I've been reading and learning about exposure in regards to B&W film and pape rs. Most of the material I have read explains that an average scene will have a tonal range of about 128:1 which represents a log range of about 2.1. Furthermo re when you take in to account that lens flare can reduce this range by a factor of two (or more), you may be actually dealing with a range of 64:1. This would give you a log range of about 1.8 which now must be recorded onto your B&W film.
From the books that I have read and have been using as a reference has lead m e to the conclusion that the film would now compress this image down to about a 32:1 range. This is somewhere about a 1.3 log scale range or in that range. Now as we go to the printing phase the enlargement can be expanded on glossy paper to 128:1 range if everything is working extremely well but most times we are for tunate to get past a 100:1 print.
Now my question is...If there is such a high compression from the beginning image until the negative then how come many people agree " that a 8x10 negative contact printed has a much better tonal range than an enlargement" ? Would not a contact print be just as limited in range as an enlargment because the compres sion/expansion is controlled by the material involved in the total process ?
Thanks in advance, GreyWolf
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