Full-Frame Delayed Digital Capture

As much as I am a fan of the Olympus 4/3 system, there are times when the cropped-sensor is bothersome. Wide-angle shots, shift-lenses, bokeh and even pixel-density are issues. Of course, there are a few of us fume-breathers that maintain B&W darkrooms.

My solution is to utilize my legacy equipment and utilize the latest technologies and techniques in making it viable in today's workflow. The two cameras pictured here, the Olympus IS-3 and the OM-2S have been in my stable for a long time. The OM-2S was my first SLR which I purchased in 1986 and the IS-3 was purchased to replace a stolen IS-1 in the late '90s.

For years I primarily shot Fujichrome Velvia and Provia while using the Kodak professional print films for portraiture and wedding work. When Portra came out, I immediately adopted it and found 160NC and 400NC to my liking. Prior to the digital workflow, the VC films were too contrasty and saturated and I'd lose too much shadow and highlight detail in the proof prints. Kodak, however, has now revised the Portra films to scan better and work better in a digital workflow.

I have tested the new Portra films, and I believe what Kodak has promised, Kodak had delivered. The film is supurb. The NC films are very close to the color and tonality of my E-1 using Saturation CS2. The VC films are closer to CS3.

I scan the film using a Nikon Coolscan V-ED. If I shot primarily film, I would definitely invest in the 5000 with the roll-film adaptor. As it is, I can scan in strips of five and the Nikon scanning software is excellent and simplifies the workflow tremendously. It is no problem, whatsoever, to scan the negs straight to JPEGs that fit in with images digital camera images converted from RAW files.

I call this entire process "Delayed Digital Capture". The end result is still a digital image file, it's just that the file isn't created at the moment of exposure. The results speak for themselves. Instead of investing in a brand-new Full-Frame Digital camera from Canon and needing to reinvest in new lenses, I am able to slightly increase my per-shot incremental costs but as these photographs are almost always taken in conjunction with my regular digital-camera images, the wastage is low. Digital cameras are preferred most of the time, but for a certain percentage of my work, film has advantages.

I will continue this hybrid approach for a while yet. Both of my film cameras have advantages over any digital camera system and they still work well. Oh, and they have saved me untold thousands of dollars for capabilities that I rarely need.