Enlarger head: Is this normal or is it a light leak?

Photopathe · Apr 7, 2019

Hi! A simple question about my "new" Beseler 45MX with Ilford multigrade 500H head. I am just beginning with darkroom work. Here is a picture and I would like to know if it is normal to have this light coming from the front/sides of the negative stage. If I put some pressure on the front part I am able to eliminate it so I guess a quick fix would be to put a strong paper clip or two on the front lips. Still I would like to know from experienced user if this is a fault in the enlarger head.
Thanks!

jim10219 · Apr 7, 2019

It's normal, and it's a light leak. Most negative carriers come with a foam ring to help seal the gap. And if your negative carrier holder isn't aligned properly with the negative carrier or the negative carrier itself is damaged, you can get a light leak. So something if probably off here.

That being said, most everyone will have a little bit of light leaking at that point. It's hard to have everything line up perfectly and seal out all of the light. This light leak is pointed outwards and not down towards the paper, and the light leak only happens while the film is getting exposed, so it's not usually going to cause any issues, unless the light bounces off something in the room and reaches the paper in a significant amount. That's also one of the many reasons why darkrooms are often painted dark, at least around the enlarger.

I don't think I would worry about it unless it's fogging your paper. So it can be a problem, but it's often not.

Steve Goldstein · Apr 7, 2019

My Beseler 45 has the same leaks, which John Sexton refers to as "the rings of Saturn". The first thing I did was to put black flocking on the walls around the enlarger. On my glass carriers I taped some pieces of cardboard inside the carrier on the opening side to block light from escaping towards me - I was concerned it might reflect off my glasses onto the paper. I also used flat black paint on the edges of the carrier glass to reduce the amount of escaping light - I painted it on by had after first removing the glass from the carriers (easy).

The last thing I do may not be a good idea with your Multigrade 500 head, but I'll just throw it out there. I use an Aristo cold light head, which is cylindrical and just sets into the top in place of the usual condensor head. It doesn't get especially hot and has no active cooling, but it leaks a very impressive amount of light towards the ceiling. I cover the whole thing with a black towel big enough to also block the residual light coming out the sides. If you have fan cooling you need to be really careful not to block air inlets and outlets, and this might not be a good idea in any case if the head gets really hot during use.

btaylor · Apr 7, 2019

My Beseler 45 leaks a pretty fair amount of light. I taped some black cloth “drapes” around the offending areas, no more leaks. It was easier than painting the area around the enlarger black too.

darkroommike · Apr 7, 2019

I have one D2 with a leak, I used to use one of those ear warming headbands, slipped it around the condensers and then pushed it down into place after I inserted the carrier.

StepheKoontz · Apr 7, 2019

I just use a couple of "spring clamps" on the front corners of mine to close up this gap.

jvo · Apr 7, 2019

yup, it's a normal light leak!!!

my 70+ year old omega d2, all properly aligned, has had small-ish one and it's never been a problem. if i held up my hand, nothing is projected on to it, so i guess that would determine it to be a problem i needed to address...

MattKing · Apr 7, 2019

For photographic paper - not a problem.
Might be a problem if you are using the enlarger as a light source for exposing something much more sensitive - for example film for unsharp masks.
For those, you might need to shield that area temporarily.

Photopathe · Apr 8, 2019

Ok, thanks everyone!
And I’m going for the clamp solution...

Enlarger head: Is this normal or is it a light leak?

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