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Thread: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

  1. #1

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    4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    Hi,
    I would like to try to make some contact prints from my B&W negatives (hey ! do not laugh at me - I know it's only 4x5). As far as I understand apart from the quippement to developed exposed print I need just paper, sheet of glass and a weak bulb. The setup I am about to put together is supposed to be as simple as possible - but still I would like to get a timer for the light - so I do not have to guess it or so. I went throught what is available on eBay in Europe and I am a bit confused. In USA I would go for a GraLab 300 - there are plenty of them on eBay and are cheap - but for 120V and I would need one for 220V.

    So my question is - what timer would you advice me to get - I would like something simple that manages to turn on and of 1 light an is readable in the dark.

    Any other advices wellcome.

    thanks

    Matus

  2. #2
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    Why don't you go with the Gralab and a voltage converter?

  3. #3
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    For many years I used a clock that ticked once a second, and counted the seconds. Even now this technique is convenient, especially when dodging and burning prints.

  4. #4

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    - andrew -

    that might be a solution but one needs to get the voltage converter, converter for the plug and on top of that it seems that postage on the mentiond GraLab is rather high (is it so heavy ?)

  5. #5

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    No 300 aren't very heavy but shipping anything across the ocean is expensive.

    Doesn't need to be very fancy. To be perfectly honest the 300 isn't very fancy either-) It's nice with big numbers that make it great to have across the room. Plus it has a safelight outlet. But it's more then you need. If you bought a 120V 300 you might need two voltage converters. One to lower the 220V then one to rasie the 110V the 300 outputs to the 220V your light will need. Seems a bit extreme unless you buy a 110V light to. I wouldn't worry about plug converters. Usually voltage converters come with all that.

    There must be a European timer you can find. Jobo? Durst? Haven't they all made timers?

  6. #6

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    You don't need to be able to read anything in the dark since the light will be on while you're exposing the print. You also don't need a timer for contact printing. Just get a clock or watch with a second hand . Also get a sheet of mat board that's a couple inches bigger around than your glass. After the negative, paper and glass are in position cover the glass with the mat board and turn on the lights. When the second hand reaches a convenient point to remember (I always started at 12 or 6) quickly pull the board off the glass, when the second hand reaches the designated time quickly put the board back over the glass. Turn out the lights and proceed to develop the print.

    This is the method taught by Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee in their workshop and it works perfectly. Michael claims it's more accurate than a timer. I don't know about that but I do know that it works. If you don't have a watch or clock with a second hand you can use a metronome set at one second intervals if you don't mind counting the seconds in your head. In the U.S. a digital metronome can be bought at any decent musical equipment store for about $10.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  7. #7

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    I started doing contact prints very recently too, I use 2 pieces of 8x10 glass (heavy, "opticaly perfect" from the local framer) and I sandwich the paper and the film between the two. I use two piece of glass so I can be sure it's perfectly flat; I'm sure it's not strictly needed.

    I started with a 15W naked bulb near-ish the paper, but the exposure time was way too short (1.5s) so I moved it quite a bit off and made a lamp shade around it so now I get times of 20s. A lot more manageable! I use the second back-timer of the Digisix lightmeter for exposure.

  8. #8

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    I'll second the metronome for simplicity. I've used one for all timing - contact printing and enlarging - for nearly 40-years.
    juan

  9. #9

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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    Wouldn't the 50 Hz power spec in Germany cause a bit of an error for some clocks (like the Gralab), even if the voltage is corrected?

  10. #10
    Donald Qualls's Avatar
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    Re: 4x5 contact printing - some advice needed...

    I'd suggest checking at a European dealer such as Fotoimpex for Euro-specified timers. These will be made to run on the appropriate voltage and frequency (yes, 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz will cause large timing errors with synchronous motor timers like the electromechanical Gralab and Time-O-Lite types). A metronome is certainly the simplest, but there's something to be said for a timer that will automatically stop at the correct time, even if the operator (say) sneezes and drops the switch during exposure...
    If a contact print at arm's length is too small to see, you need a bigger camera. :D

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