Glass negative carrier

If you get one make sure it's anti-Newton glass - otherwise you'll spend a bunch of money and only have little marks and circles on your prints to show for it.

Not that I did that, or anything, to find out the hard way....

 

I use a full glass carrier for 4x5 negatives and am happy to spend the short time it takes to make sure it is clean. On smaller formats such as 6x7 and 135, I use a 1/2 glass carrier where there is glass on top of the negative, but the bottom of the carrier is open. Having 2 glass surfaces to keep dust free instead of 4 does make life a bit easier. I use a Durst 1200 enlarger and it is easy to pop glass and negative holders in and out to configure the carrier any way I need. If this is not an option for you I would suggest using whatever glass carrier you can, as I have found the benefits to greatly outweigh any inconvenience.

Richard Wasserman

 

I would say yes, get one. Use anti newton glass on the top and clear glass underneath. Just needs more care with dusting as there are 4 more surfaces brought into play. The reward is perfectly flat negatives during printing and no more popping negatives. I have used one for years and wouldn't go back to glassless.

 

You do not say what is making the negs pop. If it is too much heat from the light source, a heat absorbing glass might be an option.

 

What do yall mean by popping?

 

Would I be able to use a piece of etched or sandblasted glass on top?

 

I don't know about sand blasted or etched glass, but I suspect you would see the pattern. You could try Prazio Anti-Newton spray. It's a fine powder that sticks to film or glass. I would try it on the glass. I have some that came in a Prazio Trial kit for drum scanning. It works fine on film mounted on the scanner so I suspect it will work fine on the glass. Still I would, and did, get anti-newton class for the negative carrier.

 

Good Morning, Jas,

Since you have a Beseler enlarger, consider getting a Negaflat carrier (Negatrans for 35mm) instead of a glass carrier. It is difficult to imagine that anything could hold a negative much flatter than a Negaflat. Negaflat usage requires only the dusting of the negative, not the four additional surfaces a glass carrier has.

Konical

 

The negative will buckle, or "pop" due to too much heat from the enlarger head. Much as slides do in a projector. (You may or may not know about that circumstance either.) This, off course, makes the image go out of focus. Whether or not the neg is damaged depends on the amount of heat and the length of time.

 

Hi, I've used the beseler 6x9 glass carrier on the 23C enlarger and didn't have much problem with dust. It is really not a big problem as people fear. I highly recommend it to keep your negs flat and in focus. You can take out the glass, but then film will not be supported, so it wouldn't work.

You can use a regular (glassless) carrier with a piece of AN glass from a gepe slide mount taped to inside of the upper frame. Make sure to sand the edges of the glass so it won't scratch the film

Jon

 

I've used the LPL 4x5 glass carriers before, and they're a joy. No undue dust problems. but then again that darkroom has compressed air plumbed everywhere which makes life easier in that regard.

 

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You don't say what enlarger and what size negs. I can make up to one minute exposures with a Beseler 67S dichro head with no problems. And as I mentioned, you might just need a heat-absorbing glass under your light source if it is a tungsten bulb. You don't really say.

 

Good Evening Jas,

What John says also goes for me with the condenser-head Beseler 45 enlarger. Never a problem, even with standard negative carriers which I used for decades before acquiring both a Negatrans and a Negaflat. I've always used the heat absorbing glass which came with the enlarger.

Konical

 

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That's why the heat aborbing glass comes with some enlargers. The condensors sometimes act as a heat absorbing glass, but some enlargers need the real thing. I do not know enough about physics to know what makes for a heat-absorbing glass, but it is special, I guess.