In need of darkroom printing help

[dxqcanada]

If your time is very short ... and I am guessing your Durst has a colour head ... dial in some filters to lower the light intensity ... hmm, I wonder is someone put in a too high wattage bulb?

 

[laurel91]

I am pretty sure there's no light coming into the darkroom.

"pretty sure" isn't enough. If your darkroom has a light leak you'll never produce a good print no matter what else you do. You have to be 100% sure.

You may also have light leaking from your enlarger or a wrong safelight.

Sorry I worded that wrong, i'm sure there's no light leakage in the darkroom. I've also developed film in there fine and when I was testing the paper it stayed white so guessing that's a good indication.

I'm using a Paterson darkroom light so don't think it could be that but it may well be the enlarger. Thanks!

 

[laurel91]

If your time is very short ... and I am guessing your Durst has a colour head ... dial in some filters to lower the light intensity ... hmm, I wonder is someone put in a too high wattage bulb?

Okay that's a good tip, thanks. I don't have any filters at the moment but will purchase some. Perhaps, I got the enlarger off Etsy from a photography shop so I assumed it would be okay but maybe not. I will email the seller to see if they have any ideas. Thanks for your help!

 

[Original katomi]

Whilst it been a few years since I did film
Have you done a five finger test strip.
I used to have a frame with five fingers on it. Place paper in
5sec close 1 finger 10 sec close second and so on
In theory if all is correct you should end up with a graduate set of exposure

 

[laurel91]

Whilst it been a few years since I did film
Have you done a five finger test strip.
I used to have a frame with five fingers on it. Place paper in
5sec close 1 finger 10 sec close second and so on
In theory if all is correct you should end up with a graduate set of exposure

I've done test strips but I haven't done this , I will definitely give it a try. Just to clarify, do you mean using a blank piece of photo paper and putting 5 fingers over it under the enlarger? And then exposing 1 finger for 5 secs, 1 finger for 10 secs, 1 finger for 15 secs and so on? Thanks!

 

[laurel91]

Just to add, this is the enlarger i'm using https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/803...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details.

The bulb is 75 watt so that shouldn't be too bright, right? I've only just read that it says 'To work with Multigrade paper you need to use filters' - perhaps the problem is that I'm not using the filters?

 

[laurel91]

Update: I've managed to print some photos! I spoke to the enlarger seller and he pointed out that there are two rings on the lens to change the f stop. I had only been turning the first so it wasn't actually changing. He also suggested heightening the enlarger. These were printed using around 2 seconds exposure time, not ideal for dodging and burning... Deff not perfect yet but it's a start. Thanks again for all of your help

 

[dxqcanada]

Ah, so you were not using the enlarger lens correctly ... that explains why you did not see a decrease in exposure after changing the aperture size.

If you use multigrade paper you should have a set of multigrade filters to control contrast.
When you add a multigrade filter it will also decrease the light, so longer exposure times.

 

[laurel91]

Yep and when doing tests strips I also started too high. I started at 5 secs going up to 20/25 however in the end I needed to expose for just 2 seconds. That's good to know, I will deff invest in some multigrade filters. The short exposure time is ok for the moment but think it will become a problem once I want to start experimenting with dodging and burning!

 

[dxqcanada]

... there are two rings on the lens to change the f stop. I had only been turning the first so it wasn't actually changing.

What lens do you have?

 

[laurel91]

Durst Neonon 2.8/50mm Enlarger lens. There's a smaller ring under the ring with the f stops which also needs to be turned.

 

[Original katomi]

Re finger test strips you are correct
The fingers will show exposure in 5 sec sections you can adjust to suit your needs

 

[Rickbb]

With BnW the temp of the chemistry is not as important as having a consistent temp. Room temp is fine. I would always mix the chems up the day before and let them stabilize at room temp and use them there, whatever temp there was. You don't want to start off warm and them let it cool down as you print and vice/versa. You only want to fight one thing at a time. Keep everything stable and adjust only one thing. Use the same chems, the same paper, the same f stop, etc. just vary the time. After you get good consistent results and understand which variable does what, then you can branch out.

When I did test strips I would leave the time at 5 sec, (or 2), then cover all but one inch. Expose, then move the cover over 1 inch, expose and move again. That way you never touch anything but the start button and the cover. That way the last strip gets only 5 sec and each step has exactly a 5 sec difference.