Photo negatives are what results when exposed camera film has been developed in the proper chemical process. From these negatives, photographs can be printed by an enlarger on light-sensitive paper designed for that purpose. The quality of the negative is paramount to getting a good photograph. The frequency of photographs taken with film by the general public is decreasing dramatically as the popularity of digital photography increases. However, even though the quality of digital photography is improving rapidly, most professional photographers still rely on prints made from negatives for the highest quality photographs.
History
The first camera using film was introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1888. Since then until the advent of commercial digital photography in the 1980s and 1990s, film photography was how photographs were made. Improvements in film and cameras over the years increased the demand for film based photography. Black and white film was typically used by the general public consumer until the late 1950s and early 1960s, when color cameras and color film became better quality and less expensive than it had been.
Function
Negatives are what results from the second step in a four-step process of film-based photography that takes the roll or sheet of film to finished photograph. The first step is to load the film into the camera and shoot the photographs. The second step is to process the film in the proper chemical process, which is determined by the type of film used. The third step is the` printing process, which involves shining light through the negatives onto light-sensitive photographic paper. The fourth step is processing the prints, which develops the printed images into photographs. Negatives, once they are processed, are the source of the end photograph. Good quality negatives come from proper exposure and development of the film. It is almost impossible for top quality prints to be made from mediocre quality negatives, so proper exposure and processing is imperative to achieve excellent print quality.
Types
There are two basic types of photo negatives. One type is the negatives that result from black and white film, which is dark gray in color, which produce black and white prints. The other is the negatives that result from color film, which are brown with a reddish-orange tint and produce color prints.
Size
Negatives come in several sizes, based on the camera in which it is used. A large format 4x5 camera uses 4x5 sheet film, resulting in a 4x5 negative. This size is used primarily by professional portrait photographers, and is the size regularly used by the late renowned photographer, Ansel Adams, in his famous landscape photographs. Medium format negatives come from roll film in sizes labeled 120 and 220. This size film is often used in twin lens reflex cameras or other professional-caliber single lens reflex cameras, such as one made by Hasselblad and Mamiya. One of the most popular film sizes is 35 mm film, which is in widespread use in both single lens reflex cameras and point and shoots. Amateur film sizes which have been popular are 110 and 126. There are many other sizes, but these have been the most commonly used in the United States in the heyday of film cameras, and are still in use today.
Considerations
Negatives should be handled with care in order to preserve them. Their enemies are heat, dust, dampness and light. They should be handled only by their edges, or even with nylon gloves, to prevent smudges on their surface. Negatives can be "dusted" with canned air to remove dust that may have gathered on its surface, but it's best to store them in archival envelopes made specifically to preserve negatives in a closed box or file cabinet to keep out dust. Film that has been undeveloped for several years and has been exposed to various temperatures and light can often result in poor quality negatives when it is finally developed. So, for optimum results, it is best to develop film as soon as possible after photographs are taken.
Effects
Black and white prints can be made from color negatives, but the only way to get a color print from a black and white negative is to color it by hand with photographic oil colors that are on the market. Negatives can be retouched by hand to remove some blemishes. They can also be scanned into computers and be made into digital photographs.
Tags: digital photography, film sizes, film which, lens reflex, lens reflex cameras, made from, prints made