MGIV designed for T-gain films, rumor?

brian steinberger said:

Wow, I learned something in this thread. Thanks so much guys! It's interesting that some people get so stuck on film curves, with straight line curves and shoulders, etc. It seems that with any film properly exposed and developed you would put the SBR on the straight line of the curve, that film type wouldn't matter, except for maybe some mirco-contrast along the curve.

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As far as generic exposure goes for negative films, it really is almost that automatic, but we haven't dealt with all the variables yet.

Different films do have different qualities/looks/micro contrast rates/grain structures.

For example extra exposure (beyond what's needed to get on the straight line) with traditional B&W films will normally increase grain in the highlights. With that same extra exposure on C-41 film grain is actually reduced in the shadows instead.

Also part of the obsession with curves and +/- development is "easier printing", less work at the enlarger. Those placement choices though, are totally subjective. To be useful you have to know what you want/what to expect before you snap the shutter.

On an overcast day N+ is can be nice, same idea for night/indoor scenes at N+2. This is because there's not enough contrast in the scene to fill the curves.

In full sun N or N- might be a better choice to "translate" the scene to the paper.

brian steinberger said:

And the toe comes into play with a film much faster without proper exposure then the shoulder does with extreme over-exposure or over development. Am I correct?

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Yes, significant underexposure is a true sin and you will be punished for that sin. (Unless of course, it was done on purpose, for effect.)

I missed the overdevelopment part of your "is that correct" statement.

If enlarger exposure is "fixed" to say, place skin tones at a specific brightness in a portrait, then excessive/extra development (contraction) of the film will push both highlight and shadow detail off a paper's curve when compared to a normally developed negative. You may also get more grain.

You could adjust the "height of Ralph's box" by changing to softer paper grade (box gets taller) and get that detail back, but you would be "stuck" with the extra grain.

The question becomes subjective, do you want more grain?

vpwphoto said:

Sure... I use a meter and do write down my times/temp etc for most rolls.
I like Jazz and I do photography that way too....
I used to wrtie down how I made prints but never found that stuff useful years later... Fred Picker ruined photography for me so I went back to my free form ways....

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That's cool.

Showing personality in our photos is important.