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Old 12th January 2012, 07:25 PM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Dengie Peninsula
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Just adding to what Tony says - First of all, a sharp negative is needed. Do you know anybody who can print one of your negatives for you? This will tell you first of all if there is a problem with your camera/lens combination, or if the problem lies with your enlarging. If you could get someone to lend you a negative from which a known sharp print has been made this will serve the same purpose. If the trouble is definitely at the enlarging stage, then Dave makes a valid point, if you use a focus finder it could be faulty. try focussing by eye, assisted by a magnifying glass if necessary. If the negative carrier is not properly parallel with the lens mount you will find that part of the print is sharp but the rest isn't. A glassed carrier holds the negative flatter, but this is unlikely to be noticed if the lens is a couple of stops down from wide open. Certainly a negative can "pop" in a glassles carrier but this shouldn't be a problem if you only stop down immediately before exposing the paper. You would notice the chage in focus with the lens wide open. If you eliminate these problems, then you could have a defective enlarging lens.

Hope you get it sorted without any expense.
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