Here is a good page by a guy who ran tests. http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/tutorials/360/technical/hdri/
He puts the dymanic range of reala color film at about 15 stops. So that is dramatically better than 11 you state and I have read some of the current DSLRs are actually about 9 which is virtually same as a good slide film & not as good as a good color neg film in terms of maximum recordable dynamic range. Coindidentally, 15 stops is the same maximum range as human vision of a given scene (doe not take into account long term range extension of dark adjusted eyesight at low light levels or maximum stop down of pupil aperture at high light levels). JCO -----Original Message----- From: William Robb [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 9:43 AM To: Pentax Discuss Subject: Re: USAF target and resolution tests ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. C. O'Connell" Subject: RE: USAF target and resolution tests > What I was referring to about specialized films is that super low > contrast films could have a greater DYNAMIC RANGE than digital for > extremely contrasty scenes and super high contrast films could have > a better amplitude > resolution (bit depth) for extremely low contrast scenes than > digital. You'll need to come up with some facts before you have credibility on this one. You are a self professed non user of high quality digital imaging technology. What you are referring to may or may not exist. OTOH, what does exist at the moment are digital sensors (the istD has one of these) with an 11 stop range. See http://www.normankoren.com/digital_tonality.html for an explanation. Even the widest range colour film on the market today would be hard pressed to come up with an 11 stop dynamic range, I believe 9 stops is closer to the present state of the art. Digital will, of course, get better as the technology evolves. Film is dead in the water from a technological evolution standpoint. William Robb
