Lens question(s)

[Michael Lloyd]

There is something about an image that has been printed (wet darkroom) from film that looks different to me. Even a scanned print has a different look. There has to be more than dots per inch going on...

[Leigh]

Other than massive file size, whats the downside to using the max resolution of an Epson v700 (ie 6400 dpi) or even 2400 dpi?

I use a V750 to scan 4x5 and 8x10. I've tried all of the available native (non-manipulated) resolutions.

I don't see any improvement at higher scan densities on Acros (4x5) or Ilford FP4+ (8x10) that warrants the larger file size.
Results with color film or chromes might be different.

- Leigh

[Leigh]

There is something about an image that has been printed (wet darkroom) from film that looks different to me. Even a scanned print has a different look. There has to be more than dots per inch going on...

Certainly there is. I do both wet and digital. There definitely is a difference.

I prefer wet work for anything of significance. Shots that are just editorial or "for the record" can be done digital.

- Leigh

[Leonard Evens]

The resolution of a lens, i.e., its capability to resolve fine detail, is related to the format it is expected to be used with. It should be high enough to yield an acceptable print of a given size after enlargement. Say you are going to produce an 8 x 10 print to be viewed from about 10-12 inches. You will have to enlarge a 35 mm image about 8 X, a 4 x 5 image about 2 X and an 8 x 10 image not at all. So that means that lenses for larger formats need not resolve as much detail as lenses for smaller formats. On the other hand, a lens must be able to render fine detail over the entire intended format. This is a much larger area for a large format lens than for a small format lens. In addition, lenses for view cameras must render adequate detail over an image circle larger than the diagonal of the format to allow for rise/ fall and shifts.

The upshot is that you would normally want to use a lens designed for the format you are using. Were you to use a lens designed for 8 x 10 with a 4 x 5 format, you would expect to lose some fine detail compared to using a lens designed for 4 x 5 since the 4 x 5 lens doesn't need to provided fine detail over as large an area. However, in practice most lenses designed for 8 x 10 will do well enough when used with 4 x 5 format. On the other hand, were you to try to use a lens designed for 8 x 10 or 4 x 5 with a 35 mm format, you would probably be very disappointed in the quality of a reasonable sized print. You would have to enlarge the image so much more. Although the larger format lens provides detail over a much larger area, it is not expected that its images are going to be enlarged nearly as much. Similarly, if you used a lens designed for small format with a large format, you would find excellent results in the center of your enlargement, but very poor results elsewhere. It probably would not even cover the entire format. You would see a circular disk with some sort of image in it and outside it just black.

Finally, as others have pointed out, focal length of the lens is related to its intended use for an intended format. A 150 mm lens is considered a normal lens for 4 x5, but would be a wide angle lens for 8 x 10 and a long lens for 35 mm.