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Great stuff Nick! I did not know about the "difficulty" with highlight contrast and VC paper...reference? You are telling us that VC paper cannot provide prints that adequately provide the highlight contrast that is captured by the negative? So, will our printing results generally improve if graded paper is used? Of course, with the use of graded papers the techniques that one uses to expose and properly develop film assume greater importance, adn there is much less latitude for error. Moreover, subtle changes in contrast depend upon changes in developers ( and other techniques ) rather then simply using another combination of filters.
Thus, the negatives obviously must capture the highlights correctly for them to be printed on graded paper. As a corollary, to repeat your assertion, even IF the highlights ARE captured correctly on film such highlights will not print properly on VC paper. Right? Do Pyro developed negatives ( in discussion on another thread already ) aid one in capturing highlight contrast on the enlarging paper? Indeed, do Pyro developed negatives capture greater highlight contrast at all?
Can the Meese text still be found? I do have that wonderful Richard Henry book on Controls in Black and White Photography...a great introduction to the technical aspect of film and paper, but understandable even by non physicists and engineers.
Should the discussion of VC paper and highlight resolution be moved to another thread?
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 Originally Posted by Chazzy
This thread has so confused me that I'm quite sure I have no business using either product.
They both have very simplified "PHD" (Push Here Dummy) functionality.
But you do bring up a good point. The idea behind F-stop printing is to simplify our lives. Following this thread, it seems like F-stop printing is one of the most complex and laborious things you can do.
The reality is, figuring these timers out is pretty easy, but the manuals are necessary at first.
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Originally Posted by Ken N
The idea behind F-stop printing is to simplify our lives. Following this thread, it seems like F-stop printing is one of the most complex and laborious things you can do.
Hmmm...
But an f-stop timer has simplified your life, hasn't it?
An understanding of tone reproduction isn't required to use either timer. They carry through the original 'push the button and we do the rest' paradigm that started modern photography. It's the discussion of what the rest is that gets done behind the scenes that scares people.
All of the gory digressions, of which I am most guilty, also apply without f-stop printing. If tone reproduction doesn't interest you then skip the whole wretched mess - the physics of it are independent of how you set the exposure. If tone reproduction does interest you, then working in stops from beginning to end makes life simpler.
Even pursuing photography on a strictly 'artistic' plane is easier if you use stops all the way through. After all, you are already using stops for exposure time every time you click the shutter speed dial - to use stops when timing a print simply requires forgetting.
It's like everything in life: You can cook a duck without any understanding of Maillard reactions; OTOH, a perusal of them shows just why it is a good idea to apply a sweet glaze before cooking if your goal is a lovely crisp browned skin.
Last edited by Nicholas Lindan; 03-03-2009 at 09:49 PM.
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Now Nick...you are having fun with this group...the Maillard reaction to cook the Mallard...the amino and the carbonyl, groupies in taste. Enough of this thread.
To repeat, both timers are great....
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Nicholas wrote:
"But an f-stop timer has simplified your life, hasn't it?"
I'm not so sure about that. Simplified? No. Made more productive with fewer errors? Yes.
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Well, I got my DA timer in the mail yesterday. I was so excited I popped it out of the box, plugged it in, and started fiddling around with it. BAD IDEA. I am not a patient person, but I finally sat down and read the manual (even though I already did about 5 times before I got it). I have about 50 contact prints to catch up on, so I set to work, and by about the 5th print I had the test strip printing all sorted out. Once I figured it out, the timer was a dream. I really like the buttons on it too, they're fun to push. The display can be a little cryptic at times, but I kept the manual right next to the timer and honestly now that I know what is what, I don't really need it anymore. So all in all, I'm very happy, making 50 contact prints is a lot less daunting now because everything goes so much faster and smoother. I haven't gotten into any fancy split grade printing or dodging and burning yet, but it doesn't seem like it will be too difficult.
Best, Laura
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