Has anyone filed a Leitz V35 negative carrier to 25x37?

[Puma]

I'm itching to do this because I can't find a pre-made one for sale and I want a sloppy, grungy black border around my prints. Anyone done this?

Thank you,

Puma

 

[fschifano]

I really hate the idea of doing this to a perfectly good negative carrier, especially one that's difficult to find. A bit fiddly, but nonetheless serviceable, carrier can be made from a couple pieces of black card stock with an opening cut out to the appropriate size. I've done the same to make one for both my Omega D series and Beseler 45 enlargers, and they work well.

 

[Puma]

I thought about the fact that I'd be altering a really well made product but the fact is that I don't like images without black borders and that's how I always printed them. The fiddly card stock idea sounds like an alternative that really won't work for me and really I don't like the factory made one either.

The hard part will be actually taking a file to the carrier.

 

[holmburgers]

You want a sloppy, grungy black border and yet using card stock isn't good enough? I'm confused.

I agree with Frank; it's like the people who take a Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 and get a machinist to make it fit onto their dSLR or something. These things aren't made anymore, they're only becoming more rare, and it's just a shame to effectively destroy something that is so distinctively purpose built.

But, whatever.

 

[bdial]

I am not much into the black border thing, and also reluctant to alter that which may not need to be altered.

But, it's your carrier, and it probably won't ever be worth more than it is right now. So if filing is what it takes to make you happy with it as a tool for making prints that express what you want to express, file away.

If you'd rather preserve it, try the mat board thing while you shop for a grungy, maybe pre-filed one on ebay.

It's more hassle, but you can also mask the paper and burn the black border without altering the carrier.
Put the mask in place, give the paper a healthy dose of light with the carrier or the neg removed, then put the neg in and remove the mask from the paper. Make the edge of the mask as grungy as you like.

 

[Maris]

Don't file the negative carrier. I get my black borders a much easier and less destructive way!

I expose the photographic paper in the masking easel in the usual way but before taking it out I cover it with a cardboard rectangle a few millimetres smaller than the picture area. First the rectangle is slid into the upper left corner formed by the easel blades. Then the room lights are blinked on/off for a couple of seconds. Next the cardboard rectangle is slid into the lower right corner and the room light blink is done again. Then the exposed paper goes off to the developer etc. Result? A photograph with black border that is thick or thin, rough or smooth, depending on how you made the masking cardboard rectangle.

Another advantage of this method over the filed-out negative carrier is that it still delivers black borders when you need to crop a negative!

 

[Puma]

Okay, I will give the masking idea a shot. It seems much more practical than trying to align card stock in the enlarger head. I will also look for a factory 25x37 that would be more suited for filing so that someone else can have a stock version. It isn't that I want to defame history, I just always appreciated that look and I feel like my eyes fall off the edge of the print without them.

 

[tomalophicon]

Why not just do it, you can always mask off the grungy border if you don't want it anymore. It's only a bit of metal. Who cares!

 

[Rick A]

If you have a 6x6 carrier, mask it off to your dimensions, then you can make the borders as crappy as you desire.

 

[Lee L]

If you have a 6x6 carrier...

It's a V35 enlarger. They never made a V66. :confused:

Lee

 

[Rick A]

Oh, my mistake, so shoot me.

 

[Lee L]

Oh, my mistake, so shoot me.

How about we just make you sit through Battle: Los Angeles?

Yeah, probably too severe... and you might actually prefer being shot.

Lee

 

[jerry lebens]

I've never tried it, but I understand that Kaiser 35mm neg carriers fit the V35, maybe you could find one and file that out instead?

Regards
Jerry

 

[frobozz]

Don't file the negative carrier. I get my black borders a much easier and less destructive way!

I expose the photographic paper in the masking easel in the usual way but before taking it out I cover it with a cardboard rectangle a few millimetres smaller than the picture area. First the rectangle is slid into the upper left corner formed by the easel blades. Then the room lights are blinked on/off for a couple of seconds. Next the cardboard rectangle is slid into the lower right corner and the room light blink is done again. Then the exposed paper goes off to the developer etc. Result? A photograph with black border that is thick or thin, rough or smooth, depending on how you made the masking cardboard rectangle.

Another advantage of this method over the filed-out negative carrier is that it still delivers black borders when you need to crop a negative!

...but you actually lose part of your image that way. The filed out carrier gives you every last photon that struck the film originally, plus the black borders. (Which to me is the point of the filed out carrier, not necessarily the black borders themselves, though they come along for the ride.)

Duncan

 

[Maris]

...but you actually lose part of your image that way. The filed out carrier gives you every last photon that struck the film originally, plus the black borders. (Which to me is the point of the filed out carrier, not necessarily the black borders themselves, though they come along for the ride.)

Duncan

Technically correct but it raises an interesting philosophical point. The extreme edge of the image was never seen unless the camera offered a 100% viewfinder; Nikon F perhaps. Because the edge was not seen it never passed through the mind of the photographer and the artistic claim to it is short of 100% valid. Perhaps the black border should crop the photograph to what was seen in the viewfinder.

 

[david James lee]

I understand you perfectly. I do have the original 25x37mm carrier, you can still buy it directly from leica new jersey for about 300.00u.s. it has double antinewton glass, so filing a carrier will never give you the same results.

 

[Gil]

I have done this to my V35 carrier and it was not a problem. You have to keep in mind that when you file down the carrier it will leave very tiny burrs. To remove them, use 220 to 320 grit sand paper. After sanding down the burrs, slide your finger over the area you filed to make sure that all the burrs are removed. You must sand both sides of the carrier. What I also did after the sanding was to use a strip of negatives with six frames and slide them side to side on the carrier to make sure there are no scratches. (Use a negative strip that you don't need.) Before you begin, remove the top part of the carrier that has the anti-newton glass so as not to damage it. To do that, turn over the carrier and lift up the two springs and they will separate. When you file the carrier down to the final size, you're probably going to end up with a small black border (not very large) because of the two strips of red filter on the carrier on the top and bottom. You don't want to get too close to the red strips because you will compromise the integrity of the carrier.

 

[Puma]

Thanks for the valuable insights. All I have to do now is muster the guts to start filing.

-Puma