Originally Posted by
paulr
The DR of black and white films is almost infinitely adjustable. A film like TMX can have a range of 2 or 3 stops with an extreme high contrast developer, 10 to 12 stops with normal development, to over 20 stops (1 : 1 million!) with an extreme low contrast, compensating developer like POTA.
The reason "normal" development means 10 or so stops dynamic range is that this has proven most useful for people most of the time--it's a convenient standard, not something inherent in the film itself.
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