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Thread: grain focusing problem

  1. #11
    Hack Pawlowski6132's Avatar
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    Sep 2009
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    923

    Re: grain focusing problem

    Don't focus on the grain, focus on something in the image.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    San Gabriel Valley, California
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    316

    Re: grain focusing problem

    I don't know if anybody has mentioned this already, but I have noticed if I stop down on the enlarging lens, as opposed to having the enlarging lens wide open. I can then sometime see more grain in certain parts of the negative.

    Also, as my eyes have aged, I have switched to a Peak #1 focusing aid. It has made focusing on the grain much easier.

    Good luck,

    Jose

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Germany
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    475

    Re: grain focusing problem

    Quote Originally Posted by koraks View Post
    I think he's referring to the negative carrier that comes with the Durst 138, which has a cross hair embedded in one side that can be used to focus the negative stage.
    Thanks, Koraks, that hair cross ( and some more marks) is exactly what I wanted to talk about.
    Once calibrated, it works really fine.

    The other thing I may throw in as a focusing aid is my reprodruction carrier; instead of blank glass here lays a glassplate with overall marks and crosses in the negative carrier.
    Further it is a good tool to bring the board, the easel, in correct position to the head while focusing the center and the edges of the negative/print.

    Without all this special tools and without grain and contrast in the negative, I would prefer a selfmade negative with some scratches.
    With a Peak focuser you will bring the focus to the point.

    Best, Ritchie

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin USA
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    320

    Re: grain focusing problem

    I also use a Peak #1 grain focuser under my Beselar 45 enlarger that has a simple diffusion head, and can usually pick out some grain in my TMX or Acros negatives (developed in D-76). But, admittedly, the grain is much easier to see, and use to assist focusing of the enlarger, with my TXP and TMY films. I was given some cheaper focusers by another photographer, but the Peak #1 is SO MUCH BETTER I threw those others away. I also agree with the suggestion above to not open up your enlarging lens so much when using fine-grain negatives like TMX, but rather close it down a stop or two and you should be better able to see some grain. It is rare that I have to rely solely on focusing on image details in the negative, but usually I try to focus on areas of the negative where I can see BOTH the film grain, AND some detail of the captured image, to assure me that I am properly focused. ....
    ... JMOwens (Mt. Pleasant, Wisc. USA)

    "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ...Michelangelo

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