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  #11  
Old 12th October 2012, 06:53 PM
cassim cassim is offline
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I know this is a bad picture but hopefully it will show the problem
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  #12  
Old 13th October 2012, 10:49 AM
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kevsNorthants kevsNorthants is offline
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Hi Cassim,

Welcome to FADU. With a negative in the carrier, can you focus the projected image sharply? If you can, there's something missing from the enlarger's light path, like a diffuser. If you can't, it seems like you have a damaged lens; perhaps it's been messed up by a previous owner, or there's an element missing. It might be worth trying another lens if that's possible, you can pick them up fairly cheaply second-hand. It's probably worth doing that anyway - your prints will be better in the long term.

There's another possibility; the lens on your enlarger isn't a 50mm - but that doesn't seem likely from the image you posted.

That's the best I can think of at the moment from your description, good luck with it.

Cheers,
kevs
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Old 13th October 2012, 11:17 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Hi Cassim. I'm sorry to hear you are having this problem. Things like this can be a real pain when you are trying to get your darkroom up and running. I can't tell what is causing this problem, but there are two things I think might help you get going. First, shop around for books on darkroom work. Try charity shops, eBay and Amazon. Don't pay too much as there are plenty of books around and not too many buyers. You can learn a lot from reading about equipment and techniques. Secondly, consider getting a better enlarger. I know it will depend on your funds, but there are lots of good enlargers out there and not very expensive compared to their original price. I worked with very basic equipment for a number of years, with disappointing results. I eventually bought a Durst M601 which is an old model, but is an excellent enlarger. Anything from Durst is likely to be good, but there are other makes as well that you could look at. The enlarger and lens are the centre of your darkroom, so you should aim to get the best you can. Printing your own pictures is very rewarding. I hope you get things sorted soon. Alex
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