8x10 color negatives.....and big prints.

[BradS]

Is there any advantage to shooting 8x10?
Before you scream the obvious, hold on...hear me out...

If I want to shoot color and not chromes, and I want big prints....say, 24X30 inches....

and if we recognize the modern reality involves scanning the negative and making a light jet or, worse, an ink jet print....

What is the point of shooting 8x10? Wouldn't 4x5 be adequate?

Wouldn't a finely crafted real print froma 4x5 negative be equal to or better than an ink jet from an 8x10?

Does any pro lab make real color prints from 8x10 color negatives? Or do they all scan and injet?

[Nathan Potter]

The answer resides in the quality of the color negative and how fussy you are about the print. Certainly a 4X5 color neg carefully exposed can yield an outstanding 24X 30 inch print but not quite the quality you'd get from an equally carefully exposed 8X10 neg.

The quality of a large 24 X 30 inch print really depends on the care taken at every step,
from negative generation and development to scanning to photoshop to print. Don't denigrate inkjets, when masterfully executed they can be brilliant and of top museum exhibition quality. Color prints can be made from 4X5 and 8X10 color negatives using an enlarger or digital printer using Fuji Crystal Archive paper with CP-40FA or the common RA-4 process; many labs do this albeit a diminishing number.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Mike1234]

There's been some banter about fully analog processes vs. hybrid somewhere on the APUG.org forum. I've yet to test this myself but there is some possibility that you are correct. A fully analog print from an excellent 4x5 neg may be as good as or better than a hybrid print from an excellent 8x10 neg regarding overall sharpness and detail.

[vinny]

There's another thread with the "is 8x10 better" question going on here very recently. A search should bring up plenty of threads on it. Bottom line, most of the members here are old gray-haired fellas that can't see well enough to focus and 8x10. Shoot some 8x10, get it printed, see for yourself why it's worth $11/sheet.

[bob carnie]

Last time I looked there was less grey and more landing pad.

There's another thread with the "is 8x10 better" question going on here very recently. A search should bring up plenty of threads on it. Bottom line, most of the members here are old gray-haired fellas that can't see well enough to focus and 8x10. Shoot some 8x10, get it printed, see for yourself why it's worth $11/sheet.

[Drew Wiley]

I optically print 8x10 negs and chromes directly onto paper, and yes, there is a real
quality difference from 4x5, though it's not readily apparent in most cases unless you
are printing larger than 20x24. With digital printing methods, however, the size print
you are contemplating would probably not make much difference, since extreme detail
cannot be resolved this way, and potential contrast and saturation loss can easily be
corrected in Photoshop. 8X10 is obviously much more expensive to shoot and scan,
but I personally prefer it to 4x5.

[BradS]

I optically print 8x10 negs and chromes directly onto paper, and yes, there is a real
quality difference from 4x5, though it's not readily apparent in most cases unless you
are printing larger than 20x24. With digital printing methods, however, the size print
you are contemplating would probably not make much difference, since extreme detail
cannot be resolved this way, and potential contrast and saturation loss can easily be
corrected in Photoshop. 8X10 is obviously much more expensive to shoot and scan,
but I personally prefer it to 4x5.

Drew, Do I understand correctly...you projection print (or, contact print?) 8x10 color negs?
...here in the Bay area????

[Mike1234]

The OP asked the quality difference between 24x30" FULLY ANALOG prints made from 4x5" negs vs. HYBRID prints made from 8x10" negs.

He's asking if there is a loss in quality in the scanning process that degrades the quality of 8x10 enough to stay with fully analog 4x5 instead.

[D. Bryant]

The OP asked the quality difference between 24x30" FULLY ANALOG prints made from 4x5" negs vs. HYBRID prints made from 8x10" negs.

He's asking if there is a loss in quality in the scanning process that degrades the quality of 8x10 enough to stay with fully analog 4x5 instead.

The unequivocal answer is YES, with both analog and digital printing. Side by side comparisons of 4x5 and 8x10 printed in identical methods will clearly show the increase in resolution from 8x10, all other things being equal.

If someone is not seeing the difference then they are doing something wrong somewhere. And I would also state there is almost as much difference when comparing 4x5 to 5x7 or 5x8.

Don Bryant

[Mike1234]

[4x5 FULL ANALOG] vs. [8x10 HYBRID]

DIFFERENT printing methods.

I suspect the OP can print 4x5 analog but has no way to print 8x10 analog.