I've been having struggles printing recently, though not every time I was in the darkroom. Prints were flat, I was having to use very high contrast, even though the negs looked OK. At first I thought it was the film - Delta 3200 - maybe I wasn't exposing or developing correctly, but then I started having the same problem with other films. Hmm... the enlarger. I wiped off the lens and condensers, dusted the whole thing, checked to make sure everything was properly aligned..... no change.
I wondered about the paper - a 250 box of MGWT I was nearing the end of - should I have been taking out a bit at a time and leaving the big box in the freezer? How long ago did I open that box? But no - a newly opened box didn't make a difference. Prints still flat and just kinda weird. I cleaned the enlarger again.....
Today I finally twigged that I'm printing 4x5 without any problem, it's the medium format that's giving me grief. I'M USING A DIFFERENT LENS! The 135mm is fine, there's something going on with the 80mm. I took it outside in the sunlight and looked through it. In the dim of the darkroom, I'd been clening the lens, but not holding it up to a bright light. It was fogged between the 2 elements! Disassembled the lens and cleaned ALL the glass surfaces, replaced it in the enlarger and Heh Presto! A lovely crispy print on my next attempt.
I wasted alot of paper before I figured this out.
I'll be smarter next time.
I wondered about the paper - a 250 box of MGWT I was nearing the end of - should I have been taking out a bit at a time and leaving the big box in the freezer? How long ago did I open that box? But no - a newly opened box didn't make a difference. Prints still flat and just kinda weird. I cleaned the enlarger again.....
Today I finally twigged that I'm printing 4x5 without any problem, it's the medium format that's giving me grief. I'M USING A DIFFERENT LENS! The 135mm is fine, there's something going on with the 80mm. I took it outside in the sunlight and looked through it. In the dim of the darkroom, I'd been clening the lens, but not holding it up to a bright light. It was fogged between the 2 elements! Disassembled the lens and cleaned ALL the glass surfaces, replaced it in the enlarger and Heh Presto! A lovely crispy print on my next attempt.
I wasted alot of paper before I figured this out.
I'll be smarter next time.
