A Look at Grain in the Film and Details in the Print

A negative with more pronounced grain can allow for better detail in the Pt/Pd print.  It seems that edges of tones in a Pt/Pd print are better discriminated when there is adequate grain in the negative.

The same scene is recorded on films having different grain.  Of the films selected, Tri-X has a good amount of grain and Tech-Pan has almost no grain.   Pt/Pd prints are made from each negative and compared.  The negatives have been reversed for ease of comparison.  Please be aware that some of the details of interest are on the order or smaller than the resolution of the scan (1200 ppi); the originals viewed with a magnifier demonstrate this effect better than these scans.

Portion of Tri-x negative.	Portion of Tech-Pan negative.  Note the better detail than in the Tri-x negative.
Note: What looks like grain in the negatives (above) is only artifacts of the scan.           What looks like grain in the prints (below) is the texture of the paper surface.
Portion of Pt/Pd print from Tri-X negative. This print has better detail than the print from the Tech-Pan negative.  The power lines are especially better discerned when viewed with a magnifier.	Portion of Pt/Pd print from Tech-Pan negative. The power lines merge in places even when viewed with a magnifier.  Also note less of an edge definition of the stacks, and less bridge detail.
Note:  No sharpening was used in any of the images.  The negatives and prints were scanned at 1200 ppi.  Many differences are outside of the scan resolution, but can be observed with a magnifier.

The selected portion of the full 4x5 negative is as approximately indicated here:

 

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