Gary Ferguson 
, Apr 17, 2004; 09:37 a.m.
You may be interested in these comparisons. This is the same shot
repeated with a full frame 11MP DSLR and on 6x9 film.
The digital shot is using a Canon 24mm tilt and shift lens, the film
shot is with Reala and a Schneider Super Angulon XL 58mm (equal to a
25mm lens in 35mm terms). You might argue that different lenses
invalidates any comparison. Not for me it doesn't, if I want lens
movements I've two choices, Canon tilt and shift lenses with digital,
or a 6x9 view camera with film.
First thing I should say is that printed out as A3 inkjets (11"x14")
there's not that much difference between them. Digital's maybe a bit
crisper, but I wouldn't say one guarantees joy and the other despair!
So where it really counts, in the finished results, it's pretty much
a wash. However this scene was carefully chosen in that there's a six
stop brightness range, if more latitude was needed then negative film
may have the advantage.
Here's the full frame.
Full Frame
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:38 a.m.
Here's 100% crop from the digital shot.
100% Crop Digtal
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:39 a.m.
And the same crop from 6x9 film.
Film Crop
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:43 a.m.
But if you search the scene very hard it's possible to find areas where 6x9 film can show its greater resolving power. Whether this actually matters is a different question, in an A3 inkjet print you just can't see this level of detail. Here's the digital shot rezzed up.
Digital Rezzed Up
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:44 a.m.
And here's the film version.
6x9 Film Detail
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:47 a.m.
Digital also has other issues to contend with. The Canon 1Ds has moire very well controlled, and after taking thousands of shots I've hardly had any problems at all. But it's not been eliminated entirely. And on the this shot you can see a trace of moire in the roof tiles, in the final print it's hardly visible, but it is there.
Digital Crop-Moire
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:50 a.m.
Another digital issue is colour fringing out in the corners with wider lenses. There's some evidence of fringing here. A 24mm shift lens is a torture test in this respect, and to put it in perpective it's hardly intrusive in an A3 print. However, I can't pretend fringing doesn't exist.
Digital-Colour Fringing
Gary Ferguson , Apr 17, 2004; 09:52 a.m.
However, colour fringing can also be found with film. Here's a crop from the Reala negative and there's some fringing here too. A lot less, but it's there.
Film-Colour Fringing
Jean-Baptiste Queru , Apr 17, 2004; 10:04 a.m.
Thanks for the comparison!
A few thoughts:
-I very much like that you compared them on paper and not only on screen. The fact that they is very little difference at 11x14 is a better data point than just about anything else that can be said.
-About the "ultimate" resolving power: without a doubt film wins. While the image may have been slightly oversharpened for screen use, it seems to me however that digital offers more contrast in medium-sized details. Worth mentioning that film loses when it comes to grain at large enlargements.
-Color fringing: I think it's time that everybody realize that there is some color fringing everywhere, but that until the advent of high-resolution scanners and digital cameras it had never really been visible. I see color fringing on my 10D with a 28/2.8, sometimes more than a pixel wide, i.e. about 10 microns, or about as much as on the 828. Worse, I see color fringing of at least 2 pixels on 1600dpi scans of large format slides (admittedly with a cheap lens), which translated to 30 microns (and that's when shooting at f/16).
Beau . 
, Apr 17, 2004; 10:30 a.m.
Interesting, thanks. Looks like your conclusion is valid -- there's far more detail on the 6x9, but it's detail that's basically unnecessary at 11x14 or smaller.
Some people will surely ask, how did you scan the 6x9? One interesting test would be to make your best large darkroom print from the negative and your best inkjet print at the same size from the digital file, and then scan both on a flatbed.
