basic enlarger questions

tballphoto · Mar 16, 2021

IF the retailer of new enlargers says the machine is ready to go use, do I have to assume I need to buy a timer unit for it?

When you do a test strip on photo paper, why doesnt the subsequent exposures affect the parts of the film that were previously exposed. Like it would on a regular roll of 35mm film?

eddie · Mar 16, 2021

You'll probably need to separately purchase a timer, lens, and easel.(Why are you looking at a new enlarger when there are used bargains to be had, at pennies to the dollar?)

As for your second question, you cover up parts of the paper for a test strip so they won't be exposed again.

MattKing · Mar 16, 2021

tballphoto said:
When you do a test strip on photo paper, why doesnt the subsequent exposures affect the parts of the film that were previously exposed. Like it would on a regular roll of 35mm film?

eddie said:
As for your second question, you cover up parts of the paper for a test strip so they won't be exposed again.

Or, you sequentially expose more and more of the paper, resulting in different total exposure in each segment.
In both cases, the exposure for each strip is just the (total) time that strip is exposed to light.
The light projected through the film in the enlarger doesn't affect the film, it affects the paper down below.

tballphoto · Mar 16, 2021

Sorry for the confusion, its alternating terms.

When the photo paper is put down, the first section is exposed to light. the paper is moved to show a new section, why isnt the previously exposed section of the photo paper unaffected? I have READ, only READ that the exposed film would be killed if exposed to light before going into the developer and stop bath.

So yes I am slightly not sure on the whole thing.

AgX · Mar 16, 2021

A classic enlarger came without timer. And all enlargers still offered new today have not got a timer incorprated.

Pieter12 · Mar 16, 2021

Have you tried craigslist?

albada · Mar 16, 2021

First Q: Enlargers don't come with timers, so you must buy one separately. The Gra-Lab 300 is popular and easy to use under dim safelight due to its large dial and luminous markings, and I think is still in production.

Second Q: There are two ways of making test strips:
(1) Keeping the strip stationary, and moving a mask over it periodically to uncover more and more of the strip. When done, one end of the strip was exposed the entire time, and the other end only a short time.
(2) Exposing a patch at a time, covering the entire remainder of the strip. So each patch is an independent exposure, similar to exposing frames on film. Folks typically move the strip between exposures, so that each patch will cover the same image-area. This kind of test strip is more work, but is more useful because you can put the most important parts of the image in every patch.

MattKing · Mar 16, 2021

albada said:
(1) Keeping the strip stationary, and moving a mask over it periodically to uncover more and more of the strip. When done, one end of the strip was exposed the entire time, and the other end only a short time.

And in addition:
3) Keeping the strip stationary, and moving a mask over it periodically to cover more and more of the strip. When done, one end of the strip was exposed the entire time, and the other end only a short time.
If you use either 1) or 3), the arithmetic is slightly different - one you use addition, the other uses subtraction - but the results are the same.

jimjm · Mar 16, 2021

tballphoto said:
I have READ, only READ that the exposed film would be killed if exposed to light before going into the developer and stop bath.

The film itself is developed and processed (washed and dried) before you place it into the enlarger to make prints. At that point, it can be handled in room light.
During printing, you project light via the enlarger, through the negative onto a piece of photographic paper (the positive print).
A test strip is photographic paper which has been exposed at incremental times to get the best exposure time for your final print.

Sirius Glass · Mar 16, 2021

ASK. My enlarger came with a timer; many do not.

AgX · Mar 19, 2021

"My enlarger came with a timer"
Do you mean it got an incorporated timer or that you got a kit with timer included? These are very different things.

wiltw · Mar 19, 2021

When I got my first enlarger at age 14, there was no timer that came with it...I simply used the clicks of my metronome that I used for piano practice and counted off the seconds.
When I was 16, my high school had an enlarger that I could use, as a member of the newspaper photography staff. It had a Time-o-lite brand timer attached to the wall near the enlarger.
When I bought my Beseler 45V-XL, the timer was incorporated into the controller of the Universal head.

You do not need to get a timer...a simple digital metronome (about $20) is sufficient!

basic enlarger questions

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