Contact sheet printing setup

[Jeff Searust]

Ok -- I have printed plenty of contact sheets in my day, but I want to finally find out how everyone else does it. I am afraid that my method may be a little less of the "proper" way to do this. One issue is that I broke my old light meter and my new one seems to see things a little differently. Let me quickly describe how I used to do it.

A-- set up the enlarger to a specific f-stop, a specific height, and with a specific carrier in it, I would focus the light to a fine edge around the contact frame. I also set my light meter to iso100--10s and indicated ev4.5.

B-- I was then able to regularly print contact sheets with a light exposure of 12 second-- everything the same every time.

My new light meter when I set things up the same way gives a different EV --- so forgetting that-- I am interested if everyone else has a regular way to set things up or is this more of a crap shoot? I want to start from scratch here and want a scientific and regular plan to do this. :confused:

 

[glbeas]

What's the point in the light meter? You set all the other items the same the exposure is going to be locked in.
It's not rocket science, I've done contact prints using a flashlight for a light source and got acceptable results.

 

[jgjbowen]

Jeff,

I follow Fred Picker's "Proper Proof" technique. It is explained in his book Zone VI Workshop, and his newsletters. Simple, accurate and repeatable. Takes just a little time to determine your "Proper Proof" exposure.

Good Luck!

 

[clayne]

Lay a piece of glass down, against a marked height and known aperture on the enlarger, dial in a lowish grade to give me detail (rather than a "mini-print") and expose for a middle of the road time. If the negs are too dark or too light, I adjust and redo but it only takes about 2 sheets max.

Since I test-print all prints anyways, I'd rather the contact represent the content of the negatives rather than the condition of their exposure (which is why I vary the time and/or grade to give me detail rather than an unchanging base-line time and grade no matter what).

 

[perkeleellinen]

10 seconds, f8, grade 4.

I find that if I standardise the contact stage, I save paper making a print as I can read a lot from the contact print. I've also standardised on one film one developer and one paper, that also helps.

 

[Steve Smith]

I would focus the light to a fine edge around the contact frame.

I de-focus mine.


Steve.

 

[Jerevan]

10 seconds, f8, grade 4.

Just wondering: why such a hard grade? I agree on having a standard setup, it makes my life easier.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Just wondering: why such a hard grade? I agree on having a standard setup, it makes my life easier.

Purely because I like how my prints look at grade 4. Having a contact sheet at the same grade I print at helps me to judge the negative.

 

[clayne]

Purely because I like how my prints look at grade 4. Having a contact sheet at the same grade I print at helps me to judge the negative.

But don't you think perceived contrast for a contact (assuming 135 size) at grade 4 is more like grade 5 in an average size enlargement (8x10)?

 

[Jerevan]

Purely because I like how my prints look at grade 4. Having a contact sheet at the same grade I print at helps me to judge the negative.

Same thing for me, except I use grade 2-3. Always interesting to know how other people do things.

 

[perkeleellinen]

But don't you think perceived contrast for a contact (assuming 135 size) at grade 4 is more like grade 5 in an average size enlargement (8x10)?

Hmm, I hadn't heard about this before. Just checking a contact sheet here with a print (5x7) and there's not a great deal of difference between the two. I'm using a Meopta Opemus 6a with the Meograde head and a 50mm Nikkor onto MGIV.

 

[Jeff Searust]

I de-focus mine.


Steve.

now there's another idea I havent considered--

Should the light be focused or de-focused?

 

[Sirius Glass]

I de-focus mine.


Steve.

Me too.

Steve => not the same person.

 

[fschifano]

now there's another idea I havent considered--

Should the light be focused or de-focused?

Why would it matter as long as the light is evenly spread? No hot spots. No dark spots.

 

[jgjbowen]

Why would it matter as long as the light is evenly spread? No hot spots. No dark spots.

Bellows extension factor???

 

[jp80874]

Ok -- I have printed plenty of contact sheets in my day, :confused:

It might help if you told us what size negatives you are printing. Some of us who shoot 35mm may be responding about printing a group of negatives on one sheet, others may be thinking a large format negative in a contact print frame being printed on a sheet.

John Powers

 

[fschifano]

Bellows extension factor???

Not really. If you measure the light at the baseboard and you know how to correlate that number with the exposure time needed for a "correctly exposed" contact sheet it shouldn't matter at all. Here's the way I do it. I use an enlarging meter that's calibrated to the paper I'm printing with. The calibration is set so that I get 1/3 stop under maximum black no matter what. Knowing that, I place a strip of negatives in the carrier and measure the light hitting the baseboard that passes through the clear space between the frames and use the time indicated by the meter plus 1/3 stop. Because some of the light is lost to the cover glass on the contact sheet "sandwich" the extra 1/3 stop really isn't an extra 1/3 stop. I figure the cover glass at about 10% light loss. I do not use filters with VC papers for contact sheets. To make the exposure, I remove the negatives from the carrier, set up the "sandwich" and make the exposure. Works every time.