Grain Effect With Film and Digital
The images below show an example of extreme film grain:
-
Rallycross car pictured on an Agfa 1000 RS slide
-
Detail of the same photo
Digital photography does not exhibit film grain, since there is no film for any grain to exist within. In digital cameras, the closest physical equivalents of film grains are the individual elements of the image sensor (e.g. CCD cell); just as small-grain film has better resolution than large-grain film, so will an image sensor with more elements result in an image with better resolution. As film grains are randomly distributed and have size variation, while image sensor cells are of same size and are arranged in a grid, direct comparison of film and digital resolutions is not straightforward.
In general, as the pixels from a digital image sensor are set in straight lines, they irritate the eye of the viewer more than the randomly arranged film grains. Most people will reject an enlargement that show pixels, whereas a grained film enlagement with lower resolution will be acceptable, and perceived as 'sharper'.
The effect of film grain can be simulated in some digital photo manipulation programs, such as Photoshop, adding grain to a digital image after it is taken.
In digital photography, image noise sometimes appears as a "grain-like" effect.
Read more about this topic: Film Grain
Famous quotes containing the words grain, effect and/or film:
“For every grain of wit there is a grain of folly.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A readiness to believe ill of others, before we have duly examined it, is the effect of laziness and pride. We are eager to find a culprit, and loath to give ourselves the trouble of examining the crime.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Is America a land of God where saints abide for ever? Where golden fields spread fair and broad, where flows the crystal river? Certainly not flush with saints, and a good thing, too, for the saints sent buzzing into man’s ken now are but poor- mouthed ecclesiastical film stars and cliché-shouting publicity agents.
Their little knowledge bringing them nearer to their ignorance,
Ignorance bringing them nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)