Getting negs flat

I'm using a Meopta Axormat Enlarger with a colour head, I am having trouble with film flatness, with some negs I can see that one part of the image is out of focus even though I printed the image at F8. I read in magazine its a good idea to use a half glass carrier, can I get one of those for any enlarger?

Good Afternoon, Ajuk,

The problem could depend on which "one part of the image is out of focus." If one side or the top or bottom looks fuzzy while the opposite is in focus, it's some kind of alignment problem; if the center is sharp and the edges fuzzy (or vice-versa), it's probably a flatness problem. Is this with 35mm film? 120 film?? In either case, most glassless carriers can hold flat such relatively small negatives. Do your negatives look obviously convex when in the carrier? Sometimes, a little carefully-placed tape can help. By the way, f8 is a relatively wide aperture for most B & W printing. F11 or F16 should yield very reasonable exposure times with most papers.

Konical

I'm into negative bondage -- I use masking tape on the edges and pull the film tight across the holder.

Vaughn

I'm with Konical on this one. Check to see that your enlarger is properly aligned first. Even with the most curly of films that I've used, Lucky Pan 100 and 400 in medium format, I've not had a film flatness problem when making modest enlargements without resorting to the use of a glass negative carrier.

Two glass carriers, upper is anti-Newton, and if available, in N. America is around $50 size 9x12 cm (custom cutted).

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