Enlarger type for night shooter

I know that there have been lots of "which enlarger"threads just wondering if any night shooters have a favourite type or make

OK, do you mind telling me how being a "night shooter" makes a difference in usage/selection of an enlarger.

ac12 said:

OK, do you mind telling me how being a "night shooter" makes a difference in usage/selection of an enlarger.

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I was wondering exactly the same thing.

Yeah, what difference does it make to your enlarger or darkroom what time of day or night you shoot your photos?

Night shots, potentially thinner negatives, you are best getting a good diffesuer enlarger keep away from condenser enlargers which tend to show up dust spots etc.

Ian

Ian Grant said:

Night shots, potentially thinner negatives, you are best getting a good diffesuer enlarger keep away from condenser enlargers which tend to show up dust spots etc.

Ian

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Thanks Ian sounds like good advise

ac12 said:

OK, do you mind telling me how being a "night shooter" makes a difference in usage/selection of an enlarger.

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I don't mind telling you that I don't know the answer to your question hence I asked the question, but Ian does have some advise

You won't have the dust if you are clean enough. That is a trait which requires constant practice. Then it happily becomes habit. - David Lyga

Honestly I think the suggestion for diffusion, if you can find one suitable, is good regardless. I print with a condenser head but that's because that's what I have and can find. Diffusion tends to be either color heads (which are great for VC B&W and I'd love to have one but don't) or cold light, which has other issues like stability. There are some LED diffusion heads available as add-ons and I may spring for one later if finances allow.

I use both condenser and diffuser enlargers and have both in the darkroom although I prefer printing with the colour heads on the diffuser enlargers because I'm using Multigrade papers, (there's 4 or 5 enlargers in my darkroom).

Regardless of the light source though I've found that with 35mm negatives I prefer glass in the bottom of the carrier and a metal mask in the top that way I have no dust problems, glass in the top is two more surfaces that seem to be prone to dust. For larger formats I use glass-less carriers, sharpness corner to corner has never been an issue.

Ian