How big paperenlargements?

[AndersPS]

I think I´m writing in the right forumtread. I just wonder how big enlargement you can get from a B&W 135-film negative? Am I right about that if I have ASA 100 or lower, the bigger enlargement I can do?

///Anders S

 

[Ian David]

Depending upon the look you want, and the capacity of your enlarging gear, you can enlarge a 35mm neg as big as you want.

 

[clayne]

Anders, consider that people will adjust their viewing distance for larger enlargements - so the sky is the limit really.

 

[AndersPS]

Depending upon the look you want, and the capacity of your enlarging gear, you can enlarge a 35mm neg as big as you want.

That´s true. Some want it to be grainy. Why didn´t I thought of that!?

 

[Marc Leest]

I have succesfully enlarged Delta400 (135) negatives up to 50x60cm

greetz, Marc

 

[AndersPS]

Depending upon the look you want, and the capacity of your enlarging gear, you can enlarge a 35mm neg as big as you want.

That´s true. Some want it to be grainy. Why didn´t I thought of that!?

Perhaps a stupid question, but I´m a newbie and want to learn as much as possible before I do something. And as some people say here in sweden; If you never ask you never will know!
Then you can´t do it to a 100% just by reading, you must try and fail, and so until you get it right. Is that right?

 

[DLawson]

Perhaps a stupid question, but I´m a newbie and want to learn as much as possible before I do something. And as some people say here in sweden; If you never ask you never will know!
Then you can´t do it to a 100% just by reading, you must try and fail, and so until you get it right. Is that right?

It is both -- reading and doing.

As I've heard it: A man learns from his mistakes. A *smart* man learns from other people's mistakes.

 

[Chazzy]

It's a matter of taste. If you want me to buy it, an enlargement from a 35mm original won't be larger than 8x10 or 11x14.

 

[Vaughn]

I have seen 40"x60" prints from 35mm. Like someone said -- it can depend on the viewing distance and what one wants it to look like.

Vaughn

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I working on a gallery show of images from a recent trip through China. All shot on 35mm.... All the prints are 20x24.

-rob

 

[ic-racer]

I working on a gallery show of images from a recent trip through China. All shot on 35mm.... All the prints are 20x24.

-rob

Sounds like a great project. Can you share details?
Enlarger and lens?
Wall projection or vertical?
Trays or troughs?
Glass or glassless carrier?
Typical exposure time?
RC or FB?

Thanks

 

[largeformat pat]

Hi,
you look at using PANF to shoot. When you do enlarge remember about your movements and those around the house. When we use to print murals for billboards we used to work at 02.00 so there was no traffic or people movements nearby. we used magnets to hold the paper onto the wall which had sheet metal nailed to it. we painted it with flat paint.
Hope this helps
Pat

 

[AndreasT]

I work in a professional darkroom where I have enlarged 35mm film to the size of about 120x180cm. Hopefully someone will come by soon someday who wants a 35mm film enlarged on the 142cm wide paper. That would be about 140x210cm large. Lecker. My largest size for my own photos has been about 100x160cm done in my living room.
There is nothing sexier than sharp grain corner to corner.
Try it, it is worth it. A lot of work, many things can go wrong but it is great to have such a large print from such a small negativ.

 

[Ian David]

I agree - with the right subject, a really big enlargement from a 35mm neg can look pretty cool.

 

[clayne]

I've often wondered how the pre-setup for mural type prints occurs. Do people use a bunch of small cuts of paper to verify things before committing to the entire sheet?

 

[jfish]

As stated previously, as big as you want. Not only have I printed 35mm negs full frame on 4' wide paper, I've also cropped to make the image even larger. It all depends on the intended purpose and your taste.

 

[AndersPS]

Thank you for your answers! It´s just my taste and how big enlargements I can do on my enlarger that stop me. Ok...in to the darkroom

///Anders S

 

[AndreasT]

There are a few things to concider before you make large prints. At these enlargements the problems grow just as much. You will proberly have a problem with a noemal enlargement lens, since most are made for a 10x enlargement.
You will need something like a Rodagon-G lens otherwise you will get unsharp corners. A 80mm lens may help since they do cover a larger field, but they aren`t made for such large enlarments. Your corners will be well covered but the grain may be soft in general. Make sure your negativ, lens and groundboard/wall are all parallel. The most important is that the negativ and lens are exactly parallel, otherwise your corners will be unscharp.
Something like a lazeralignment tool will help there.
Stop down two stops not more, sometimes one stop is actually better.
Another thing is if the negativ gets too warm it will expand resulting in a grain which moves. It may help to warm up the enlarger for a few minutes.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I've printed 10 images for my up-coming show. All taken on the Zeiss Ikon 35mm ... mostly with the 35mm lens but some with the 25mm.
All the film is Delta 100 or 400. All done in ID-11.
I use an old Fujimoto enlarger (vertical) with a leitz 40mm enlarging lens. All the paper is Ilford Multi-Grade Fibrebase, which I'm hoping to use up so I can switch to Kentmere Bromide (I use if for my 8x10 work with a cold head enlarger) The exposure is F4 at about 25 seconds.
The carrier is not a glass carrier. I'm using trays. I wash them in a proper washer and lay them on towels on the floor to dry. The next day someone flattens them in the drymount press. The photos get drymounted and framed.
After cropping and cleaning up the edges the final prints are 22 1/5 x 16 1/2.

It's not as big a deal as you might think.

-rob

 

[AndreasT]

Well I mean prints that are about 100x150 cm or larger, that is about 40x60 inch. You will have to get trays that are about 130cm or longer, 30-40 cm wide and about 15-20cm deep. The photopaper has to be rolled through the chemicals. It is a hell of a lot of developer you need.