Glass Carriers and APO Lenses

I recently switched to an enlarger with glass carriers and an APO lens. My prints were always good, but never quite had the sharpness of digital files. I always told myself it was because it's film and cannot have pixel-level sharpening algorithms applied to them, and I mostly photograph with small format equipment. I was mistaken. I have reprinted quite a few negatives I am intimately familiar with (I have prints hanging on the wall that I see everyday) and have been quite shocked at the difference. The grain has a biting quality and texture to it (like sandpaper) with localized areas having increased contrast. The appearance of the new prints next to the old prints is almost jarring. It's also nice not to have to worry about negatives popping out of focus (which completely ruined several larger prints, which went unnoticed until AFTER toning and washing!!!).

If you were on the fence about trying out higher end enlargers please do not hesitate.

A digital file is an abstact entity, composed of numbers. It does not have "sharpness" as a characteristic. It has a "Sum" and "Mean" and if ordered correctly and converted to some analog format it can be viewed.

had the sharpness of digital files

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A digital file is an abstact entity, composed of numbers. It does not have "sharpness" as a characteristic. It has a "Sum" and "Mean" and other properties of numbers. If ordered correctly and converted to some analog format it can be viewed.

ic-racer said:

A digital file is an abstact entity, composed of numbers. It does not have "sharpness" as a characteristic. It has a "Sum" and "Mean" and other properties of numbers. If ordered correctly and converted to some analog format it can be viewed.

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Fair enough. My intent was not to compare the two. My workflow is completely analog.

Nathan,
Thank you for that piece of information. I don't have an APO lens or an enlarger that will use use its capabilities -but will certainly Mark one of those up as a next buy.

I would love to see the difference. It is gratifying to know you found the weakest link in your workflow and improved it. I am sure it re-energizes your passion. Thanks for sharing.

APO lenses are better, no surprise. IF YOU were using some old 4 element lens, it will be a bigger jump than from a 6 element.

next thing is to make sure the negative carrier is properly aligned to the easel.

I use APO and glass carriers and purchased a laser aligner to keep it all balanced..

I don't own any true APO lenses, so I can't comment on how much better they are than quality 6 element lenses from Nikon, Rodestock, et al. But the glass carrier and aligning the enlarger are probably the most critical things to fix for most people who have soft prints. Have you gone back to compare your older lens on the new enlarger to see how much of it's the glass carrier?

By the way I made a simple 3D printed stand to hold a pistol laser scope. For $20 to $40 in parts you can build your own laser alignment tool.

Glass carriers are great. I have not had the chance of using apo lenses but I have a number of wide angle enlarger lenses that are quite sharp and even have a slight edge to their standard length counterparts. Besides alignment, I think a good quality grain magnifier/focusing aide helps a ton. Just be sure to adjust the eye piece to get proper focus.

Have you gone back to compare your older lens on the new enlarger to see how much of it's the glass carrier?

I agree the glass carrier probably makes the biggest contribution. I have a device called a Focoblitz which has an optical sensor and magnifies the grain which is seen on a cathode ray screen. It is not so much negative "pop" as negative "creep". In other words the curling of the negative in the heat may be a pop but there is a slow deformation before and after the pop which then reverses when lamp is turned off to put paper in easel, and you can watch it happening in real time on the screen. Since I observed this I am in no doubt that the only way to sharp focus with heat-producing lamps is with a glass carrier.
Perhaps I am lucky in that dust is never a problem in my cellar darkroom.
Richard

Yes, you can literally watch the grain go soft as everything heats up. I will print using my El-Nikkor to see how much is the carrier. My bet is 75% is from the improved flattness.

youngrichard said:

Have you gone back to compare your older lens on the new enlarger to see how much of it's the glass carrier?

I agree the glass carrier probably makes the biggest contribution. I have a device called a Focoblitz which has an optical sensor and magnifies the grain which is seen on a cathode ray screen. It is not so much negative "pop" as negative "creep". In other words the curling of the negative in the heat may be a pop but there is a slow deformation before and after the pop which then reverses when lamp is turned off to put paper in easel, and you can watch it happening in real time on the screen. Since I observed this I am in no doubt that the only way to sharp focus with heat-producing lamps is with a glass carrier.
Perhaps I am lucky in that dust is never a problem in my cellar darkroom.
Richard

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