Maybe this is where I'm getting confused.(posted 8467 days ago)I have a step wedge (Kodak grayscale printed on a piece of thin cardboard, each graduation is .1 density change). Where I'm running into problems is how to actually test a negative for .1 density without a densitometer?
I thought that trying to reproduce the steps of the grayscale on the print, using dMax would land me on the my effective film speed, based on how far off I was on the graduations. My initial test showed that I was off by three steps, which means I should have treated the film as ISO 200 instead of ISO 400 (whites were light gray, and the overall gray card was too dark). My next exposure at 200, however, didn't give me the result I was planning on, although the gray card *was* closer to the real thing.
I have Adams's books, and most of his analysis seems to depend on having access to a densitometer.
I'm currently reading BTZS (1999 Editiion) and the tecniques listed therin rely on a stepped negative, which I also don't have access to.
Oh well, nobody every said getting this right was going to be easy. Well, one fellow did, but only if you had a densitometer :-)