from a developer is for it to exhaust during the development process. There are other ways, but this is the one I most commonly see. You can get this from dilute developers, like Rodinal, and can also create this exhaustion effect with either a water bath at the end of any normal developer (different dev times), or using a two bath developer. I found that my 2B-1 two bath developer produces quite high acutance and sometimes strong Mackie lines:What types of films, developers, and techniques have you guys seen to produce the most pronounced or pleasing sharpness and acutance effects?
One way to get high acutance from a developer is for it to exhaust during the development process. There are other ways, but this is the one I most commonly see. You can get this from dilute developers, like Rodinal, and can also create this exhaustion effect with either a water bath at the end of any normal developer (different dev times), or using a two bath developer. I found that my 2B-1 two bath developer produces quite high acutance and sometimes strong Mackie lines:
Here's an example on ADOX Silvermax:
If you look at the power line that appears white in the air in the middle of the frame, it has lines on both sides.
That’s great Stephen!
In the hourglass-like graphic representation the intervals begin with 0.2 log subject luminance range but the absolute intervals are compressed and expanded according to the negative and print curves curves that are applied by the different stages of flare, negative and print.
aparat your four quadrant graphic representation looks correct. In the upper-right quadrant you “could” include the “preferred” tone reproduction curve as a guide (we aren’t aiming for 1:1) (see fig I-8 from Todd Zakia). Stephen, is it more correct to label the lower-right quadrant x-axis as Log Subject Luminance?
Yes! Low agitation regimes also allow exhaustion to occur. Combining these techniques is one of the reasons semi stand Rodinal 1+100 can produce strong edge effects.The greatest amount of acutance I've come across is from Pyrocat HD in a semi-stand process. It can look like an over-sharpened digital image.
Here are two prints I made the other night.
That's a great example! Thank you for posting it. I still have some of the Barry Thornton Two-Bath developer left. I will try it next time to see if I can get some extra acutance with it.
The greatest amount of acutance I've come across is from Pyrocat HD in a semi-stand process. It can look like an over-sharpened digital image.
Here are two prints I made the other night. Both shot wide-open, both in deep shade, with the sun behind them, both at EI800. The first one is on HP5 Plus, processed in XTOL-R for 16 minutes, the second on TMY-2, processed in Pyrocat HD 1+1+200 for 40 minutes, semi-stand. Both printed on Ilford MGV RC paper. The first print has subtle sharpness, which works great in a female portrait, with gentle tonality, the second has overly pronounced sharpness, where every crease in the jacket and face is exaggerated. I am not sure I like this kind of look, but it gives the photograph a bit of a grungy character. The prints were scanned with VueScan with sharpness off.
Texting by Nick Mazur, on Flickr
In front of a convenience store by Nick Mazur, on Flickr
@Bill Burk Thank you for the feedback! That's a great idea. The 45-degree straight line is an unrealistic reference for pictorial photography, I agree. The ideal curve, as they define it, would have a straight line in the mid-tones, with some amount of compression in the shadows and highlights (presumably resulting from both camera (shadows) and enlarger (highlights) lens flare) . They offer a general description of such a curve on p. 94. I should probably give it a try.
I agree with your verdict on both shots. The first one is lovely, the second one spoiled by those dark crevices and very black background shadows. It’s exactly the look that turned me off Kodak T-grain films. But can you convince me that is an acutance effect, rather than tones falling on a very short toe?
@aparat, the four quad looks good. It's clean, readable, and everything lines up. I only have a couple of suggestions. It appears you are including film base + fog with the film curve. You might want to add a Fb+f value in the film info. It will help with the evaluation. In the camera quadrant, you have 1.3 as the flare factor. I'm assuming flare is 1 1/3 stops. I'm really bad at defining math terms so forgive me if I don't explain it correctly. Flare factor is a geometric progression with a base 2. You can include both expressions for the sake of clarity. Finally, you might want to keep the number of decimal points consistent in the reproduction curve's gradient values to maintain a clean alignment. Do you could include options on displaying certain values or calculations. For example, is the luminance range and exposure adjustable? Here are some of the options I use with mine.
I agree with your verdict on both shots. The first one is lovely, the second one spoiled by those dark crevices and very black background shadows. It’s exactly the look that turned me off Kodak T-grain films. But can you convince me that is an acutance effect, rather than tones falling on a very short toe?
@relistan Thanks! Speaking of acutance, can your PC-512 Borax developer be diluted, say 1+100 or 1+200? If so, how would Solution B work then in terms of dilution? I am finishing a roll of Kentmere 100 and I am planning to use your developer with it.
In the Way Beyond Monochrome, flare is mentioned a few times, and the famous Kodak nomograph was printed on p. 140 to help with the flare-corrected CI compensation, along with the conclusion that "I have not found any need to do so with any of my equipment."
I have not tested it more diluted but @Andrew O'Neill did at 1+100 semi-stand. He found that fog was higher like that and added a small amount of benzotriazole to counter it. He liked it that way. As far as I know that is the only test at a dilution other than 1+50. My guess is graininess will be higher but don’t know if dilution will cause enough exhaustion to influence edge effects. Ascorbic acid in even the tiniest amounts will readily regenerate phenidone.
One other aspect of film performance photographers like to talk about is perceived sharpness and acutance. To do a proper quantitative analysis of sharpness and acutance, one would need very expensive instrumentation. What we can do, instead, is use words and pictorial examples to talk about sharpness.
What types of films, developers, and techniques have you guys seen to produce the most pronounced or pleasing sharpness and acutance effects?
The most comprehensive photography-focused (as opposed to sensitometry-focused) book on sharpness I can think of is Barry Thornton's Edge of Darkness (Amphoto Books, 2001), which I already mentioned in this thread. He devotes a considerable part of his book to describing various techniques that are meant to help photographers achieve the sharpest-looking prints possible. He says:
"There is a way to make acutance look even greater by use of enhanced edge effects. Metol has an especially useful characteristic to help this. When used in dilute form, at the edges of varying tone, it creates adjacency effects and sometimes forms what are known as Mackie lines." (p. 89)
Later, he goes on to add:
"The effect is particularly marked when the developer doesn't use a potassium bromide restrainer. It is a fact that P-Amidophenol developers like Rodinal are good at producing edge effects, but their grain is particularly pronounced." (p. 90)
His pursuit of sharpness and acutance had lead him to formulate his own developers, some of which are still in use today. I have also noticed some of these types of effects in my work, as I am sure a lot of you have, as well. The most pronounced effect I have ever come across has been in Pyrocat HD 1+1+200 using semi-stand agitation. The films most prone to this effect, I found, are Fujifilm Neopan 400, KODAK TRI-X 400, and KODAK T-MAX 400. I am sure other films would also produce this effect, but I haven't tested them.
Here's a recent photograph I took on TMY-2, processed in Pyrocat HD 1+1+200 for sixty minutes using semi-stand agitation (2 minutes continuous, followed by 30 minutes stand, 2 inversions at the half-point, followed by 30 minutes stand, using water stop bath, and Formulary TF-4 fixer). Pyrocat HD does include potassium bromide. I am not a chemist, and I wouldn't dare dispute Thornton's account.
I digitized the negative with my phone, inverted in Vuescan, with default settings for a generic negative, with no unsharp masking applied. I am not sure I like the effect, but there's no denying the fact that it does impart a particular character or mood, doesn't it?
TMY-2_400_PyrocatHD_60_semi-stand by Nick Mazur, on Flickr
Stand/semi-stand has been a controversial topic on this forum. I'll be uploading a video this weekend on the topic of semi-stand/full on stand development with Pyrocat-HD. I've been using this developer for 20 years, and occasionally employ this technique. I've never taken an in depth look into it until now. It was an eye opener for me and lets just say that I've made some changes as to how I approach it now.
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