Procedure for best quality print

[rick_strome]

I recently saw an exhibit of high quality landscape photos.

I asked the photogrqapher about his technique.

He said he shot slide film on medium format and then made an

internegative, then a print. I asked him why and he said the

internegative made better prints than direct prints from negative

film - it gives better shawdow detail and better color saturation. If

thats so, why don't they make internegative film so you can shoot

directly to it.

It would seem that you would be one generation closer to the final

print.

Does anyone know the answer to the above or is he mistaken?

Thanks, Rick

[steve_vancosin]

Perhaps you misunderstood him. Or he may have meant to say that the interneg made better prints than direct prints from SLIDE film. On the other hand, it is quite possible that he is just mistaken. Many photographers producing fabulous work hold untenable beliefs about the process.

[lightcraftsman]

Read this <a href="http://www.mountainlight.com/articles/op699.html">article</a> by Galen Rowell. It explains why internegatives are second-rate, and gives some background on how and why he switched to digital output.

[august_depner]

Steve's right. Each generation of negative is going to lose micro-contrast, hence detail, most noticable in the shadows. What this photographer was probably saying is that he liked the print quality of shooting slides then printing from an interneg, rather than shooting negatives, then printing from them. Why? If you were talking color slides, he might have liked the color saturation better in the slide film. He might have believed that the slides are sharper, less grainy and contrasty than the negative film. Or, again as Steve said, he may be half mad. Lots of photographers like that...

[alan_dale]

Many photographers shoot slide film because a) it (usually) gives

them a reasonably accurate record of the subject/scene color at the

time of exposure b) many publications prefer slide film for scans ...

an art show may be just a side line for your photographer and not his

bread and butter c) when you look at the costs of developing,

proofing, custom printing, slide film is cost competi

[robert_adams]

It has been my experience that using an interneg degrades the quality of the finished product by deminishing detail in many ways, which I'm sure you are aware. I would guess that there was a miscommunication involved which caused the confusion. I have had fine results using slide film and printing without an interneg. Each film has its own characteristics, I would recommend experimenting with a wide variety of films to determine which one gives you the results you need. There is no easy answer to this question.

[scott_eaton]

Pretty sure this is a misunderstanding.

 

Many commercial pros shoot only slide film for reproduction purposes, then are stuck with the limited reproduction chain of a slide.

 

I did custom print work for a commercial lab for several years and made internegatives quite often. I was also forced into making direct prints from slides (Ilfochromes) and disagree with the posts above in that about 75% of the time the interneg on 4x5 film, if properly done, looked better. Landscapes especially since they typically have such high dynamic range.

 

There is a rule here than commercial photographers often ignore: if you want prints shoot negs, if you want slides shoot chrome film. In all ways, shapes, and forms an interneg is much inferior to shooting neg film in the first place.

[jlkphoto]

I've always heard the same thing...negs for prints, etc., however, I wonder what makes more sense these days if the print is coming from a scan of the original? In other words, if my intention is to end up with a 16x20 print from a PROFESSIONALLY drum-scanned original, should that original be a negative or a chrome for the highest quality print?

[scott_eaton]

No question that a slide is MUCH easier to scan than a neg, there fore it's a logical conclusion that slides deliver better high end scans than negs on a consistent basis. It takes a really savy drum operator to extract all the dynamic information from a neg and know how to preserve the contrast range. Once the playing field becomes equal it becomes a matter of personal preference.

 

It's a little ironic that the paper of choice for digital printers like the famous Light Jet 5000 is Fuji type "C".