Contact printing with 4x5 -grey prints

Dilutions



Right I tried Dektol 1:3 as well (again), freshly mixed and at 45-50s I am more or less forced to pull the print out. Its been a couple of days since, so I will try that 1:3 solution again tonight Will also test with some more diluted solutions.

The attached images were all printed with 1:7, from a (very) thin negative at ~25C (exact temp is in my notes +-1C). The one on the right is the first print, the middle one was where I experimented with dodging - and the one on the left is one where I more or less got the print as I wanted for the shadows with burning at the bottom.

Thank you for the tips, I'll post updates once I am done with those.
(Once I get this sorted out, will try ordering Ethol)

analoguey said:

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I am more or less forced to pull the print out.

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Whoa! You have not been removing the prints from the developer before they have completed development? If that is the case then we have found the problem.

ic-racer said:

Whoa! You have not been removing the prints from the developer before they have completed development? If that is the case then we have found the problem.

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Oh, no no! I got deep blacks by 15s-20s or so and by 45s- 1 min, I would see the print tend to go black in the grey-er areas too - except for prints from very dense negatives, which did good with 1 min+
Will be testing with the same negatives/light again, comparing prints.

analoguey said:

That is a very repeatable, interesting suggestion - did you try altering distances or such? I have a 560-iii so can directly try it out Or even try with Metz too.

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My bathroom is too small to vary the distance, but changing the power and filters made for very noticeable changes in contrast. I changed the angle of the bounce from the walls and got noticeable changes, as well.

The nice thing about doing it that way was the lack of Newton's rings. Using my small enlarger, I get them on almost every print. I'm trying to get the time to build up an old fashioned printing frame to work around the problem.

analoguey said:

Not really, mostly average with good definition.



They looked okay with 120 - with even darker negatives.
It might be exhausted, I have anyways dumped the dektol to make new working solution.

1:3 is actually too strong - temp is usually close to 30c I get little or no time before over development, 1:8 is just fine.

Sent from Tap-a-talk

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Probaby to hot. Dektol at 1:2 or 1:3 is usually around 20 degrees centegrade for good results.

analoguey said:

1:3 just blew dev times to under 10s and thats just impossible to work with.

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I don't know how to multi-quote so I'll pick on the 1st clue I saw... this statement.

You need to develop the paper to completion. This means you do not rip the print out of the developer when it 'looks right'. You need to control the print density by the exposure. So, if once developed to completion, the print is too dark, you need to reduce exposure.

To reduce exposure when contact printing you can:
- reduce time of exposure
- reduce brightness of bulb
- move light further away from paper
- introduce a filter to decrease amount of light
- do a combination/all of the above

My suggestions:
- mix Dektol 1:3
- reduce expose (using whatever method you can)
- develop for the full recommended minute
- rinse & repeat until (you probably want an exposure time about 10 seconds as different negs will need adjustments)

I use to do contact prints using the room light (when I couldn't be bothered getting enlarger out of the cupboard) and use to replace the bulb with a 40W (maybe was even less... I can't remember exactly) instead of the usual 100W, place my contact print sandwich (paper, neg, glass) on the floor and flick the room light switch on, count to '2 cat & dog' (about 2 seconds) then flick it off. It worked pretty good. I couldn't flick the light on and off with the 100W globe consistantly enough.

too add to that, I see you have an electonic flash... if that has manual settings (eg 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc), try dialing down the power that way