Focus or de Focus enlarger when making contact print?

[harlequin]

Dear Apug/PhotoRio members,

Have heard several trains of thought on this.

I am about to make contact prints with glass proofer on 8x10 glossy Ilford RC Paper

A) Should I put in negative carrier and focus until the edges of carrier are sharp and then proceed with
exposure of paper.?

B) Should I de-focus the lens, so that it is not collated and much more scattered and diffuse.?

C) Should the lens be wide open, I know in the past with AZO papers we had the light pretty bright
to compensate for the slower paper speed....?

D) Do you recommend using a polycontrast filter in the path of the light source, I have some 2.5 and #3
pink acetate filters, to give it more punch...? Dektol-StopBath-Fix-Wash, nothing exotic.

Many Thanks, I want the best possible quality for the contact sheets,

What techniques work best for you?

Harlequin

 

[tedr1]

A Yes because this ensures the light projected is even in brightness. If the lamp house is defocused the illumination may become uneven which will degrade the print.

B No for the reason given above

C yes, the Ilford paper is intended for use with filters, if you don't have a set of Ilford filters get one.

 

[Ian Grant]

I adjust the lens so it's slightly out of focus, this is more so m=nay dust ect on a glass neg carrier insert is out of focus.

Ian

 

[bdial]

For contacts, as in a proof sheet, I focus the lens with an empty negative carrier for whichever format in place, and the same f/stop I'd use for an enlargement. If you do all that, then the contact sheet will give you the base exposure for subsequent enlargements.

 

[removed account4]

i focus it so it is crisp and covering the whole base ( and the some )
i dont' stop down for contact sheets ... and if i need MC filters i'll use them
or .. if it is a print
sometimes i use a 300 watt bulb hanging about 3 or 2 1/2 feet up and a pair of sunglasses

 

[Doremus Scudder]

With a diffusion light source, like a cold-light or dichroic head, I always focus the negative carrier on the baseboard, making sure to have ample room around the contact printing area to ameliorate the light fall-off a little. I stop the lens down as well for the same reason (many lenses wide open exhibit more light fall-off than at their optimum stop). In practice, you should choose your f-stop to give you the printing time you desire.

With condenser enlargers, many people I know de-focus the lens to keep dust and other artifacts from showing up on the print. I don't use condenser enlargers, so I really don't know if this is necessary or not.

Contrast filters in the light path is the way to go when using VC papers. You can even split-contrast print if you like or use a different contrast filter for burning, etc.

Doremus

 

[Hilo]

If you just making contact sheets from the whole film: use a softer grade filter (2 for instance) because more will be visible on your images. If you're make a contact print of a larger negative, then you need to test to find the correct grade.

Re the yes no focusing, when I bring up or down the enlarger to the size a little larger than my contact glass I always focus watching the projected edges. But to be honest I never gave this any thought, it is an automatism.

My lens is wide open (mostly 135 film and a 4,5 Focotar) and the standard exposure is around 5 seconds . . .

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Dear Apug/PhotoRio members,

Have heard several trains of thought on this.

I am about to make contact prints with glass proofer on 8x10 glossy Ilford RC Paper

A) Should I put in negative carrier and focus until the edges of carrier are sharp and then proceed with
exposure of paper.?

B) Should I de-focus the lens, so that it is not collated and much more scattered and diffuse.?

C) Should the lens be wide open, I know in the past with AZO papers we had the light pretty bright
to compensate for the slower paper speed....?

D) Do you recommend using a polycontrast filter in the path of the light source, I have some 2.5 and #3
pink acetate filters, to give it more punch...? Dektol-StopBath-Fix-Wash, nothing exotic.

Many Thanks, I want the best possible quality for the contact sheets,

What techniques work best for you?

Harlequin

diffused non-image forming light; expose until blank neg areas are At Dmax.