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Old 27th February 2011, 10:00 PM
mark d mark d is offline
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Default Contrast problem solved

I have been struggling to get deep blacks and whites in my prints and have just found out what the problem was. It was the multigrade filters I was using. I started using under lens filters after my old enlarger lacked contrast with the colour head. Swapping to under lens filters I got better results (not brilliant but better). I have since got myself a LPL 7700 and fitted it with the under lens filters but being a novice printer I thought my photography was at fault until tonight. I printed a neg using grade 5 @ 15 secs using the under lens filters. I then printed the same neg but using the enlargers colour head set at grade 5 @ 15 sec. The difference was unbelievable. The print has really deep blacks and the whites are pristine. I feel so pleased that a printed the neg after doing a new step wedge and the print was the best print I have ever made, a simple problem fixed has made all the difference.
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Old 27th February 2011, 11:02 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Good news. The problem with under the lens filters is that they wear. Ilford recommends buying fresh every few years or so. It isn't cheap so to do. Dichroic head filters operate on a different principle of interference and do not wear in the same way.

If an authority such as Ralph Lambrecht favours the control that dichroic heads give and no-one seems to dispute that they last much longer than under the lens filters then you have to wonder why those who have dichroic heads bother with under the lens filters.

Unless of course someone here knows different as I have to admit that I have read books by at least one respected printer who advocates under the lens filters. I await the counter arguments, in the constructive debate sense of course as I am not trying to start a war.

Mike
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Old 27th February 2011, 11:32 PM
paulc paulc is offline
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One more thing to watch for with Dichro heads - As the lamps age, the colour changes ever so slightly. The upshot is that you suddenly realise that the prints are not hitting the grade you thought you had dialed in. It is well worth keeping a couple of spare lamps to hand for such eventuality.
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Old 28th February 2011, 08:56 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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What papers are you using ? If Ilford MG !V it is advisable to use Ilford MG 1V filters to get the best out of it.

Neil.
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Old 28th February 2011, 10:33 AM
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Carl V Carl V is offline
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My enlarger has a black & white head rather than colour, and I use multigrade filters which slot into the enlarger filter drawer. I don't have much experience of below the lens filters so couldn't really say which of the two is best.
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Old 28th February 2011, 10:44 AM
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Steve Smith Steve Smith is offline
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Dichroic filters don't fade as they are not actually coloured filters but they use interferenc to create the required colour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichroic_filter

Quote:
Much longer life than conventional filters; the color is intrinsic in the construction of the hard microscopic layers and cannot "bleach out" over the lifetime of the filter (unlike for example, gel filters)

Steve.
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Old 28th February 2011, 10:50 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Smith View Post
Dichroic filters don't fade as they are not actually coloured filters but they use interferenc to create the required colour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichroic_filter




Steve.
Hence my earlier question.
I believe not all enlargers have filters that are capable of achieving the extreme grades though.
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Old 28th February 2011, 10:56 AM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
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With regard to fading of filters, I found this company who sell Dichroic filters, hey have some of the peg, circular and square and some round, as well as a made to order option.

http://www.uqg.co.uk/

Neil
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Old 28th February 2011, 06:58 PM
mark d mark d is offline
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I use Ilford multigrade RC papers and I know the white light lever is down and when I was using the below lens filters I frequently checked that the colour head filters all read zero so i am confident that it was the below lens filters that was a fault.
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Old 4th March 2011, 06:41 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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I am one of those who use and Under the Lens set of Filters

A couple of years ago I was struggling to get a sufficiently hard grade on a print.

In frustration, I stopped printing the Neg and began testing instead.

I printed my 5x4 Step Wedge – mounted in the Neg Carrier

I found two very interesting points

My MG Filter Set were well past their sell by date, while there was a logical progression in paper hardness from G00 to G4 but G4.5 and 5 were only actually G3.5

My Enlarging Lens flared badly, spilling an amazing amount of light out of the print shadows in to the print highlights – which wasn’t doing much for my contrast either.

The MG Filter set were about 15 years old, so perhaps there is something to Ilford claim they should be replaced every few years.

Martin
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