Fine tuning with CP filters

[borgunto]

hi everybody!
Yesterday I printed a black and white negative on a color paper (of course putting a piece of unexposed color negative under the black and white one). I wanted to establish the correct filtering in order to obtain a neuter picture. As a mask I used a piece of unexposed Kodak 160 NC film. It’s the color film I mostly use: so - I thought - the filtering I could easily find with a black and white picture, could be a good starting point when printing a color picture shot on 160 NC. Is that correct?

I know that nowadays a lot of color enlargers are available at bargain prices. But I love my old black and white enlarger, and I use it with a set of CP filters. My set of filters covers the range: 2.5; 5; 10; 20; 30; 40 and 50 for each color.

At the end of the process I found that the correct filtering was something between 50Y/42.5M (imperceptibly greenish) and 50Y/40M (imperceptibly magenta...). I’d say, for example 50Y/41M, but I don’t have a 1M filter...

So, any suggestion? Can I find somewhere 1M and 1Y filters? Or.. ok, I’ll buy a color enlarger

Thank you!
Damiano

 

[Mike Wilde]

If it doesn't melt, stick a 2.5 half way into the gate where the light goes into the diffusion box; if you are a condensor enlarger user, tape a stronger filter inside the lamp housing to change it from beint white to the colour shift you want to try.

It woud seem a lot less work to print onto b&w paper, or even b&w RA-4 paper, if you can find any of the stuff. I have a remnant of a discontinued roll of RA-4 B&W Portra, but it is tinging toward magenta as if gets older.