Emulating Delta 3200 Film Look in Lightroom

I've been shooting real Ilford Delta 3200 film in my Leica M4-2 recently. I've been using it at live music events, and really like the look, especially shooting it at iso 1600 and developing it normally (at thedarkroom.com).

 

I've been interested in emulating that look with digital files, specifically with shots from my Leica M9, shot at iso 1600. Now that my M9 is back from Leica Service, I will likely carry the M9 and M4-2 together to some shows.

 

First, I decided to try the preset in Nik software's SilverEfex Pro. I didn't find it to be particularly comparable to my film results. So, I decided to work through adjustments in Lightroom 5 until I got something closer and save them as presets. I've now done that. Here's an example of a shot made with the M9 (at iso 200 in this case). The first version is what I would normally do to process this type of image from the M9 in black and white. The second is done using my Delta 3200 presets.

 

Charlie - "Normal" versus "Delta 3200" Versions, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 v.3 Lens

iso 200, f1.4, 1/125 sec.

 

For this particular shot, I strongly prefer the "Delta 3200" version.

 

I made two separate presets. Here are the adjustments I made in each.

 

Preset #1 - Delta 3200 Contrast Settings 

Contrast = +38

Clarity = +18

Preset #2 - Delta 3200 Grain and Sharpening Settings

Sharpening Amount +2

Sharpening Radius 0.7

Sharpening Detail 25

Sharpening Masking 0

NR Luminance 26

NR Detail 50

NR Contrast 0

Grain Amount 60

Grain Size 17

Roughness 94

 

I find it very interesting that adding this amount of grain and removing gray levels (in the form of increased contrast) can actually improve some images.

 

I hope others find the settings useful.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Dreaming in Monochrom(e) - High ISO Analog!

I've been playing around, using my Leica M4-2 film camera as a test to see if I really want a Leica Monochrom digital rangefinder. (Click Here) to read more about it.

 

I said at the outset that I understand that shooting black and white film in a Leica M4-2 has its limits in terms of emulating the amazing new Leica Monochrom digital black and white rangefinder. For example, the Monochrom is noted for its great performance at high iso settings.

 

Well, I decided to "push" (quite literally) the high iso limits of the M4-2 by push processing Kodak TMax 400 film to iso 1600. It was quite simple. I just shot at exposure settings for iso 1600 instead of 400, then instructed my favorite processor (The Darkroom, www.thedarkroom.com) to push the film two stops. This cost an extra $2 in processing costs. Pretty reasonable.

 

Here are some results from a concert I attended. I'll start with one of my favorite local performers, Melissa Wright and her band Mink:

 

 

Mink, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Kodak TMax 400 pushed to 1600

 

And a few more, these of the band Dry Mill Road:

 

 

 

Dry Mill Road, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Kodak TMax 400 pushed to 1600

 

All of these shots were made with my Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f1.5 and Leica Elmarit 90mm f2.8 lenses.

 

As you can see, the contrast is pretty high in these shots. They don't have the amazing dynamic range of the modern digital monochrome. But, the film grain is quite nicely controlled in my opinion. In fact, I think these look better than equivalent shots with my digital rangefinder Leica M9 would at iso 1600. I may have to do that comparison to further convince myself. Already this little project is teaching me something about how much I can do with film and the M4-2. I haven't pushed a roll of film in years, and I feel that it frees me up to take the M4-2 along for shooting musical events that I would have only really considered the Nikon D700 for in the past. I'm pleased with that.

 

I also want to continue to extend this, seeing how TMax 400 holds up at 3200 and maybe even 6400. I'm sure it will start to degrade significantly at 6400. But, I think I may be able to pull of 3200 with no real problem.

 

From what I understand, Kodak TMax 3200 is no longer being produced, but Ilford Delta 3200 is. I used the Ilford film in the past, but found the grain to be very high at 3200. I liked that film much better at 1600. Considering that the Ilford 3200 is more than twice the price of TMax 400, I'm not sure I have much motivation to give it another try, especially when I can get this type of performance from the TMax.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Kodak Tri-X Black and White Film - So Many of Us Grew Up On It

 

Image Source: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129450

 

The first roll of black and white film I ever shot and developed was most likely Kodak Tri-X asa 400. It was certainly the standard in my 6th grade middle school darkroom, and for the yearbook project. Tri-X was also the standard for the photojournalists of the time, and for a very long time.

 

For years, I bulk-loaded my own cassettes from 100' rolls. Those were the days. And that emotion seems to keep lots of people using Tri-X.

 

Personally, I have moved on to Kodak Tmax 400 as my standard film. Tmax has finer grain. But Tri-X does have a very special look to it.

 

John Bragg has started a post about how he just can't get Tri-X out of his system.

 

(Click Here) to read his post, and other users' comments on rangefinderforum

 

John should not be in any hurry to change. The shot above, shot on a Nikon FM2N and Vivitar 135mm lens leaves little to be desired.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com