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Old 2nd February 2022, 09:32 PM
Keith Tapscott.'s Avatar
Keith Tapscott. Keith Tapscott. is offline
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Question Enlarging meters

Is an enlarging meter a worthwhile investment?
Not sure what else is available, but the zone master 2 from rh designs is far too expensive to consider.
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Old 2nd February 2022, 11:56 PM
John King John King is offline
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I have never considered one because there are so many variables with B&W printing it can be just as easy using test strips. Variations can come from the different tones/contrast of the negatives and if you use Multigrade papers, different grades can give different exposures.

Ilford state using their 2 filter option - a mixture of yellow and magenta will give even times yes it does work up to a point but a denser negative can throw this into freefall.
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Old 3rd February 2022, 10:26 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Hi Keith, there are a few enlarging meters around such as the Ilford em10, but by far the best are the RH designs range, I have uded the analyser/pro for many years now, expensive to buy yes, but it has paid for itself many times over in saved paper costs, I get a perfect print first time 99% of the time, and with it you retain ull control over the finished print, you can decide what grade you want to use, what and where you want to dodge/burn,Etc using the grey scale, and you can easily make your own scale to suit the paper you are using,, for me worth every penny, and both the zonemaste and analyser/pro have improved over the years, best darkroom tool I have ever invested in, and it is simply that a tool to get you to the print you want easily without alll the paper you would waste with various test strips, saves you a fortune in paper.
Richard
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Old 3rd February 2022, 11:24 AM
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Thanks Richard, I just wish the zone master 2 wasn't so expensive. It would work with my stop clock pro nicely.
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Old 3rd February 2022, 11:39 AM
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I have such a thing and only use it for testing films / measuring density. After all measuring you need a test strip anyway. Why not start with the test strip and avoid testing all the papers?
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Old 3rd February 2022, 12:33 PM
Terry S Terry S is online now
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Almost like Richard, as I have two of the RH design units. One with the exposure probe, which I have connected to my main enlarger, that does my 35mm and 120 negs and at the moment a probe-less 'spare' one, which I intend connecting to my 5 x 4 enlarger, when hopefully I start to dabble in this format in the summer, using both film and paper negatives of this larger size.

Yes, I have calibrated the units exposure to how I like a print to look generally, but I still do at least one test strip based on the exposure given by the meter, although as Richard says, the recommended base exposure is quite often spot on and the one that I choose to print with. The actual unit does so much and I know that I am using only a small percentage of what it is actually able to do, using it mostly for the f-stop exposure system, which I quickly came to prefer over the 5, 10, 15 second system.

Based on the above, if I were to look at buying one now, (both of mine are secondhand from ebay UK), I might buy a different unit as long as it had the probe. I say this as how ever hard I try, I am still no closer to being able to judge a rough exposure by just looking at the projected image on the baseboard. I think for this, I just need to try harder, but especially for when I come to use my 5 x 4 enlarger!

So, if you are happy with the 5, 10, 15 second way of working, carry on and good for you, but I much prefer the way that I work now.

Terry S

P.S. And yes, both secondhand and new, the units are expensive, but I would pay full price for one now if need be.
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Old 3rd February 2022, 04:38 PM
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No - I would say not.

I have a RH Zone Master 2 and don't seem to get on with it at all

No doubt it is a fabulous bit of kit and it must just be me but there must be a way of using it that I just have not got my head around.

Very few of my prints go from Zone 0 or 1 to Zone 9 or 10 in any case.

Maybe you are better at predicting what you think your zones with be on a print but I seem to need to see at least one print before I know what I want.

I really bought it, so I could get in to the ball park with my initial exposure but I've found that having settled on to one photographic paper, I get in to the ballpark by just doing a test strip using 1/12 stops on my RH Stockclock.

Martin
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Old 3rd February 2022, 05:46 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Test strips or meter

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uwe Pilz View Post
I have such a thing and only use it for testing films / measuring density. After all measuring you need a test strip anyway. Why not start with the test strip and avoid testing all the papers?
My thoughts exactly.
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Old 4th February 2022, 05:23 PM
ExploringDR ExploringDR is offline
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Great thread. I've been eyeballing the RH Designs Analyzer for printing photos of people mostly. People in action, people in their environment. My thinking was priority one would be placing skin tone on the exact tone I seek. Secondarily, adjusting contrast by the shadow and highlight bookends. Seems the Analyze would expedite this.

I find I spend/waste time and paper fussing to get close to what I want. Time is most important because I won't go print if I have a limited amount of time.

All could be my newness to darkroom, but my hope is the Analyzer will dial me in much faster so I can get on with "perfecting" my work print.

Am I just too inexperienced, or are my assumptions about how the Analyzer could help me close to the mark? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk
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Old 5th February 2022, 09:38 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ExploringDR View Post
Great thread. I've been eyeballing the RH Designs Analyzer for printing photos of people mostly. People in action, people in their environment. My thinking was priority one would be placing skin tone on the exact tone I seek. Secondarily, adjusting contrast by the shadow and highlight bookends. Seems the Analyze would expedite this.

I find I spend/waste time and paper fussing to get close to what I want. Time is most important because I won't go print if I have a limited amount of time.

All could be my newness to darkroom, but my hope is the Analyzer will dial me in much faster so I can get on with "perfecting" my work print.

Am I just too inexperienced, or are my assumptions about how the Analyzer could help me close to the mark? Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk
Based on everything you've written, I do believe that it sounds like the perfect tool for you. Your 'inexperience' could easily be to your advantage, probably tech-savvy and without any of the baggage and bad habits that many of us 'experienced' darkroom printers have.

If you get one and get along with it you might even convince me to have a go and that's after 40 years of 'machineless hand printing'.

Oh, and while I'm at it, welcome to the forum!
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