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).

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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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