ANR glass to contact print?

ericdan · Apr 10, 2016

I have a anti newton ring (ANR) glass plate for 120 film scanning and I am wondering if I can repurpose that to contact print 120 film under an enlarger.
Is ANR glass suitable for that? What would be the best base to use?

DREW WILEY · Apr 12, 2016

With contact printing you need a bit of pressure on the glass to get consistent pressure of the film against a spongy backpad. If you borrow glass from a scanner, you'd have to be certain it isn't too thin, with the potential to break under those circumstances. Gosh, AN glass isn't that expensive
compared to all the other things photographers routinely think they need.

ericdan · Apr 12, 2016

Probably better to get a used contact printer then.

Tim Layton · Apr 12, 2016

A very effective solution is to visit your local glass company in your town and have them cut you a piece of 3/8" thick glass and polish the edges. For example, if you are planning on using 8x10 paper, then get a 10x12 piece of glass. It is worth the investment and will last a lifetime. Another option is to pick up a contact printing frame online.

Tim

ericdan said:
I have a anti newton ring (ANR) glass plate for 120 film scanning and I am wondering if I can repurpose that to contact print 120 film under an enlarger.
Is ANR glass suitable for that? What would be the best base to use?

DREW WILEY · Apr 14, 2016

Your "local glass company" won't carry anti-newton glass. Since contact printing is done emulsion to emulsion, the slick back of the film is what lies
in contact with the glass itself, an ideal scenario for ring issues.

Richard T Ritter · Apr 16, 2016

You have to remember that anti-newton glass is a fairly modern glass. For the past 100 years most photographers used plain extra thick window glass. I tested anti newton ring glass years ago and throw the piece away. It was fine until you printed an evenly lite wall or the sky with no clouds, the pattern of the glass would show up.

Tim Layton · Apr 18, 2016

I've been making contact prints like this for 30 years and never had a single problem.

DREW WILEY said:
Your "local glass company" won't carry anti-newton glass. Since contact printing is done emulsion to emulsion, the slick back of the film is what lies
in contact with the glass itself, an ideal scenario for ring issues.

Tim Layton · Apr 18, 2016

My experience tracks with yours Richard.

Richard T Ritter said:
You have to remember that anti-newton glass is a fairly modern glass. For the past 100 years most photographers used plain extra thick window glass. I tested anti newton ring glass years ago and throw the piece away. It was fine until you printed an evenly lite wall or the sky with no clouds, the pattern of the glass would show up.

DREW WILEY · Apr 20, 2016

If the texture shows up, it's either the wrong kind of glass or you are using the enlarger lens itself incorrectly in relation to the glass. I have NEVER
had this happen in thirty years using six different enlargers and gosh knows how many different lenses, even with very hard grade papers and inherently high contrast work like Cibachrome. People chewed tobacco for over a hundred years too. So what does that prove?

Andrew O'Neill · Apr 20, 2016

I have a piece of ANR glass for contact printing 8x10 negatives. Works like a charm!

Jim Noel · Apr 20, 2016

I have ANR glass in all of my contact printing frames. It has been there for years and never presented a problem.

Slixtiesix · Apr 20, 2016

I did like Tim said and had me cut a 8x10 piece of AN-glass by a local glassmaker. Cost me some 12 bucks. Works perfectly, no Newton rings on my contacts.

Tim Layton · May 1, 2016

Awesome!

Slixtiesix said:
I did like Tim said and had me cut a 8x10 piece of AN-glass by a local glassmaker. Cost me some 12 bucks. Works perfectly, no Newton rings on my contacts.

DREW WILEY · May 3, 2016

There is some obvious confusion in nomenclature here. No local glass shop is going to carry anti-newton glass, let alone charge twelve bucks for a
piece. They might be offering etched non-glare picture glass. That might work OK in direct contact with a negative; but don't try it in an enlarger carrier where the image passes through a lens afterwards!

Slixtiesix · May 3, 2016

Yes Drew, it was etched glass. They did not advertise it as anti-newton, however it seemed the same to me and it works perfectly. If you could explain me the difference between etched glass and AN glass I would be grateful, since I always thought AN glas to be etched. As the original question was about contact prints and not about negative carriers, I thought my experience would contribute to solve the question.

DREW WILEY · May 3, 2016

Ordinary non-glare picture glass makes the image look diffused if there is space between it and the object. So it will not come into focus. You can get
away with it in this case because you are tightly sandwiching your negative and paper all together in tight contact frame compression. If this works fine for you, great! Goal achieved. But true anti-newton glass has to allow full optical quality even with a projected image, as in an enlarger situation, or slide projector. This kind of glass is much more expensive - typically around a hundred dollars for an 8x10 piece. No need to elaborate here, since it is a contact printing thread - just pointing out the distinction, because it is critical to enlarging or scanning topics elsewhere.

ANR glass to contact print?

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