Nick Masson
New member
Hey all,
I've recently decided to go back to shooting B&W film, and i've been brushing up on technique and theory since it has been so long since i've been in the darkroom etc... I was wondering if anybody could answer a question for me regarding contact sheets:
If a contact sheet is made on standard multi-grade paper, will the densities in the print be close enough to those in the negative that you can critically assess the quality of your negatives?
I've always used a contact print just to take a 'look' at the negatives. I know the best way to judge the quality of a negative (detail separation etc...) is to look at the negative itself, but I have a hard time inverting a negative in my head, and don't really feel inclined to practice to the point where i'm proficient. I would love to be able to just make a contact print of my negatives, and know that the silver emulsion densities in the print are very similar to those of the negative (or, I guess more precisely, the exact opposite); so that I can use a loupe to assess the quality of negatives (eg. compare negatives when bracketing etc...).
Thanks!
-NICK
I've recently decided to go back to shooting B&W film, and i've been brushing up on technique and theory since it has been so long since i've been in the darkroom etc... I was wondering if anybody could answer a question for me regarding contact sheets:
If a contact sheet is made on standard multi-grade paper, will the densities in the print be close enough to those in the negative that you can critically assess the quality of your negatives?
I've always used a contact print just to take a 'look' at the negatives. I know the best way to judge the quality of a negative (detail separation etc...) is to look at the negative itself, but I have a hard time inverting a negative in my head, and don't really feel inclined to practice to the point where i'm proficient. I would love to be able to just make a contact print of my negatives, and know that the silver emulsion densities in the print are very similar to those of the negative (or, I guess more precisely, the exact opposite); so that I can use a loupe to assess the quality of negatives (eg. compare negatives when bracketing etc...).
Thanks!
-NICK