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Using multigrade filters on an older enlarger?

Cybertrash

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2012
Messages
242
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
Format
Multi Format
I recently bought an old Liesegang Rajah V 4x5" enlarger that hasn't got a filter drawer. I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on how to use multigrade filters with it? I currently have a box of the little under-the-lens filters from Ilford, but the holder doesn't seem to fit the enlarger as the swing-in red filter is in the way, and there is no above-the-lens filter drawer as on newer condensor machines.
 
You could just remove the red filter. It's handy for checking the position of the paper before making the exposure, but not entirely necessary. I've lived without one for years.
 
Mickey

You may have to Mickey Mouse (hand make) something. Can you replace the red filter with a fitting to hold the filters? Make sure the old filters have not faded. Good luck.
 
Remove the red filter, and adapt the removed red filter into something that'll slide into the MG Filter holder. It's what I did on my old Omega. After a while printing, I stopped using the red filter, though, as it's not really necessary.
 
You might consider a DIY holder.(there was a url link here which no longer exists) I made for a Valoy enlarger.
 
In the full set of 'below the lens' filters there should be a red filter that replaces the grade filters so you can remove the original red filter with no worries.

Incidentally I have never know a set of genuine Ilford multigrade filters fade. They can be damaged by water, but never known to fade. I have a set which I don't use now, but they are as good as the day they were made and that is over a quarter of a century ago.
 
Simon Galley from Ilford says they do fade and should be replaced about every 5 yrs, I Think.
 
chip j said:
Simon Galley from Ilford says they do fade and should be replaced about every 5 yrs, I Think.
Click to expand...

They fade with use. and also get worn with use. So 5 years with plenty of use is economic and about right. I still have an early set when the higher grade was Yellow and the lower Magenta

Ian
 
I read somewhere about a clamp-on filter holder for the below-the-lens filters, that seems like the most ideal solution, as the type that I've seen (with the attachment that goes between the lens and the lensboard) wouldn't fit on the enlarger. Any idea where I can find one?
 
I made a filter holder for my 8x10 enlarger that fit on the end of the red filter holder stalk:
 
Nice finish on your hand-made filter holder ic-racer!
 
Multigrade filters - old

Ian Grant said:
They fade with use. and also get worn with use. So 5 years with plenty of use is economic and about right. I still have an early set when the higher grade was Yellow and the lower Magenta

Ian
Click to expand...


That difference in colours for grades with the filters you have, sounds very much like Multigrade 2 or 3 type, they were different.

I have a set from the 1950's which were used for the very early original Multigrade, long before the present genre and they are all varying shades of yellow! No magenta in sight. I have never used them. The early multigrade had not been produced for a while when I started darkroom work, I was given them and never bothered to dispose of them - photographic memorabilia!
 

under-the-lens-filters are perfectly fine as long as they are kept clean.
 
fretlessdavis said:
Remove the red filter, and adapt the removed red filter into something that'll slide into the MG Filter holder. It's what I did on my old Omega. After a while printing, I stopped using the red filter, though, as it's not really necessary.
Click to expand...

That's what I did too. I prefer to use a white piece of paper to project and focus,which I replace withthe photographic paper just prior to exposure.
 
I don't think I ever used the red filter on my old enlarger, so I don't have any issues with removing it. In fact, I already tried doing so, replacing it with the standard MG filter holder (I drilled a hole through it in one of the corners and used the same screw that held the red filter in place. Unfortunately the holder wasn't parallel with the lens board (it sort of "sagged"), and it also caused vignetting when using anything larger than a 6x6 negatove mask. I may have to get a shorter screw, and drill the hole more centered.
 
I Have FADED Multigrade filters !! I cannot get anything like a Grade 4 or 5 -- they are not so Magenta as the Grade 3 filter ! -- Also, with my Color head on my LPL C7700 pro I cannot get grade 4 or 5 even with maximum Magenta in 170 units.
 
RE: Clamp-on filter holders, the old ones Kodak made for their Polycontrast paper were that type; it might be worth checking US eBay; shipping for such a light item can't be all that high.

BTW, I remember the all yellow Ilford filters; I used them in the early '60s.
 
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