On 29 Sep 2003, Ted Gould wrote:

> On Mon, 2003-09-29 at 19:27, Bob Holtzman wrote:
> > 
> > I would like to make one point: if you underexpose negative film, color or 
> > black and white, you lose some shadow detail and *no* printer can save it.
> > I'd like to know how adjusting levels can compensate for this.
> 
> The short answer is, it can't.  The one advantage that you have in
> digital photography is that you don't have to make the transfer linear -
> you can do some pretty weird curves that would be impossible in film. 
> But, you still loose data - you can never recreate data that you didn't
> get - it's a sad reality.  About the only thing you can do is make it
> look better to the viewer of the picture.

Now *that* interests me! I just might break down and try it. It would be 
nice if I had a few kilobucks for a digital 4x5 back...sigh. 

> The other response is: if it looks better for most people, who cares? ;)

If I'm the "people" I care.

-- 
Bob Holtzman
"A man is a man who will fight with a sword,
 Or tackle Mount Everest in snow;
 But the bravest of all owns a '34 Ford,
 Who will try for six thousand in low!"
                          Roger Huntington