"AI for analog photos": this developing powder sharpens blurry photos using film's grain structure

British photochemical specialist Qubit has announced a new film development agent that promises to sharpen out-of-focus shots using the actual grain structure of the film stock.

Qubit Grain is described by the manufacturer as "AI for analog photography". It is a granular development powder that, when added to your film bath, agitates grain in the film stock in areas of contrast to make details look sharper – and the results are incredibly impressive.

"Film negatives aren't like digital files," says David Thorpe, director of Qubit. "You can't use AI to sharpen your negs, so if you miss focus on film, there's nothing you can do. It's a downside of analog.

"But Qubit Grain is a powder that turns analog's properties into an upside: it can rescue details by essentially embellishing the film grain. So in a way, it's like having AI for analog photography.

"It's never going to replace getting the shot in focus in-camera, but it finally solves the decades-old problem of blurry negs for film shooters. I just wish I had it when I was a press photographer!"

The Qubit Grain agent itself doesn't look like something you'd really want to dump in a film bath, bearing more of a resemblance to coffee grounds than traditional photochemicals.

However, the results speak for themselves – though it should be pointed out that the agent works better on some film than others. "Because it's exaggerating the detail that's locked in the film grain, obviously grainier film works best," Thorpe explained.

"My colleague, Dr Lipra Ofol, is really the brains behind Qubit Grain. But there are limits to what it can do – he tested it on Portra, for instance, and it basically did nothing. The grain is too fine.

"But something like Tri-X film is almost like an analog RAW file in the amount of sharpness you can pull back from it – we were both astonished when the first tests came out of the dark room!"

You can find out more about the science behind Qubit Grain, ahead of its official release later today, at the Qubit Grain website.

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