Film Grain v Digital Grain (Monochrome)

LennyBloke · 2023-04-21T09:28:29+0100

There is often talk about film v digital and the different 'look' that they produce - but I wonder how much of this down to our own nostalgic memories (certainly true in my case) and whether that 'look' is actually achievable with Monochrome digital images? The first part of the problem is that we have become accustomed to viewing our images on a screen, and these vary in definition, quality, tonal range, etc. but no matter how good a screen is, it is not the same as viewing a print (as we almost exclusively did back in the film days). But even if we produce Monochrome prints ourselves I doubt that many of us have a printer that is capable of producing anything like the tonal range of a photographic print. I've diverted a little from the point I was raising - can we create an authentic film-grain look with digital - It would good to know your views and experiences of this. I've spent plenty of time trying to reduce the 'grain' from my high ISO images (because I can? ) but with this resurgence of interest in Monochrome in the Pentax world perhaps we could embrace that 'look'? If you would like to add some images to this thread it would be helpful. As a starter for ten here's a very ordinary kitchen shot (at iso6400) that I think shows something close to 'film grain'.... You'll need to view it large to see the 'grain' :P