Contact printing from 120 film?

mcgrattan · Feb 23, 2006

HI,

I'd like to contact print some of my medium format negatives as I don't have an enlarger.

How easy is this to do with no darkroom?

I have access to a changing bag, moderately size daylight tanks and can probably knock together some kind of frame with some glass and a piece of hardboard. I have no light source other than daylight or normal house lighting (both flourescent and incandescent sources).

Any tips welcome. The idea is to produce little 6x6 or 6x9 prints both for my own amusement, to pick negatives for commercial printing, and perhaps to stick in little frames. I have some medium format negs with portraits of family members and they'd probably appreciate a small print.

John Bartley · Feb 23, 2006

If you can darken a room, preferably the bathroom so that you can put a chunk of plywood over the tub to use for a workbench, then you have a darkroom. You don;t really need a printing frame although it will make the job a bit easier. All you need is a flat surface to put the paper and negative on and a chunk of clear glass to cover them with to keep it all flat and in contact. An overhead lamp is sufficient for light and if the exposure times are too short, use a lower power bulb to lengthen them. If you're using variable contrast paper, you can make cheap contrast filters from plastic report covers in various shades of blue/violet/magenta. That's all it takes.

cheers

Soeren · Feb 23, 2006

If you have access to a e.g. bathroom you can black out things would be easier. All you need is some glass the paper a piece of cardboard and a lightbulp.
Regards Søren

Soeren · Feb 23, 2006

Aiy John you beat my to it
Cheers Søren

John Bartley · Feb 23, 2006

Soeren said:
Aiy John you beat my to it
Cheers Søren

Hey my friend - great minds think alike ??

blokeman · Feb 23, 2006

contact printing from 120 film

Hi Mcgrattan, I'd say forget the light bulb, even simpler is to get hold of some POP paper! When I was last in Europe I took POP, 120 camera, a printing frame... bought my fixer there & dev. for the film & I came home with some fantastic prints... all done on the window sill of my friends house in Germany. UV light was free. Actually, this process suits strips of 120 negs beautifully, do some in the shade (with long exposure times) and at times you will get some lovely tones & an exquisite 'feel' in the prints. Sometimes such delicacy!!! All you need is a piece of glass & piece of board & something soft under it for good contact & all you need after exposure (at minimum) is fixer and some running water to wash briefly before the fixing and more comprehensively after it!

John Bartley · Feb 23, 2006

blokeman said:
Hi Mcgrattan, I'd say forget the light bulb, even simpler is to get hold of some POP paper! (... more of a good idea ...)

This is even simpler - good idea !!

Marco Gilardetti · Feb 23, 2006

Gentlemen, can someone kindly explain to me why is it so hard to keep it simple, when a fellow asks for a simple advice? :confused:

Fixer will bleach away almost EVERYTHING out of POP if not toned in gold, and gold toner is expensive as hell and not exactly easy to find. Not even to mention that negatives should be processed at a special ultra-high contrast for the purpose, and that POP paper sure can't be found at the shop downstairs as well. Please forget it.

Mcgrattan, I agree with first posters: try to have a bathroom or a small room obscured. It doesn't even need to be 100% black, just "very dark". If you work at night, that'd be fine. The thing CAN be done in a changing bag, but take for granted that everything will be a nightmare to handle in that case. Rolling down the blinds it's much easier. You can buy a red or yellow safety lamp to see what you're doing.

Peter Schrager · Feb 23, 2006

Making Prints

Personnaly I would forgo the lamp and rig up a canister light with a long cord plugged into a timer with a footswitch if possible. Just put a hook in the ceiling
and raise or lower the "head" You can start at about 30 inches with a 15 watt bulb and Graded paper. This is the way Weston did it; etc.....it don't get no easier...
Best, Peter

blokeman · Feb 25, 2006

contact printing from 120 film

...... with all respect Marco, POP (from my experience) does not completely bleach out after fixer. Gold toner (in my experience) is not absolutely necessary & I successfully use 'normally' exposed and developed negatives to contact print, just don't use them in strong UV light. I swear by the advice I gave as I have exposed many boxes of POP. I do agree that it isn't available at the local store but that is a minor problem with the modern 'global' economy and mail order. POP needs very little equipment and only one type of chemical, in it's simplest form. As a fringe benefit, the user can sit back in a deckchair and read his/her favourite book and enjoy a glass of wine as the print is being exposed!! McGrattan, if you need any more hints, just send me a message & I'm only too happy to help out, it really IS a simple & rewarding process. You don't even need a change bag! (except for your film of course)

Jim Jones · Feb 25, 2006

Long ago, when contact printing was common, people often used contact printers. They were a box with a switch controled light, a glass insert in the top, and a platen to hold paper tightly against the negative. These were much more convenient than using an overhead light and a glass plate like I do for contact strips. Such a contact printer can be improvised, or occasionly found in camera or junk stores.

highpeak · Feb 25, 2006

I did some contact printing in bathroom, light source is a 30 Watts overhead light bulb. Set paper on a piece of flat wood, negative on top of it and use a piece of window glass to hold them flat. I have to press the glass use my both hands, so it was very hard to turn the light on and off from the wall switch. A foot switch and bigger paper are essential, other wise you will have a hard time to line the neg and paper together.

Try different exposures, until you find a good one. Have fun!

foxyscootie · Mar 22, 2006

John Bartley said:
If you can darken a room, preferably the bathroom so that you can put a chunk of plywood over the tub to use for a workbench, then you have a darkroom. You don;t really need a printing frame although it will make the job a bit easier. All you need is a flat surface to put the paper and negative on and a chunk of clear glass to cover them with to keep it all flat and in contact. An overhead lamp is sufficient for light and if the exposure times are too short, use a lower power bulb to lengthen them. If you're using variable contrast paper, you can make cheap contrast filters from plastic report covers in various shades of blue/violet/magenta. That's all it takes.

cheers

Hey John I sent you an email about this, but I had another question for you & others....

How do you determine the exposure times? I have never done contact printing before & would really like to give this a try with my 120mm negs because I dont have a scanner to use now.
I will be using vc paper, baseboard from my 35mm enlarger, frame glass from Michaels & developing in dektol. Any other advice & guidance will be much appreciated.

~Val

Contact printing from 120 film?

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