Photography I / Film and the Characteristic Curve
Practice question · Numerical answer

A part of a negative transmits one hundredth of the light falling on it. What is its density?

Hints
  1. Density is the base-ten logarithm of opacity.
  2. Opacity is one over transmittance, so it is 100 here.
Show the answer

2

Why

2.0. Opacity is 100, and the base-ten logarithm of 100 is 2. A density of 2.0 is about as dense as the highlights of a normal negative go, which is worth remembering: the whole useful range of a black-and-white negative is roughly 0.1 to 1.4 above base plus fog.

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