It is very difficult to discuss in a book (or Internet forum) what makes a 'good' or 'bad' negative. Such a discussion should really be interactive: with the actual negative (and 'straight' print) in front of us, we could discuss what you want, and whether the negative provides it.(posted 9083 days ago)Have you considered joining a club, or taking an evening course? The discussions with more experienced people can be very valuable.
Remember that the negative isn't the final goal, but a necessary step towards a print. If the print is excellent, then there can't have been much wrong with the negative.
BTZS is an excellent book, but not everyone wants to get into the science of densitometry and precise film speeds.
Perhaps the first evaluations could be:
- Does the negative have all the shadow detail you want?
- Does the negative have all the highlight detail you want?
- When you print it with no dodging or burning on grade 2, does it use the full paper tones, from black to white?