Meopta 6 negative carrier masks.

[hoganlia]

Hi folks. I hope I am in the right forum for this.

I bought a set of negative carrier masks (6x6, 6x4.5 and 35mm, there is an upper and lower mask for each) for my Meopta Opemus 6 enlarger from France a few months back and haven't got around to using them so far. I now plan to do so and get into printing some of my 645 negatives at last..
The seller advised removing both the upper and lower glass inserts, or should I wish to keep one in, then the lower glass is enough. I'm just wondering if any members have used negative carrier masks themselves and what experiences anyone has had. I understand that remving both glass inserts reduces dust but are there things I should watch out for?

Any comments or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[koraks]

I understand that remving both glass inserts reduces dust but are there things I should watch out for?

Film flatness mostly. Whether this is a problem depends on many factors. Just try it out and if it's a concern, do some critical sharpness testing to verify you get what you want.
I personally prefer glassless negative carriers insofar as this is feasible (which generally stops at around 4x5" or sometimes a little earlier) because of issues with dust, scratches etc. Others will (violently) disagree and argue that critical sharpness can only be obtained with the rigidity of glass. It all depends!

 

[hoganlia]

Film flatness mostly. Whether this is a problem depends on many factors. Just try it out and if it's a concern, do some critical sharpness testing to verify you get what you want.
I personally prefer glassless negative carriers insofar as this is feasible (which generally stops at around 4x5" or sometimes a little earlier) because of issues with dust, scratches etc. Others will (violently) disagree and argue that critical sharpness can only be obtained with the rigidity of glass. It all depends!

Thanks for replying and for the useful info..

The flatness I am aware of but I need to see the difference myself. I bought two packets of 5x7 (25) and the same for the 8x10. I don't know if the lower contrast is going to be what I want or not, but I will find out.

The lower glass I will remove for sure, the anti-Newton glass... it will also depend on the sharpness for the border I think.