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  #1  
Old 7th February 2011, 02:27 AM
Puggie Puggie is offline
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Default General enlarging/printing advice for a new fish

I'm in the lucky position to have the following kit at my disposal for very little outlay and would like some advice on getting the best out of it:

Durst F60 enlarger now in pretty good order all bits present with timer
Ilford Cibachrome and VC filters
Durst Componon 50mm and 80mm lenses
Schneider Componar-C 50mm f3.5
Schneider Componon-s 50mm f2.8
Paterson 5X7 trays and 12X16 trays

I've bought some Ilford 5X7 VC paper, Silverprint Proof mid range VC paper in 8X10 and some of the cheap Ilford ilfospeed grade 2 matt paper in 20X24" off fleabay. I stripped the Componar-C down as it had lost its F-stop notches and was jamming a F4, I bought the Componon-S as the Componar was being troublesome re-assembling the iris blades and looked destined to be thrown at something. After buying a new lens it went back together quite easily

So I'm lucky enough to have a dark room with belfast sink at work, I can easily set up my enlarger on one side and the developing trays on the other. So far I have been working as follows:

Expose a strip under the enlarger, usually around F11-16 and for 10-15-20-25-30sec, then dev for a minute (ilford multigrade developer), stop 1 min, fix 1 min, chuck in sink to rinse for 2 mins. I'm then chosing my exposure from this, aiming for around 30sec. I'm finding I REALLY can't judge exposure under the red-light at what point of the process is it safe to switch the white lights on?

IS there any benefit in shorter exposure times? I've read the article on split contrast printing and may play with this next.

I'm still at the stage of being very chuffed at getting any image and really need to know how to progress from here. any good guides/advice? Or any old hands in the Surrey/Guildford area who would like to offer a bit of hands on advice, I can make good tea supply biscuits etc?
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Old 7th February 2011, 03:37 AM
paulc paulc is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Puggie View Post
Expose a strip under the enlarger, usually around F11-16 and for 10-15-20-25-30sec, then dev for a minute (ilford multigrade developer), stop 1 min, fix 1 min, chuck in sink to rinse for 2 mins. I'm then chosing my exposure from this, aiming for around 30sec. I'm finding I REALLY can't judge exposure under the red-light at what point of the process is it safe to switch the white lights on?

IS there any benefit in shorter exposure times? I've read the article on split contrast printing and may play with this next.
I find my exposure times are usually around the 10-12 second mark - The advantage of longer exposures would be that it gives you a chance to dodge & burn areas of the print.

For the stop bath, one whole minute sounds way over the top - Ten seconds is usually long enough. The lights can go on after the print has hit the fix bath. Some say after 30 seconds, but I'm often switching on after ten.
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Old 7th February 2011, 08:30 AM
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alfie alfie is offline
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Look out for a copy of "photography printing" by Gene Nocon.
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Old 7th February 2011, 08:39 AM
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Trevor Crone Trevor Crone is offline
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There is no right or wrong exposure times, whatever suits you is fine. Personally I try to aim for something around the 20 second mark as a base exposure allowing me a margin for 'burning/holding' back , but it really does depend on the negative. Only yesterday I had a printing session where times ranged from 7s to 15s at f11 (I was trying out a new lens). But it really is down to what you feel comfortable with. If exposure times are too long you tend to start getting tired after a while.

I don't have a definitive answer but I would think it is safe to put on ordinary room lights after about a minute (although it is probably much less - I'm playing safe here) in the fix (rapid fix diluted 1:4). My prints only go through a weak stop bath for around 20-30s then into the fix for up to 5 minutes (fibre paper) depending on fix and dilution. 1 minute for RC paper is fine just test your fix bath from time to time so you don't over use it. Fix test kits are available from some of the sponsored suppliers of FADU.

Develop prints fully don't be tempted to 'snatch' if they look too dark under the safe light. Evaluate properly under room/viewing light. If they are too dark/too light adjust exposure and/or contrast accordingly.
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Last edited by Trevor Crone; 7th February 2011 at 08:43 AM.
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Old 7th February 2011, 09:05 AM
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Trevor Crone Trevor Crone is offline
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I should add - evaluate a dry or near dry print/test strip. If it looks right when wet the chances are it will dry too dark. Papers respond differently to 'dry-down'; as a ball-park figure something in the region of 10% less exposure.
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Old 7th February 2011, 11:33 AM
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Steve Smith Steve Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alfie View Post
Look out for a copy of "photography printing" by Gene Nocon.
The one I have by Gene Nocon is called Photographic Printing.


Steve.
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Old 7th February 2011, 12:40 PM
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photomi7ch photomi7ch is offline
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A good book to have on the shelf is a second hand copy of Michael Langfords Basic. It has loads of info to get you started.

His book suggests:

Dev RC paper 1 min @ 20 degrees C
stop RC paper 5 sec @18-21 degrees C
Fix RC paper 1 min @ 18-21 degrees C
wash 2 mins

For fiber

Dev 1 1/2 mins stop, 5 sec, fix 4 mins, wash 30 mins.

These are a suggested starting point I know that many here have there own way of working and do what suits them best. the choice is yours.
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Old 7th February 2011, 03:28 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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The key here is to get you up and running at a good pace asap To do that only on a forum with Q&A is difficult and slow so I'd suggest a printing manual that you can master straight away but will last you a lifetime as well.

In my opinion that's Tim Rudman's book The Photographer's Master Printing Course.

We can then feed into a Q&A based on that kind of knowledge more quickly.

I'd supplement that book with a look on both Les McLean's site for split grade printing and Ralph Lambrecht's site Darkroom Magic but that's maybe a few weeks down the line.

Actually I'd get Les' book as well "Creative Black and White Photography" but I think I'd start with Tim's.


Mike
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Old 7th February 2011, 06:15 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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I would suggest you try and get hold of Creative Elements by Eddie Ephrams, both a collection of great black and white images, and a printing text book, one of, for me,the best and most inspiring books I have ,Richard
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Old 7th February 2011, 06:38 PM
Tony Marlow Tony Marlow is online now
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Quote:
I would suggest you try and get hold of Creative Elements by Eddie Ephrams,
I have a spare copy of Eddie Ephraums Creative Elements which you are welcome to. There is one torn page other than that it is in quite good condition. I live not far from you, Bookham, if you PM me your address I could drop it in to you next time I am in Guildford.

Tony
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