A few basic printing questions

[Bob Carnie]

Yes I mask each holder .....with the black tape, I have a holder for each format.

Bob,

When you do that, what do you do to take care of the possible flare caused by white light coming through outside of the 35mm neg frame? Do you mask it or just let it be? Is this a non-issue?

 

[Bob Carnie]

Here is a view of the back of my negative glass carriers , 35mm and 6x7
I use black electrical tape so this is the bottom facing the easel.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Bob and Cantore,

If the last photo of the OP's posted is the negative printed full-frame, then, obviously, I must be wrong. There is only slight falloff in the corners, which indicates that the lens is covering for the most part. (Although, I do see a slight clipping of the corners, it is not nearly as pronounced as in the first two images).

So, the fact that there was falloff at one point and much less now confuses me a bit. I can understand it if there were an illumination issue, i.e., condenser misalignment, something in the light path, etc. that caused the edge of the negative to be improperly illuminated, which was then corrected when the OP removed and replaced the condensers (or made some other adjustment).

I still fail to see, however, how you can get anything but a clean straight edge projected from the edges of the negative carrier unless there is a problem either with the lens coverage or the illumination. When things are set up correctly, there should be no such falloff as shown in the OP's original postings.

A thought experiment: I set up my enlarger to project a full-frame image slightly smaller than my 16x20 inch easel, so I can see the film rebate and the edges of the negative carrier projected on the enlarging surface. I then remove my 16x20 easel and get out my 8x10 easel. This I place on the baseboard so that one of the corners is centered on the enlarging surface. I am effectively cropping by moving the easel, and I am intentionally placing part of the photo paper "in the dark," i.e., outside the projected image. I make a print. I repeat this for the other three corners. As far as I can see, I should get no falloff at the corners other that that inherent in the optical system (i.e., the combination of falloff from the lens and slightly uneven enlarger illumination, which in my experience is 5-10% or so). I should have prints of the corners of my negative with the film rebate showing and nice clean lines from the edges of the negative carrier.

And Bob, don't misunderstand me, I really think your practice for cropping is best practice (I also center the area of the negative I am printing when cropping). And I understand your workflow completely. I just don't see how I can explain the OP's original problem by "cropping by moving the easel." I originally thought there was a coverage problem, now I'm leaning to misalignment of the light source somehow. Unless I'm really missing something here, if everything is aligned correctly, even with the slight falloff and the reduced lens performance at the corners of the image, there should be no problem getting a good image of edges and corners of prints. How could one print full-frame without the same problems?

Oh well,

Best,

Doremus

www.DoremusScudder.com

 

[cantore]

Doremus..

Your posts are starting to make me think i should print this negative again while cropping the image by moving the easel. I no longer feel comfortable thinking the moving of the easel was the issue because of the fact that i removed the condenser tube and replace it before i did the last test print. I will post the results a little later.

 

[cantore]

Doremus...

I did a final test and you were correct that moving the easel did not cause my issue! I framed the image by moving the easel and made sure that the edge of the negative was apx 1/2 inch from the blade and i got a straight line line you mentioned.. I'm very happy to lean that i dont have to center the easel under the lens, i have more options now on how i want to frame the print.. It was the condensers that caused the issue. Thanks!!

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Cantore,

Glad to hear that you have solved your problem. Now that everything is aligned properly, you should have no great falloff problems printing full-frame.

Let me say, however, that although you now "can" crop by moving the easel about within the projected image, that Bob's method of centering the area to be printed in the lens' field-of-view is really the best practice. You can do this to an extent with your negative carrier by moving the negative in the carrier to center the area you wish to print as much as possible. "Up-and-Down" centering may not be possible due to the guides in the holder, but side-to-side certainly is and well worth doing. In the case of the print you are making, it certainly seems possible to me.

The reason for this is simple: lenses are sharpest and have the most even illumination in the very center. I try to get the portions of the negatives I print as close to the center as possible, although, admittedly, I don't go quite to the lengths Bob Carney does. And, although I trim-crop most of my images, I'm not really enlarging small areas of my negatives.

Summary: if you can better center the area of the negative you wish to print, it will be better to do so quality-wise.

Best and happy printing.

Doremus

www.DoremusScudder.com