Hi, here's a quick list i developed over the years with info i took around the web, from non scientific test i have done, and from my scanman experience when i scanned negs with my Imacon. Im not stating that this is THE real truth on how to get the same film dynamic range, but let see it as a staring point to get nice BW, when you also use indeed after level, curve, mask and all the other Ps tool. Since Ps CS3 now offer a BW tool, some people prefered to use it instead of the channel mixer for many reason..i like to use channel mixer personnaly. Your comment are always a pleasure : ) have fun. Use them with channel mixer red-green-blue. In monochrome mode. *IN CASE OF* I know that those number are not taking care of the water temperature, the bacterie in the water, the chemical, the plastic and the planet alignement..they are provide as a starter point to get pleasing BW, or i must say to *simulate* a BW look on a digital file. I know before someone fanatic pop's in that digital BW is not the same as tradional BW. Those number are simple there to HELP achieve a starting look, you should forget about teh kind of film they *mimic* just use them as a simple reference only. For those of you that like the BW tool in CS3, i have developed some preset that worked well for me, feel free to send me a email to get them. Agfa 200X: 18,41,41 Agfapan 25: 25,39,36 Agfapan 100: 21,40,39 Agfapan 400: 20,41,39 Ilford Delta 100: 21,42,37 Ilford Delta 400: 22,42,36 Ilford Delta 400 Pro & 3200: 31,36,33 Ilford FP4: 28,41,31 Ilford HP5: 23,37,40 Ilford Pan F: 33,36,31 Ilford SFX: 36,31,33 Ilford XP2 Super: 21,42,37 Kodak Tmax 100: 24,37,39 Kodak Tmax 400: 27,36,37 Kodak Tri-X: 25,35,40 And these basic ones: Normal Contrast: 43,33,30 High Contrast: 40,34,60 and at last a generic BW: 24,68,8. 50,50,0 25,75,0. PATRICK LAVOIE
I still use channel mixer, too. It has enough control that I always go back to it after trying the new B&W tool. That being said, I gave up on digital b&w and went back to film. ;-) I spent 4 hours in a rental darkroom last night and even with my absolutely crappy skills in traditional printing am thrilled with the results compared to my years of trying to get a nice digital b&w print.