And I thought I was being a bit naive to expect the aesthetics of a 20-megapixel digital camera from 35mm film. ;-)
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I still think that now. I find the image from the Leica rather ‘unfamiliar’, to put it mildly. Of course, you can push (develop) any film with any developer until you get such brutal contrasts, including ‘clearly visible’ grain. Something like that out of the box in analogue – highly sensitive and with a fine grain – forget it.
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Then there’s the essential question: hybrid or wet print? Regardless, the best way to replicate this digital painting (I hardly dare call it photography) in analogue is with appropriate post-processing of the scan, i.e. with a few bold tweaks to the controls. But go all out, don’t hold back. If it looks good...
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“I’d like very fine grain, though, when you increase the density of the details”
Highly sensitive, with fine grain, razor-sharp – you’ll probably have to make some sort of compromise there.
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Just so there’s no misunderstanding: I consider post-processing of negatives – through choice of paper, gradation, exposure, etc. – or digital post-processing of the scan to be indispensable; converting negatives into positives always involves interpretation.
