A few years ago, I made a note as a potential blog topic which asked the question, “Does a 12 megapixel image of a 35 mm negative make a better digital print than a 12 megapixel image of a 4x5 negative?” I think I have come up with an answer that doesn’t make me happy.
My answer is “No.”
I have been working on projects that span the length of my photographic career. I have digitized 35 mm, 645, 4x5 and 5x7 format black and white film negatives. These film negatives produced original prints which each had their own distinct “look.” When I made prints from the digital files, the unique look of each format disappeared. Digitization visually homogenized each of the negatives to a common digital look that we have come to expect from contemporary photography.
As part of the project, I captioned each image with the date and location because the images were created over multiple decades and locations. It might seem like I was grandstanding on the pursuit of this subject matter, but because the images had such a visual consistency because of the software treatment I thought the captions would demonstrate the dedication to a long term project.
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