Both, John .... some med format film is different from their 35mm counterparts, but really, the image quality and tone change with degrees of enlargement. You'd see about the same degradation of quality if a med format neg was enlarged to the same degree as a 35mm neg.
A 35mm contact print has beautiful tonality, and by the time it reaches an 8x enlargement that beauty has degraded quite a bit. Make an 8X enlargement from 120 film and you'd see a similar degradation. However, an 8x 120 film enlargement is about 18 inches X whatever, and one doesn't usually see such large prints, and when they are viewed, they're viewed from a distance greater than when viewing an 8x10 print, and the degradation isn't as obvious. Move closer, to 8x10 viewing range, and you'll begin to see the image coming apart just like a print made from a 35mm negative. HTH shel John Francis wrote: > I'm not for one moment trying to suggest this isn't true - I've heard > the some thing said many times before. I can only assume that this is > either because there is some significant difference between the film > emulsions sold (under the same names) as 35mm and medium format film, > or because the tone of the image changes as you change the enlargement. > > Any suggestions as to which is the actual reason?
