Dealing with negative carrier halos

I haven't noticed this issue in other darkrooms I've worked in, but having now set up my own space I am getting some significant halo effects around the edges of my 35mm negative carrier. This is impacting my ability to print to the edge of the negative, as the print will end up with overexposed, hazy borders unless I crop in. Before I go filing the carriers, is there anything else I should be looking at?

-The enlarger is an Omega D5XL with a Super Dichroic II color head. The light circle with no negative carrier installed looks correct to my eye.
-I have glassless carriers which are intended for the smaller Omega D-series, but my understanding is that they should work with the D5. (They have the pin holes for registering rather than the circular dish/bump out that I think the D5 carriers have.) They are unpainted aluminum which made me wonder if reflections were causing a problem.
-The only other idea I've come up with is that the lens bellows is not at the right position - none of the documentation I've been able to find shows how to do the rough adjustment on this enlarger.
-I checked the negatives and they're all crisp and properly exposed to the edge of the image. I printed a couple on a different enlarger and did not have an issue there.

backseatpilot said:

They are unpainted aluminum which made me wonder if reflections were causing a problem.
-
-I checked the negatives and they're all crisp and properly exposed to the edge of the image. I printed a couple on a different enlarger and did not have an issue there.

Click to expand...

On the different enlarger was the only difference that the negative carrier was black? Is so it suggests to me that that may be the problem

I had thought that all negative carriers were black for the very reason of what you mention

pentaxuser

Yes, I have some grey reflective metal negative carriers and the reflectivity around the borders could be a problem.

Try applying a very thin coat of rustoleum black paint to the edge with a foam q-tip.

Sorry, I realized on re-reading that I worded this badly. The edges of the print come out hazy white, not overexposed (darker) like I originally wrote.

So the edges are slightly out of focus because the focus is on the negative? If you stop the enlarger lens down more, I assume the edges get crisper. Others may be able to help you better if you post a photo of the carrier.

backseatpilot said:

The edges of the print come out hazy white, not overexposed (darker) like I originally wrote.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a coverage issue, not an issue related to masks, negative carriers or the easel (which can also contribute to problems with darker edges).

Is this (the effect sat the edges) what you are observing?:

If so, I think it comes from the light both reflecting and essentially refracting off the edges of the carriers.
I came to the conclusion that the effect was due to the thickness of the carrier material, and the fact that the carrier material was reflective.
I happened to like that effect when I had my D6, and would look to use it when I could.
Sadly, a downsize meant the D6 had to go to a new home, and I can't reproduce the effect any more on my LPL 7700 with its much thinner negative carriers.

If your problem is like what Matt just posted, then what you see is vignetting and reflections from the edge of the negative carrier, which is too small to let you print out to the edge of the frame. File your negative carrier larger and bevel the edge so there is not a horizontal edge around the opening (the wide part of the beveled edge should be up .) ). Then paint the whole thing with flat black paint. Problem solved. I've done that with all mine.

Best,

Doremus

MattKing said:

Is this (the effect sat the edges) what you are observing?:
View attachment 412672
If so, I think it comes from the light both reflecting and essentially refracting off the edges of the carriers.
I came to the conclusion that the effect was due to the thickness of the carrier material, and the fact that the carrier material was reflective.
I happened to like that effect when I had my D6, and would look to use it when I could.
Sadly, a downsize meant the D6 had to go to a new home, and I can't reproduce the effect any more on my LPL 7700 with its much thinner negative carriers.

Click to expand...

Yup, that's exactly it. Time to break out the files!

Just take a black Magic Marker or Sharpie pen and turn the edges black. See if that does the trick. But I would personally paint the whole thing satin black enamel - I specify satin because fully flat or matte blacks often scuff badly. If you do paint it, make sure the paint is fully outgassed before you use the carrier.

In the motion picture realm we referred to this phenomenon as “gate flare.” Painting the exposed sides of the gate would fix it.

btaylor said:

In the motion picture realm we referred to this phenomenon as “gate flare.” Painting the exposed sides of the gate would fix it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that descriptive term. Every time I've tried to describe it, I've struggled with a label - that one is perfect!

"Gate flare" it is! Perfect description. FWIW, for all my carriers I have filed the edges beveled away from the center and painted them flat or satin black (some of each, and both work well). Really, though, I like to leave a bit of breathing room around my images just to avoid edge-effect problems. I usually crop to a different aspect ratio for each image anyway.

Doremus