Dust on negative

Daniel_OB · Jul 3, 2007

I have some system to figure out is there any dust on the negative. I put negative below the lens and turn it. Any dust grain is than visible. Just recently I made enlargement and found one small white point (it was dust on the negative).
What is your system to make sure no dust on the negative when enlarging.

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bdial · Jul 3, 2007

Use a camel hair dusting bush of one brand or another (aka lens brush). Some people like canned air. Lung air works too, if you're careful. Sometimes both brushing and blowing are needed.
Resist the urge to "pet" the brush...

Daniel_OB · Jul 3, 2007

bdial
"Use a camel hair dusting bush of one brand or another (aka lens brush). Some people like canned air. Lung air works too, if you're careful. Sometimes both brushing and blowing are needed.
Resist the urge to "pet" the brush..."

I do use camel hair brash, I do use blower. But air is circulating and always can bring some new dust grain while negative carrier is closing,... The point is when the negative is in the carrier and the image is projected, how at that moment we can make sure no dust (before photo-paper comes).

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bdial · Jul 3, 2007

Unless you are working in a very dusty environment, or the enlarger itself is dirty, dusting the neg immediately before placing it in the elarger is usually sufficient. If your environment is very dry, then you may have an addtional problem of static electricity attracting dust to the neg. In which case you need an ionizer blower, or a brush that is static neutralized, such as a static-master (if they're still around, I'm not sure).
Other than that, if you have a consistant problem of getting dust on the neg before you can get it into the enlarger, or while it's in the enlarger, then some air filtration and a good cleaning of the enlarger is probably needed.

Kilgallb · Jul 3, 2007

Here in Calgary it is very dry. I find it is essential to wipe down the negative carrier and various parts of the enlarger stage with an antistatic cloth. I have used the Ilford Orange cloth and Bounce Dryer sheets.

The biggest thing is to dry your negatives after development in a dust free room. In my case, I run hot water in the darkroom until it is a little steamy hot. this reduces the dust. Then I close the door and do not enter for at least 4 hours.

Jon Shiu · Jul 3, 2007

Hi, this tip works with Beseler 23 and Omega D2 enlargers and maybe others: once the neg is in the carrier and enlarger, just lift the head with the bulb on and peer in, you will see all the dust on top of the neg illuminated. Then blow off or redust, etc.

Jon

Rich Ullsmith · Jul 6, 2007

What Jon says. The great thing is you can drop the head immediately after dusting, or with the cold lamp head, just lay the filter over. Then it's pretty much protected.

fschifano · Jul 6, 2007

...and after that, there's Spotone.

rjas · Jul 13, 2007

It gets extremely dry here in the summer. Once and awhile I'll run a humidifier for 10 minutes before I print to keep the dust down, but just getting the neg as quickly as you can into the enlarger and not fooling with it in the open usually does the trick. Sometimes its just much better to spend a few minutes with some spottone than getting aggravated over dust.

pentaxuser · Jul 13, 2007

My humidity gauge reads between 70 and 80% all year round so I appreciate I do not have the problems that drier climates create but I use a mini neg vacuum cleaner on the neg strips before putting them into the neg carrier and each session I do the same with the enlarger lens. I have an diffuser enlarger which helps as well. I suppose that one of the benefits of a climate that otherwise can deliver all four seasons in one afternoon - even in the Summer.

Dust marks have affected very few prints.

pentaxuser

jeroldharter · Jul 14, 2007

I am not sure I need it but I just bought a Kinetronics anti-static brush from Ebay. Have not received it yet.

My current system works fine. I bought a small air compressor (oilless) like the one Beseler made and use the fine nozzle to blow off both sides of the negative in the carrier before I put the carrier in the enlarger.

As others noted, I periodically blow out the dust in the enlarger bellows and dust the enlarger. I use a central vacuum system in my home and I think that works well for cleaning the darkroom as a whole because it moves the dust elsewhere rather than recirculating it.

I have heard that many people use ionizers, like the ones from the Sharper Image, to help reduce static and dust but I have not tried that.

George Collier · Jul 14, 2007

My darkroom is in the basement, so canned air is enough, I have very few problems. One thing people use to recommend, but you don't hear often today, is to be sure the enlarger frame is electrically grounded, to minimize static charge to the enlarger itself. Don't know how important this is, mine isn't grounded, unless through the 3prong plug.

Peter De Smidt · Jul 14, 2007

Here's a couple of tips. Run a Hepa filter in your darkroom. Wipe down the walls regularly with a wet rag. Do the same to most of the enlarger surfaces, including inside the bellows. Up the humidity a bit, by various ways, just before you're going to load film holders or do any enlarging. Keep you glass negative carrier either closed in the enlarger so that dust can't get on it or in an anti-static bag. I use a foot air blower (available from micro tools) to blow off the carrier and negative. Unlike canned air or a compressor, there's no possibility of shooting liquid (propellant, oil or water) on the negative. Then, I use a Dslr static sensor brush to clean the glass and negative (if needed.) The brushes work by static electricity. First, you use the foot blower to blow some blasts of air through the brush. This give the brush a static charge. Then you gently run the brush over the surfact to be cleaned. After each pass, blast the brush with air to get the dust off the brush and recharge the brush. I also have a Zone VI electrified brush. This work well, but they're expensive and hard to find.

Uncle Goose · Jul 15, 2007

I used to have problems with dust getting imbedded onto the negative while drying. So I bought some large diameter PVC tubes with their cabs, drilled a few small holes inside the cabs (to let the water evaporate more easily) and made some feet on it so it could stand more stable. Costed me about 10 bucks and dust problems went into a staggering fall from then on. It takes a little longer to dry but it's certainly a good solution to remove dust.

Also, I use paper sleaves for the negatives because those plastic ones seem to be too electrostatic and suck dust like a vacuumcleaner.

Kilgallb · Jul 15, 2007

Jon Shiu said:
Hi, this tip works with Beseler 23 and Omega D2 enlargers and maybe others: once the neg is in the carrier and enlarger, just lift the head with the bulb on and peer in, you will see all the dust on top of the neg illuminated. Then blow off or redust, etc.

Jon

Great tip Jon

I tried it this afternoon on my D2 and it works well. I also found dust on my condensor. I ended up completely cleaning the entire assembly.

kaygee · Jul 16, 2007

I use canned air, blow off the negatives and any filters I'm using. After I position the negative it's usually not a problem, but sometimes I get a bit more dust, and then out comes the canned air.

I'm looking into getting those fancy ones that you use a CO2 cartridge for. Seems better and less of a waste to me than tossing out those cans. The initial little gun thing is $20, but then the replacement cartridges are about 50 cents each, and then you don't have to worry about the liquid coming out. Anybody try these? I'm wondering if they're as powerful.

Dust on negative

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