Paterson Test Strip Maker

Micky

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Can anyone tell me if the Paterson Test Strip Printer has a base on which the paper sits onto? If not, then all is good. If so, then I have a couple of further questions.

Do you need to remove the easel to use the device, or does it just sit straight onto the surface on which you lay your paper (easel base)?

Does it give slightly different exposure results to the full size print, or is the small amount of distance of the paper to lens negligible?

Sorry for the silly questions, but I've always just used a piece of board to make strips, but I'd like to speed the process, whilst still giving accurate results.
 

RH Designs

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It has a base which is about 1/4 inch thick. This is enough to throw focus off a bit if you lay it on the easel but doesn't appreciably affect exposure, unless you're making very small prints. It's a handy device but more often than not I just lay a piece of paper on the easel and use a piece of card.
 
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Micky

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Hi Richard, thanks for the info, just what I needed to know.

BTW, nice to chat to you last night on the phone, and I look forward to receiving my Stopclock Pro next week!

Regards
Ty
 

pentaxuser

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I have found that the Paterson's height is very close to my easel's height so no problem but if not then focus neg onto the Paterson, do the strips then refocus on your easel. Certainly the slight difference in enlarger column height isn't going to affect exposure by enough to be detectable IMO

pentaxuser
 

Mike Wilde

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I have found Ralph Lambrecht's idea of making a masking jig to slide the test paper under the same area of the projected image very useful.

It allow different time exposures of the same are of the image to be reviewed. I find it is a very useful improvement, when used with his f/stop printing times approach.

I find that (after many years of learning) I can visually 'eyeball' the white light aperture settign to be somehwere in the 8-16 second range most of the time. I add in the MG filter that I think is my best first guess for the contrast to be used.

I then print 7 1x5" strips onto a piece of 5x7 paper, for times of 8, 10.1, 12.7, 16, 20.2, 25.4 and 32 seconds.

This test strip shows me the nuances of tone that differnt times give. It als guides me if I have picked the right contrast filter as a first guess, and acts as a first step to a guide of where dodges and burns are likely needed.
 

RalphLambrecht

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There is no reason to worry about a focusing issue. First of all, it's a test strip, and secondly, the depth of field will normally cover the focus error. For example, for an 8x10 enlargement from a 35mm negative, the depth of field at the baseboard is 28 mm at f/8!
 

RalphLambrecht

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MattKing

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jerry lebens

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Over the years, I've picked up several Paterson 'Test Strip Makers' but the only use I've ever found for one is to stick it under the darkroom door when I needed some air...

Am the only person here to find it the most gratuitously redundant piece of darkroom equipment ever invented? It's fiddly and it's not big enough to make a proper test strip. At least those incredibly expensive dodging kits actually work and you can even eat a chocolate teapot.

What's wrong with a good old bit of card?

Regards
Jerry
 

RalphLambrecht

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jerry lebens said:
... What's wrong with a good old bit of card? ...
Click to expand...

Only one thing: it can't make a test strip with different exposures of the same image area. I do however agree somewhat with you opinion about the equipment mentioned. That's why developed a different piece of kit, which can do both kinds of test strips. It beats a simple card hands-down, except as a door stop. The card is more flexible to do that job.
 

anon12345

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Jerry,

How would you like another one? You can have mine. ;-)


I like the idea of being able test the same area of the print for each exposure. The only way I can see this working is for the test strip to move in steps. Hey, I can do this.
 

MattKing

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I have a Saunders Colour Proofing Easel that does four identically cropped 4x5 test prints on the same 8x10 sheet - simple, elegant and no moving parts.

Admittedly it is a bit large, and sometimes a 4"x5" "strip" is awkward for tests, but I find it works really well.

I even have the instructions .
 

youngrichard

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I made a test printer to Ralph Lambrecht's design and even uploaded photos to another similar thread on this site last year (but can't work out how to link to it).
Apart from the other pluses noted above, it seemed to me that all the commercial devices gave 6 strips, which means you get 2 or three darker and 2 or 3 lighter strips, whereas I want 3 darker and 3 lighter. I don't want to struggle to remember which was my starting exposure - was it the third or the fourth? And finally my RH Designs Analyser gives me 7 strips automatically, 3 darker and three lighter than baseline. Making a custom test strip printer is a perfect project for a rainy weekend.
Richard
 

CCLA

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I am trying to build the test strip printer as explained in the book, but I am running into a bit of a problem. Where can I get 1/4" plastic sheets? I tried all of the hardware stores, all of the hobby/craft stores but cannot seem to source it. Any ideas?

claudio
 

chriscrawfordphoto

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Try a glass shop or a picture framing shop.
 

GRHazelton

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MattKing

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That link has been revised since it was posted more than six years ago.
My guess is that Ralph would share the pdf with you if you started a Conversation with him.
I've made it a point to download every pdf he has shared with us here. If he is happy to share it again ....
 

Down Under

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Hm. Is someone at Photrio trying to stir up new interest in these long vanished topics? These ancient APUG era links keep popping up out of the dim recesses of the past, at times like old romantic flames one nowadays doesn't particularly want to reconnect with... A few posts I've read of late should have been left to slumber on, like old dogs, but now and then one is worth reviving.

The Paterson test strip printer is useful and easy to use. It has five small 'doors' which flip up and down on a 4x5" sheet of paper, allowing five separate exposures of a fairly large key area of your print. I've found home made print strip testers usually don't secure the test strip which then moves about, throwing the exposures off, or else they are too fussy to be easily used. The Paterson device is quite light (it too can move about on the easel if one isn't careful with it), easily set up and works well with little fiddling and fussing. The base is solid and white, so the image can easily be refocused before testing. I usually remove the easel to use it.

I have had one since the 1990s and I find it useful. I'm no stranger to test strips, for a long time I had a somewhat heavy spring-loaded metal printer I bought in Canada in the '60s, made by Arkay or Burke & James in the USA. It was clunky and cumbersome to use, and when the springs on it popped in the '90s I got the Paterson device. A great improvement.

Most printers use 4x5" paper with it but as most of my negatives are the same contrast a strip of 2 x5" paper usually gives me the times I want for my final prints.

There is also the Ilford 'enlarging computer' which lets you skip paper tests altogether. I've had two since the '90s, both given to me. A tad expensive and they sort of work, but other than this I'll say no more about them, my language may offend. Anyone who has used this meter will understand.
 

Nige

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Yes, it works back to front for me. I want to keep my aperture at it's optimum setting, and vary the time where the EM10 wants you to vary the aperture to match the exposure.

I made my own (it's different enough to claim this!) version sliding bed proof printer based on Ralphs design. Think I've pasted a link to it in here somewhere sometime, but it's probably no longer valid so I've attached here...
 

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tezzasmall

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Interesting to read again (as I have the BIG book mentioned) about the various ways of doing test strips and making test strip devices.

I bought a while ago now, for collecting and out of curiosities sake, an Ilford version of what I believe these later models mentioned are based on.

It is made of metal and is only about 6" long and about 1" wide if I remember correctly and the aperture is only about 1/2" squared, so the various exposures done would be very small.

I must try and find it and give it a go to see the results.

One is currently available on ebay and another is on google images:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ILFORD-TE...113376?hash=item25e1cd3a60:g:l1oAAOSwuxFYuZGm

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=i...AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=916#imgrc=obpW-3e2cWfwkM:

As for the Paterson version, I have used mine for many test strips, although at the moment I used various sized papers other than 10" x 8", which is easy to cut down to the 5" x 4" size required. So, at the moment, I use up to eight 1" wide strips of card, which I lay down one at a time, after each exposure. This simple way allows me to use any sized paper for my test strips, but I have to be careful not to place them too heavily, otherwise the paper moves, causing a ghosting image and an inaccurate test strip. But over all, I think the Paterson items are well made for what they are and do the job, and are especially useful for the beginner in darkroom printing.

Terry S
 
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