Does anyone have any experience in perhaps contact printing 5x7? I scan 4x5 and smaller and have the capability of enlarging B&W 4x5 and smaller in a "temporary bathroom darkroom" but 5x7 eludes me because my scanner doesn't have frames for 5x7 and I'm hesitant to just lay a negative on the glass.
I got a B&J Grover while on a business trip because it was attached to a lens I bought. (Same price to take the lens or stuff the camera and the lens in my luggage thus the camera value is sunk costs to me) This leads me to making a decision...Buy a few film holders and some film and give it a whirl or just sell the camera body and lensboard to get back some of the purchase price. I have a few lenses that are supposed to cover 5x7 w/o movement (90, 150 and 210) as well as, I assume, the Ilex 7 1/2-inch paragon that came with the camera.
I'm a newcomer to 4x5 but would like to do more and I enjoy it as well as working in the darkroom. So I'd like to know if anyone has experience with contact printing 5x7. I was in an earlier discussion when I saw what turned out to be a full plate camera where there were mentions of that size being about the minimum for contact printing. I don't have the capability to enlarge 5x7 other than through scanning and electronically printing.
So, keeping future costs in mind, what factors should I consider in keeping the camera to contact print or scan and electronically print being my options? What are your experiences with these options of creating prints with 5x7 without an appropriate enlarger landing at my feet?
Reed Jones
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