Glass negative carriers

[gedra]

I am setting up a darkroom with an Omega 4x5 enlarger and have glassless negative holders. I do 120 film, possible 4x5 in the future, and consider adding an anti-newton ring glass holder which would fit all formats. Do these offer any significant advantage if negatives are not warped? Thank you.

 

[david b]

They will hold the negative perfectly flat which is a good thing.

The bad thing is that you now have 4 more surfaces which can hold dust and cause you a headache.

 

[RJS]

Should only be 2 suraces, glass on top, AN part touching neg. And yes, they do make a great deal of difference, especially in 4X5. If you have just one for all formats make a mask for each because of flare.

 

[Dan Henderson]

I have had an old 4x5 negative carrier with new AN glass for some time, and never used it. Until I finally decided to try it a few weeks ago. As RJS said, I made a mask to use 120 film, and have had great success with it. I dust the glass surfaces before putting negatives in, and I have had no increase in dust problems whatsoever.

 

[nickandre]

I too have tried glass negative carriers for 120 negative printing. I had great success. I couldn't get the negative flat in the standard holder, and doing this allowed me to include the border as well. I windexed the carrier before using it, let it dry, cleaned the film, and dusted everything before placing it in the enlarger. No dust.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I am setting up a darkroom with an Omega 4x5 enlarger and have glassless negative holders. I do 120 film, possible 4x5 in the future, and consider adding an anti-newton ring glass holder which would fit all formats. Do these offer any significant advantage if negatives are not warped? Thank you.

Printing without glass is like trying to win a 100-m race but stopping at the 99-m mark.

 

[nworth]

There are four glass surfaces to keep clean, but that turns out to be a lot easier than it sounds. I have glass carriers for 120 and 4X5, and I like them. The glassless carriers hold the film decently flat, but the glass carriers are better, particularly when on difficult prints or production runs when you keep the negative under th light for a fairly long time.

 

[Brandon D.]

Would alcohol be a safe alternative to use to clean the glass negative holder (instead of Windex)?

 

[nworth]

Windex and similar glass cleaners are basically water, alcohol, and ammonia. Ammonia really helps in cleaning glass. Alcohol could be used, but it is more expensive than Windex. If you use alcohol, be careful that it doesn't leave a film on the glass - some alcohol preparations do. As long as the glass is completely dry and no alcohol remains on the glass, it can't harm the negatives.

 

[PVia]

Use Windex, microfiber cloths and a negative dust brush...

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Would alcohol be a safe alternative to use to clean the glass negative holder (instead of Windex)?

If you are concerned about Windex residue, use distilled water to clean up after it. This is cheaper than alcohol.

 

[Kimberly Anderson]

Windex diluted down with distilled water, some paper towels and some canned air. NO dust or Newton Rings on my prints from last night. Regular old window glass. I've thought about getting some AR glass for this negative carrier, but so far I haven't needed it.

 

[PKM-25]

I just obtained a 6x6 glass carrier for my 45MX. I have not used it yet, but one thing I have noticed is that one side makes contact first when closing it. The open side is about 1/8th open when the slide closest to the hinge makes contact.

In order to get it flat, it seems like a fair amount of pressure is needed...maybe more than I want to subject my negs to.....is this normal?

 

[mgb74]

FWIW, I was in Costco the other day and bought one of their eyeglass cleaning kits (about $7) in large part because they have free refills. Don't know if it would be any better than Windex or not. Also, some time ago Consumers Report provided a "brew your own" recipe for glass cleaner:

16 oz Isopropyl Alcohol
4 oz sudsy Amonia
1 tsp dishwashing liquid
Distilled Water to make 1 gal

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I still recommend to clean up after the clean-up with distilled water.

 

[SaulB]

I use an LPL C7700 MX with the Universal carrier which comes with 2 pieces of glass, the glass doesn't appear to be anti-Newton as I get rings with it. I ended up printing without the bottom glass, but this makes getting the negative flat hard work.

Does anybody know if there is an AN glass insert set available?

The only the other thing I can think of which would probably be an improvement is to buy the glassless mounts for the different sizes I use.

 

[ic-racer]

I use an LPL C7700 MX with the Universal carrier which comes with 2 pieces of glass, the glass doesn't appear to be anti-Newton as I get rings with it. I ended up printing without the bottom glass, but this makes getting the negative flat hard work.

Does anybody know if there is an AN glass insert set available?

http://www.fpointinc.com/glass.htm

 

[michaelbsc]

As an alternative to this conversation, has anyone got any experience with the Beseler Negaflat carrier for the 45? As I understand it, the thing grabs and pulls the negative flat.

How well does this work compared to glass? Certainly no rings, but how hard is it to get *FLAT*? Seems to me that it may be difficult to load compared to the sheet of glass. But I've never used one; I've merely watched them go by on that big auction site.

 

[Kimberly Anderson]

As an alternative to this conversation, has anyone got any experience with the Beseler Negaflat carrier for the 45? As I understand it, the thing grabs and pulls the negative flat.

We have a couple of those in our darkroom. They do keep the negative REALLY FLAT. There are two 'arms' that run the length of the 5-inch direction. The negative goes in underneath the arms, you swing the lever and this drops the arms down then pulls them outward about 1/8th inch.

I can see it scratching the outside edge of your negative very easily, but you're probably not going to print that part of it anyway. I'd never seen one until this year and although I like it 'in principal', in execution I think that a Plain-Jane mat-board negative carrier is superior and easier to use.

Just make your own if you have to deal with Newton Rings. They are easy and inexpensive to make and you can have a custom size in about 14 1/2 minutes.

 

[raucousimages]

I use Everclear to clean glass holders. It is 95% ethanol and 5% water. It leaves no residue. Some commercial alcohols have additives to make them undrinkable that will leave residue. It is $6.00 for 200 ML and lasts a long time.

 

[glaiben]

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.

 

[mcfactor]

wouldnt that blur the image?

 

[glaiben]

wouldnt that blur the image?

That's my concern too. I did a quick preliminary check by reversing the negative carrier so that the AN was _below_ the negative. When looking thru the focuser, it _appears_ to be sharp on the easel. Will try a print next time I'm doing a session. Was hoping someone might have already tried this.

 

[michaelbsc]

wouldnt that blur the image?

OK, since I've never seen AN glass up close and personal, can someone explain this to me. Is AN glass frosted or something?

I can see how frosted glass on top would kill rings caused by the top glass because it's essentially a diffuser. But I never thought that AN glass wouldn't appear clear like any other peice of glass.

MB

 

[RalphLambrecht]

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.

You only need AN glass on the upper side of the negative. This is the shiny non-emulsion side, which is prone to Newton rings. The lower (emulsion side) does not need AN glass, because the emulsion is typically 'rough' enough to not create Newton rings. If it does, just leave the lower glass out. Yes, AN glass is slightly frosted, and having it in the projected image path would cause blurring.