Response to how to evalulateand compare negatives

If you really want to get into measuring the densities of your negatives, you can do it in less expensive fashion by modifying your spot meter (if you have one). Check out Phil Davies 'Beyond the Zone System' for details. Basically, it involves modifying the spotmeter for close up reading with a lens mounted backwards on it. However, it is somewhat debatable how much value that is going to add, unless you're into running tests on your negative material, development times and papers and plotting characteristic curves etc. I think you're better served by concentrating on printing the negatives you're currently getting. The 'reading print on a newspaper' is a good enough starting test. In ordinary room light i.e., not on a light table, lay the neg emulsion side down on a magazine page. If you can easily read the type, then the highlight densities are probably less than 0.8. A density greater than about 1.2 will generally completely obscure the type. However, at the end of the day, it is the print which matters. So print the negs you get and see if you're consistently having to use very hard or very soft papers and adjust development times accordingly.

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