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Kodachrome is a good choice because it could (practically) only be developed one way. With other films, you introduce more variables which will affect grain (actually, color film has clouds, not grain), perceived sharpness and color.I think I'll take a snooze. Another film vs digital thread...? really? in 2024? I thought we were done with that in 2005.
Since Kodachrome II is ancient history - discontinued in 1974 - using it as a resolution comparator seems pretty silly. Why not pick some available film that people might actually be using now?
All I can tell you is that the 50 Mpixel digital files produced by my Hasseblad CFVII 50c demonstrate results that make my previous fifty years of shooting 6x6 with Rolleiflex and Hasselblad cameras look somewhat less than spectacular, and the new Hasselblad CFV 100c is considered to be above and beyond that watermark.
That's somewhat true (just because the film could only be processed with the standard Kodak processing machinery doesn't mean that every exposure is entirely consistent; Kodak's processing machiney had its own variability as well...), but the film is fifty years out of production, and any transparencies made with it are also ancient. Time degrades all physical media. So unless you are working from a theoretical case of what it once looked like, trying to do a comparison between a Kodachrome II exposure and a properly captured, properly rendered modern digital image is mostly a toss up as to what one is trying to make a decision about.Kodachrome is a good choice because it could (practically) only be developed one way. With other films, you introduce more variables which will affect grain (actually, color film has clouds, not grain), perceived sharpness and color.
A Kodachrome slide has a good chance of not degrading much with time, since it can only be viewed on a light table or projected. Unless it has been left out in open light, it will have spent most of its time away from light, heat and moisture.That's somewhat true (just because the film could only be processed with the standard Kodak processing machinery doesn't mean that every exposure is entirely consistent; Kodak's processing machiney had its own variability as well...), but the film is fifty years out of production, and any transparencies made with it are also ancient. Time degrades all physical media. So unless you are working from a theoretical case of what it once looked like, trying to do a comparison between a Kodachrome II exposure and a properly captured, properly rendered modern digital image is mostly a toss up as to what one is trying to make a decision about.
This whole film vs digital stuff is always a deep deep rathole of ambiguity and emotion.
G
12 bits is for Chrome films (although 12 bits is a little generous in my poor memory) which are by design very contrasty as they are optimized for projection. Negative films had more DR (or stops).This is an other story, but only a 12 bits DR for films ? I always thought it was more, but never tried to measure it !
How would that aging affect resolution? Do the dye clouds expand or contract?I have tons of Kodachrome slides from as far back as 1968. They've all been stored in archival boxes, not in hot or humid places, etc. Many have shifted color a bit, at least as far as my memory is concerned. They still look good, but they're not the same as I remember them when I first had them processed.
No gelatin-film material is 100% stable. It ages no matter what you do, and the aging process inevitably brings change. I have big reservations about using any of it as a "resolution and color reference" unless it is fresh stock and freshly processed on a clean and well calibrated machine. That hasn't happened for Kodachrome II for at least 45 years.
Molecules also break down and degrade over time- changing their refractionHow would that aging affect resolution? Do the dye clouds expand or contract?
So does just about everything, like the media used to record and store digital images.Molecules also break down and degrade over time- changing their refraction
I think the expression coined is 'digital rot'...So does just about everything, like the media used to record and store digital images.
But we can store multiple bit-identical copies of the “digital negative”.So does just about everything, like the media used to record and store digital images.