negative carriers

[RJS]

Does anyone know much about the 2 1/4 Beseler Negatrans. Will they all (for whichever size enlarger) work in the 4X5? Is glass a necessity in one? Are they practical?

 

[photobum]

I had one. While it held the film flat it would also scratch it.

 

[Max Power]

I had one. While it held the film flat it would also scratch it.

Holy cow! I thought that the whole idea was that the Negatrans was supposed to prevent scratches!

 

[Claire Senft]

I have used a negatrans. I did not myself experience any scratching. I believe they are useable without the glass..its has been 30 years since I have owned one. They come in different models for the 23 and 45 series is my recollection.

I believe that most anything that speeds the handling of negative and allowing quick orinting of frames seems to lead to a quality reduction for printing. Printing should be contemplative.

A good double glass carrier is a good investment I believe.

 

[RJS]

I have a 35mm Negatrans and with a bit of modifying to ge a somewhat larger frame it works wonderfully well. I can't print the full frame with a black border, but otherwise it is not only a time saver but reduces handling. I was wondering about the 2 1/4 one, never having seen one.

 

[Papa Tango]

The trouble with the different 2 1/4 Negatrans (45 and 23 sizes) is there is rarely any differentiation on the two. They will have no model number, and simply say "Negatrans by Beseler." The model for the 23 does not cover the back of the aperature for the carrier stage on a 45M, leaving over an inch open. So, buying one sight unseen can be a gamble. The 23 model can be used in the 45, but a sturdy piece of light blocking material must be taped to the back, and some registration blocks to center it glued to the frame.

One thing I do not like is that the edge that runs under the transport band is seriously masked out of the available negative print area. This eats up a little over 1/8 of an inch of your negative. Not too swift for those closely cropped scenes...

Although I have the glass platen, I have never used it. Never have had a problem with scratching on films such as fp4, but certainly would not use it for jc/bergger 200 or any other soft, thick emulsion film. For me, this thing is part of my Beseler accessory collection, but was a waste of money for practical work. Just my opinion...

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Each neg needs to be cleaned individually. Whatever you save in handling, you will loose in spotting time.

Like Claire said, glass carrier, take your time, and do it right.