Glass negative carriers

[Brandon D.]

Any qualms with using a small hair dryer as a blower on negatives?

It worked like a charm on my glass holder, but I'm curious about whether or not it'll be safe for my negatives. Thanks!

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Any qualms with using a small hair dryer as a blower on negatives?

It worked like a charm on my glass holder, but I'm curious about whether or not it'll be safe for my negatives. Thanks!

I use a small compressor from Calumet, which works fine. I don't think your hair blower is a problem either, but I'd prefer a hair dryer with an option to turn the heat off. Blowing air over the negative is not as effective but gentler than using a brush. Even if a brush is eventually needed to remove more stubborn particles, a prior air treatment is recommended to reduce as much abrasives as possible. Of course, a highly compressed air flow will do a better job than a gentle hair dryer. On the other hand, mine is strong enough to rip the negative out of my hands and send it to the (dusty) floor a couple of times.

 

[nsurit]

Although not for the Omega, Beseler makes a carrier that grips the edge of the 4X5 negative and holds it flat. Anyone use one of these? If so, how does it work? Bill Barber

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Although not for the Omega, Beseler makes a carrier that grips the edge of the 4X5 negative and holds it flat. Anyone use one of these? If so, how does it work? Bill Barber

Bill

Search APUG. There have been several posts about this carrier, all positive (I think) as far as flatness goes, but concerned with negative damage.

 

[Peter De Smidt]

Does anyone use AN glass on both sides of the negative? I still get occasional Newton rings and am considering switching out the lower plate of clear glass for another AN piece.

Yes, Howard Bond does, for example, and his prints look pretty good, although his enlargement factor isn't that big. Some of the new films, such as 100 Tmax and Acros, have very shiny emulsion sides which can cause Newton's rings with regular glass.

Anti-Newton glass has a fine texture which breaks the interference pattern of light bounced between two shiny surfaces. You'd think that having a textured piece of glass in the optical path would be a no-no, but it isn't always so.

For example, I have a Screen Cezanne scanner, a huge professional flatbed that cost about $30,000 new. It's main scanning bed had a very fine anti-Newton texture. Convinced that this would cause a problem, I build a scanning bed using optical glass. At 5300 spi, I can see no difference in sharpness or detail between scans made with the two beds at 100% on my computer screen, which would equate to a gigantic print size.

One thing to be aware of is that the texture size of anti-Newton glass varies from supplier to supplier, and some might degrade the image. The only way to know if it'll work for you would be to test it.