P3D Re: Digital vs. Film

[Robert Thorpe <thorpe@xxxxxxxx>]

nathan kreuter wrote:
> 
> Robert Thorpe mentioned in a post on 11/5/99 that digital photography could
> potentially be used to replace traditional film systems.

I didn't do this because I am any kind of digital devotee or anything. I
think
most of us are agreed that digital doesn't quite cut it yet. But
advances
are being made and it is best to keep up with them. I can imagine all
those
early dequerrotypers who had the advantage of molecular level
resoulution
bemoaning the fact that enlargements made from negatives could never
keep 
the kind of clarity that they adored. It would be sad if SUBSTANDARD
digital
photography replaced regular photography but if advances in digital 
continue at the current rate, in the not too distant future there may be
even better products than the traditional photo products of today. How 
about a fisheye camera that imaged to a hemispherical photo receptor at 
such resolution that you didn't need telephotos, you just blew up a
small
portion of the image as much as you wanted.

I just got back a set of prints of my niece. My brother sent me a series
of
small, wallet sized photos, the kind they have when they take pictures
at school in the fall. I took all the pictures and scanned them at about
400 dpi plus or minus. I enlarged the pictures so the faces were all the
same size and cropped them. Then I resampled them so they all had a
uniform
resolution of 300 dpi for a 2" by 3" portrait. I fiddled the levels so
they
all looked uniformly exposed then I assembled them 4 up to make a 4x6 
print. I took them to the photo store on a zip disk and had them run out 
on their Agfa DPU (Digital Printing Unit). The prints are almost
perfect.
They are a little soft, and if you put your mind to it, you CAN make out
some low level pixelation, but the average Joe will never see it. All
this
for 60 cents a print. It ain't there yet but it's comin' close.

======================
Robert Thorpe
Cedar Rapids, IA
thorpe@xxxxxxxx
http://www.skep.com