Example 1: The Thrift Store

All images are unedited scans.


Above are contact-print scans from 67, 645, 35mm for comparison.

Detail Section 1: The Little White House

TMX 35mm


Techpan 35mm


TMX 645


TMX 67

Detail Section 2: The Edge of The Thrift Store

TMX 35mm


TechPan 35mm


TMX 645


TMX 67

For a print size of 16" x 20", the TMX 35mm was over-enlarged, had obvious grain, and wasn't terribly sharp. The other three prints didn't have any visible grain (unless a loupe was used). Beyond a viewing distance of about 4 feet all four prints are indistinguishable, depending on lighting conditions the prints are in.

The other three contenders were quite close. Using a 1:1.7/50mm lens as a loupe, the three prints showed the same amount of detail. I put the prints 2 feet under a 100W incandescent bulb and from a viewing distance of about 6-12 inches, the 67 print was visibly sharper than the TechPan 35mm print, and marginally sharper than the 645 print. The 645 print was marginally sharper than the Techpan 35mm print.

From a viewing distance of about two feet, the 67 print was barely sharper than the Techpan 35mm print and visibly sharper than the T-Max 35mm. I couldn't really tell the difference between TMX 67 and TMX 645, nor the difference between TMX 645 and TechPan 35mm. The TMX 645 print was minimally sharper than the TMX 35mm.

I asked my Wife to tell me which one looked best in terms of visible detail and sharpness, without her knowing which was which. She's not a photographer but she's lived with me long enough to have been forced to look at a lot of bad pictures. From about 2 feet viewing distance, she rated the TMX 645 as best, the Techpan 35mm as second best, and the TMX 67 as the worst (I didn't include the TMX 35mm). Being surprised as this, I switched the positions of the prints when she wasn't looking and she ranked them in the same order.

I also had several of my students look at side by side prints and I asked them to rate them in terms of image quality (not necessarily the one which looked "best"). TMX 35mm was last pretty much every time. One student rated the TMX 67 as worse than the TMX 645 AND Techpan 35mm prints. One student rated TMX 67 as best, Techpan 35mm second, and TMX 645 third. One student shuffled them around for a while and said he couldn't tell them apart.