How large can 35mm... continuted

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Leica Photography : One Thread

Gentlemen , thank you for the feedback. Before spending the $$ for an enlargement, how best can I scrutinze for sharpness my 4x6 print to be enlargened? Under magnifying-glass, it looks pretty sharp.

-- Jim Ford (anniejim@dellnet.com), October 19, 2000

Answers

Jim,

Rather than looking at the print to judge sharpness, you need to examine the actual negative. Use a light box to trans-illuminate the negative, and use a high quality loupe to check for sharpness. I gave up on loupes and for years have used my 50mm Summicron M. Holding it with the rear facing the negative and your eye looking through the front, this six element lens is very sharp. True, you can't see the entire image at a glance, but as far as checking those tiny details, it is hard to beat this.

Look for things that stand out... tree limbs against the sky, or if portraiture... the eyes.

One other thing... If after you use the best equipment and sound shooting technique, don't economize on this last step. A cheap lab might have a good price, but your outstanding Leica glass can be neutralized by a poorly equipped lab. I've bit the bullet at pro labs, and paid for it, but long after the expense is forgotten... the print remains, and it was worth it. By the way, I have 11 x 14 inch prints from ISO 400 color print film that would have put photos with 100 ISO (ASA) film from 15 or 20 years ago to shame. The advances in color print film have been great.

Good Luck!

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), October 19, 2000.


I'm glad Al mentioned the fact that with big enlargements, cheap almost never equals good. I had a few shots from Yosemite I took early in the morning that turned out really nice. I have a 10X magnifier, and the details was razor sharp with the lube. I sent the negs out to Fuji for some 24 X 30's, and they came back awful. They were soft, highlights were washed out, etc. I refused the work and took the negs to a custom lab. $60 bought me a custom hand done 24 X 32 on Fuji Exhibition Gloss paper that floored me. It didn't even look like the print was made from the same negative as the pathetic prints done by machine at Fuji, as the sharpness, color saturation, and highlight details were all there. The prints hang in my house now and I enjoy them every day.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), October 19, 2000.

I routinely have 20 x 30 and the smaller sizes,11 x 14,16 x 20 etc prints made from 35mm.I mainly use Agfa 400 HDC and Fuji 100 and Kodak 100 Gold.There is very little difference between these films.One of my clients(without permission) made a projection print digitaly from a print.It was about 15 x 20 feet !!!!!I was both mad and very impressed !They made up by good re-orders and many leads.So it paid to shut up!So go ahead and blow your stuff up!Find a good but reasonable Pro lab.Here in Southern California,Orange County,Irvine its Pro -Connection.

-- jason gold (jason1155234@webtv.net), October 20, 2000.

Tony is right. How large an enlargement can be made depend very much on the viwing distance.

The rule of thumb is 8" per one foot. If you view the picture at 1 foot, you can only enlarged it to 8" from a good 35mm negative, 2 feet< 16x20, 3 feet 24x 36". If you view it from 2 yards, you can enlarge it to 48x72"

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), October 20, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ