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frustration with condensers
Mike wrote:
Any of you get frustrated with keeping spots, lines, and specs clear when using a condenser? No. I'm using an old Omega DII condenser for 4x5. The original glass wasn't perfect. I found replacements on eBay and ended up using one piece from each set after trial and error. However depending on the exact focus, I still get some lines/spots that show up. Most the time this isn't a problem unless the enlarger height and focus is at some exact spot. I never owned an Omega. I used a B-22 in a night-school class once, and that was junk. But I have seen D-Series enlargers from them in other people's darkrooms, and they seem to be well made. I use a Beseler 45-MCRX. I have more trouble keeping the negatives clean than the condensers. But a long time ago, I got a Zone VI high voltage electrozapper brush (forget its exact name), and that pretty much fixes that except for C-41 in 35mm format, where I seem to get dust in the emulsion, and nothing will fix that. I do not bother to process C-41 in 35mm format anymore, so that problem is fixed. A 1-hour lab had the same trouble with C-41 in 35mm size, so I take the stuff to a real lab. Unfortunately there were just two around here, and both have closed, put out of business by digital cameras an picture cellphones. There is still a good lab in New Jersey somewhere, but it is too much trouble to go there. It might be time for me to plop down $300 for an Aristo V54 head.... I have an Aristo D2-HI and a Zone VI 2-color head. They work, although the Zone VI is not really bright enough, and the regulator for the green tube is not well engineered (takes forever for the green tube to warm up enough to regulate, and there is interaction between the green and blue. I think they do not have heaters for the tubes or, if they do, the one for the green tube is not close enough. Also, I doubt they have color filters in front of the detectors for the tubes, and the green detector can see the blue tube.). But diffuse light sourse is not the miracle that Fred Picker had always claimed. I happen to use them because that way, a contact print and an enlargement print with the same contrast, and I value that. Another thing is that if you use a condenser head light source, you must develop the film to a lower contrast index, which would be no big deal, but it does reduce your effective film speed somewhat (usually around 1/3 stop). -- .~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642. /V\ PGP-Key: 9A2FC99A Registered Machine 241939. /( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org ^^-^^ 11:50:00 up 15 days, 2:37, 3 users, load average: 4.04, 4.08, 4.08 |
#2
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frustration with condensers
On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:04:17 -0500,
Jean-David Beyer wrote: fixes that except for C-41 in 35mm format, where I seem to get dust in the emulsion, and nothing will fix that. I do not bother to process C-41 in 35mm format anymore, so that problem is fixed. February 1, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick, When I tried the black and white C-41 films, I found the same problem. I never processed them myself, but I could not find a lab that could give me negs free of specks when enlarged to 16x20. The negs always looked fine to the eye, but enlargements always showed specks. I solved my problem the same way you did. regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. voice: 416-686-0326 email: net: www.heylloyd.com ________________________________ -- |
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