Acros Dynamic Range

[Adam Kavalunas]

Hi guys,

I've tried searching here, and on the web but couldn't find what I was looking for. Maybe i'm not a good searcher.... Simple question: What's the DR for Acros? I typically just shoot Astia and then do a B&W conversion if I feel like the image might be a good candidate for B&W. But I recently bought a box of Acros and will actually be shooting scenes directly in B&W so I would like to know how much range I can expect to be able to capture. Thanks!

Adam Kavalunas
www.plateauvisions.com

[Kirk Keyes]

It's linear for a long way out past a normal exposure range.

Tell me how you determine DR and I'll see if I can get you a number from my tests with it.

[Adam Kavalunas]

Well, I usually can get about 4.5-5 stops from Astia. Meaning if I meter a scene and the brightest and darkest spots are roughly 5 stops apart, usually I can get detail in those sections without the highlights blowing out or shadows becoming black.

[Joanna Carter]

Using the Zone System, I got somewhere near 14 stops of range on this shot:



The highlights were the sky and the mantle on the gas lamp, the shadows are between the bottom of the desk and the chimney breast. There is s lot more detail in the original neg than can be put into a small web image.

[Robert Hughes]

Most impressive!

[Leigh]

Using the Zone System, I got somewhere near 14 stops of range on this shot

That's very nice, Joanna.

I suspect 4x5. Developer/time?

Thanks.

- Leigh

[Kirk Keyes]

As Joanna shows above, you've got a lot of exposure range with Acros to play with. Especially if you're used to shooting transparancies!

Jump in and get some Acros - it's a great film.

[Adam Kavalunas]

Wow 14 stops! From what I've gathered so far, most people are saying about 10 stops. Even at 10 thats double what I'm used to. Any other opinions out there? C'mon, I'm sure most of you have shot this film before. Thanks!

[Joanna Carter]

Wow 14 stops! From what I've gathered so far, most people are saying about 10 stops. Even at 10 thats double what I'm used to.

Certainly, 10-11 stops would be expected from most B&W films, not just Acros. Using the Zone System allows you to extend that and, at the othert end of the scale, it is possible to increase the contrast of a very flat 3-4 stop range shot to something more punchy.

[Joanna Carter]

That's very nice, Joanna.

I suspect 4x5. Developer/time?

Yes, definitely 4x5. The developer would have been Ilford DD-X, diluted 1+9 instead of the regular 1+4 @ 24°C for around 7 mins in a Jobo ATL1500, if I remember rightly.