Digital camera for digital negatives

[dwross]

Hi All

I'll start right out with an apology if this is an old question that has been answered many times. I haven't been following this exact topic before, so who knows what I have missed.

Question: How do digital negatives from a digital camera compare to digital negs produced from scanned film? I am very happy with the negatives I make (Pictorico OHP) from 120 film and a Nikon 9000. The problem: I want to photograph in really wretched (i.e. totally cool) weather on the Oregon Coast. Salt, water, sand. Very hard on my precious, irreplaceable old friends. I have been considering a Pentax K10 for the camera-hostile shoots. If I mix those images with ones from scanned film, will they stick out like a sore thumb? (please don't tell me that they will be better. The Nikon 9000 is still on my credit card :-)

Thanks for any words of advise.
Denise

[jd callow]

here is an example of a Digital capture; Digital neg; Pd print. I think it is outstanding...

[Joe Lipka]

I have done both in the same project. I have scanned 4x5 negatives and converted them to 8x10 digital negatives. I have made 8x10 digital negatives from my Fuji S7000. I printed them in pt/pd and showed them to experienced alt process printers. They could not distinguish between the film scanned 4x5 and digital capture prints.

DW - I have photographed on the Oregon Coast with both view cameras and digital cameras. In the rapidly changing weather. I wouldn't worry about the weather on your cameras too much. The advantage of digital is that it is so much quicker to handle.

[dwross]

JD and Joe,

Thanks for the encouraging comments. JD: your portrait is lovely.

Joe: I agree with you on view cameras. I've used my old Speed Graphic many times while up to my waist in surf.
http://dwrphotos.com/Portfolio8/TurningTide/Image36.htm
Just bring her home and clean her up. I'm not so sanguine about my Fuji 120 rangefinders and I can't scan 4x5 film. But, since I don't plan on making digital negatives as large as you do, I'll assume that all will be well. Now... it sounds like it's time to buck up and learn yet another new workflow. I hope there's no truth to the rumor that cramming in too much digital will make your brain explode!

[tom_micklin]

Now... it sounds like it's time to buck up and learn yet another new workflow. I hope there's no truth to the rumor that cramming in too much digital will make your brain explode!

Hi Denise,
If my brain has exploded from cramming it with too much digital, I haven't noticed.
I make Pictorico negs from both scanned film and digital files.
I think that once you establish your workflow with digital, you'll find that it really doesn't matter how the image was captured.
I work with RAW files and scan film from 120 to 8x10 and print about 9x12 inches for either Kallitypes or Bromoils.


Have fun,
Tom

[dwross]

Hi Tom:

Good to hear my brain is safe (although I'm sure I heard a circuit pop this morning!)

btw: Do you know the straight scoop on megapixels? How much is enough (and then some) for a 4x4 or 4x6 digital negative?

Denise

[jd callow]

Thanks for the encouraging comments. JD: your portrait is lovely.

The portrait is df cardwell's -- I'd love to claim it as my own.

[dwross]

The portrait is df cardwell's -- I'd love to claim it as my own.

So would I. My apologies (and congratulations to df cardwell. It is a lovely portrait.

[gr82bart]

Should be no different (don't tell the folks at APUG I said that ... shhh). I use a D2X to make images, as well as my Hassey and scanned. Images taken by either camera printed out on a Lambda or at Wal-Mart look fine. So, I suspect a digital neg would be fine too.

Regards, Art.

[jd callow]

The limiting factor will be resolution. A 6-20 mega pixel digital capture is unlikely to enlarge as nicely as 80 mega pixel or higher scan of a piece of film. The two (camera mega pixel and scan size) are not interchangeable. The camera capture will often look better and be more 'enlargeable' than a scan at the same size. On the flip side you can generally up the res on the scan, whereas the camera reaches its limit much more quickly.