Modifying 35mm carrier for full frame - Anybody?

holmburgers · Feb 12, 2010

Howdy,

I've got a Beseler 35 Printmaker (yippee) and with it came the standard 35mm holder. I've never understood why one would want to crop the negative in the first place (yes, I know, aspect ratios), I mean, 35mm is small enough, might as well squeeze an extra mm out of it!, RIGHT!? Regardless, it's my desire to have a full frame holder.

So, in lieu of spending $80 for a FF holder, I'd like to modify my current one. Has anyone ever done this? What tools, methods do you recommend?

I have access to a Dremel, and could buy the necessary bits.

Thanks y'all

Chris H.

bdial · Feb 12, 2010

You probably don't need to remove very much metal, a file, or even sandpaper will be better than a dremel. If you have a vice for holding it, that would be good. Just remove metal from all four sides of the opening, until you get it to the size you want.
If you do it with sandpaper wrap the paper around a small piece of wood or something so it stays flat. 180 or 220 grit would probably work well, and maybe finish it off with some 400.
The aluminum will load up the file, a wire brush or a file card will help to clean it out some.

fotch · Feb 12, 2010

If using a file, chalk it first to keep materiel from sticking in the grooves. Do this regardless of material your filing.

holmburgers · Feb 12, 2010

cool, that sounds very doable. thanks

Jon Shiu · Feb 12, 2010

Hi, file out each side separately, with a bevel from the outside. Smooth everything out so the negs won't get scratched. Have a scrap neg to put in as you are filing, to gauge the border. Paint the border with flat black paint (or not if you want a more messy border effect).

I've actually made a full-frame carrier for 35mm and 6x4.5 for the Beseler out of mat board before.

Jon

holmburgers · Feb 12, 2010

what kind/grade of file would you recommend? right now i've either got a rasp or a finger nail file. i'm thinking i'll need to split the difference, eh?

perkeleellinen · Feb 12, 2010

When I filed out a carrier I used small Swiss files, they were good for getting into the corners. You probably only need to take off 1mm.

http://www.rescuepearl.com/6-pc.file-set.jpg

Jon Shiu · Feb 12, 2010

I used a flat mill file and then finished off with a small automotive "points" file. It takes a surprisingly long time to file it out.

Jon

holmburgers · Feb 12, 2010

thanks guys. Sounds like a "free night and some beers" type of project.

richard ide · Feb 12, 2010

Easier if you only file 2 sides. The amount it will be off center won't matter.

holmburgers · Feb 12, 2010

agreed

fschifano · Feb 12, 2010

Check to make sure that the full frame version of the negative carrier is of the glass type. I'd be worried that without the glass to support the negative, it will not lie flat enough in the carrier to insure edge to edge sharpness. With a standard 35 mm negative carrier, this isn't much of a problem; but it might be if there isn't a whole lot there to support the negative when the carrier is filed out. So before you go filing out a negative carrier, take a look and maybe get a spare in case it doesn't work out.

Jon Shiu · Feb 12, 2010

richard ide said:
Easier if you only file 2 sides. The amount it will be off center won't matter.

Well, if there are "pins" in the holder to position the film strip, that won't work.

Jon

Mike1234 · Feb 12, 2010

The carriers for my 45 MCRX were fairly thick so I first filed the aperture to be FF then beveled the edges so the innermost edges were very thin to prevent edge shadowing. I then took fine snadpaper to remove any sharpies... 300 to 600 too 1000 grit (nearly a polish). Then I painted the edges flat black.

Rick A · Feb 12, 2010

If it were mine, I would not file out my neg holder, I would make a FF holder out of matboard instead. There are times when you may not want a FF print. I have both a regular and "filed out" versions of 35 neg holders, and rarely use the FF, as I dont always want to see the sprocket holes in the print.

Rick

Mike1234 · Feb 13, 2010

Rick... I don't get the impression that the OP wants to print the sprocket holes. He just doesn't want the outer edges of the film frame blocked by the negative carrier which nearly all carriers for any format do to eliminate bright light sneaking around the unexposed edges of the film.

holmburgers · Feb 15, 2010

Mike1234 is right, I don't want any sprocket hole prints, just the full image captured by my camera. However, maybe it does make good sense to just make it out of matboard, in case I screw up or something. I'm not really sure what kind of matboard you're referring to though. Any place with instructions for this? I'm sure I could figure something out if you point me towards a suitable material.

Thanks everyone!

*RIP Aerochrome Color Infrared.....

Tim Gray · Feb 15, 2010

I did this weekend with an old carrier I had lying around. It took a surprising amount of time. I used a single cut mill file, some 320, and some 600 grit sand paper.

All in all, the full frame carrier I got off of ebay for $20 is way better. Maybe look on ebay for the real deal?

Anon Ymous · Feb 15, 2010

holmburgers said:
Mike1234 is right, I don't want any sprocket hole prints, just the full image captured by my camera...

Which makes me wonder if your camera has 100% viewfinder and if it's worth the effort. A typical carrier is probably 23x35mm, which is 93% of a 135 frame.

holmburgers · Feb 15, 2010

It's worth it. Plus, I want to be able to have the black border. That's 7% that I paid for and want back!! ;-)

Plus, I compose in my VF with the understanding that's is 93%

I'll look on eBay, but so far I've had no luck. What terms might people use? Full frame, full format, full-frame, full-format, ff..... anything else I'm missing?

Tim Gray · Feb 15, 2010

Well I have a Beseler 23C, so I just search for 'Beseler carrier'. That seems to show the most options. I have to weed out the models for other enlargers, but it's usually not *that* many. If you know the model number, that might help too, but they aren't always listed by model number.

ic-racer · Feb 15, 2010

I'd get another standard holder and file one of them to a larger size. When the file marks are included in the print they are a unique identifier for your prints.

If you are not interested in showing the file marks, but just want the black border, a glass carrier is nice.

holmburgers · Feb 15, 2010

The model I want is the Beseler carrier #6738, as opposed to 6737 for the non-FF one. I may just buy another **37 & experiment on that, or I found a FF for a considerably more reasonable price at collectiblecameras.com. We'll see.

Colin Corneau · Feb 15, 2010

You can't go wrong filing out a carrier. If you get far enough to get sprocket holes, you can crop them out (to get just the black frame edge) with your paper easel.

Be sure to sandpaper it smooth as glass afterwards - you don't want sharp metal edges scratching your negs. I've done several now and it's easy as pie - an hour or so work, tops.

holmburgers · Feb 15, 2010

well if you say so

Modifying 35mm carrier for full frame - Anybody?

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