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It seems from other threads that quite a few working in B&W digitally use Silver Efex plug-in or others that do similar things.
Silver Efex, and I think other plug-ins too, have film equivalent presets that aim to emulate particular films (e.g Ilford FP4, Kodak TMax etc.).
Do you use them and do you think they effectively reproduce the quality of the film? And why do they include them?
Quote: Do you use them and do you think they effectively reproduce the quality of the film?
Yes.
Quote: And why do they include them?
For artistic interpretation purposes - i.e fine-tune the effect to your personal preferences.
Do you use particular films that you like or used in the past, or just look for one that suits your subject?
With the digitally-derived stuff I choose that which suits the subject best IMO Brett. The presets in Silver FX are just that - presets that, in the manufacturers eyes (literally), define the character of the specific film-stock.
All the parameters are variable allowing personal taste to be applied to the digital image just as one could throughout the film development process (which developer/temperature/time et al) and then onto the print process - where a whole new batch of parameters can be applied. ()
What you say is perfectly sensible, Mike.
I suppose one thing I wondered was whether they are designed for those familiar with film, so that they can get the effect they used to get. Many newer photographers will have little experience across a range of film types and the names of the presets will be meaningless to them - and I suspect a number of film users stick with a few favourite films. Is there an assumption that a lot of B&W photography, even when purely digital, has its roots in film.
Other than that, I just wondered how much use people made of them.
Quote: Is there an assumption that a lot of B&W photography, even when purely digital, has its roots in film.
To a large degree I would have thought so Brett.
My 18yr-old is sweating on his Photography A-level results and his course contained a lot of references to film-based media so the idea of film being 'alien' to a (digital) camera user is still a little way-off in the future I feel - certainly all the time that the names of photographers such as Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams et all are still used in everyday conversation.
I think it's a fair statement that there is a 'quality' to film-derived images that is missing from a digitally-derived image of the same subject taken at the same time. Digital tends to be 'too clean' IMO and packages such as Silver FX (and that excellent colour-related package from Alien Skin which emulates Kodachrome 25 beeeyooootifully!) allow the digital-era to capture some of that 'analogue' look that film undoubtedly had/has.
Quote: allow the digital-era to capture some of that 'analogue' look that film undoubtedly had/has
I agree - I think it's sometimes easy to overdo it, but I supposed there is something 'crafted' I am trying to get into the look of my shots.
Quote: I think it's sometimes easy to overdo it
Undoubtedly Brett - almost without question.
But... () I feel one has to have 'been there' (so-to-speak) so as to be able to apply the right amount of digital manipulation to emulate that 'analogue feel' to a digitally-derived image such that it succeeds.
And that's the bit I love.
Quote: And that's the bit I love.
Absolutely. That is the satisfaction of the process.
I think the only element we miss about this on ePz itself is being able to experience the quality of a good B&W print. 
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