Traditional Vs digital

[Wolfboy]

I recently took some shots of my kids using my EOS 5 and a role of Ilford delta 100 professional. I developed the negs (myself) and then scanned them into photoshop at 600DPI using a canon 8000F. I then printed one image using the Jessops digital printing service. I also printed the same neg in the darkroom for comparison.

I have to say that the digitally printed image, doesn’t came anywhere near the traditionally printed image in terms of contrast and tonal range,

Admittedly, I am quite experienced in the dark room and was able to manipulate the chemicals, filters and paper to produce the desired results. With Photoshop however, my skills are limited.

Is it really possible to match the quality of a traditional printed image?

wolfboy

[Longwatcher]

The answer would be a qualified YES.

Qualifiers: depends on digital camera, scanner, digital software, printer, paper, ink.

Some things to think about.
What was the bit depth of the scanned image?
What format did you use?
You had no control over the digital printer, so were they calibrated the same as your monitor?

I actually got better color/tonal depth with my Canon S9000 printing directly from a 16bit TIF, then I did from a digital printer at a local photo shop, mainly because I had to lower the image to 8bit so they could print it. I also noted that my printer/monitor were calibrated slightly differently then their printer.

Also, where you using color or B+W. B+W is one area where digital is not equal yet, but I feel that I can get just as good results in digital as long as I stick to color.

Just my experience and opinion,

[PhotoAZ]

At the heart of it all is the image. Does it speak to you or touches the heart. It doesn't matter if it is from a piece of film or a bunch of 0s and 1s it is the image that matters.

That being said YES you can get wonderful full tone images from digital but just like a print from your darkroom you have to know your tools to get it right. Photoshop is a wonderful tool and teamed with a good lab you can produce prints that will not hang but sell.

The debate about film vs. digital is the same debate that photographers had in the last century. Only then it was film vs. glass plates.