I've been having problems lately with poor sharpness and detail with my prints and I think I've got the problem narrowed down to a Maxwell focusing screen I had installed on my Wista 45DX-II about a year ago. I sent the back from my camera to Maxwell to have him install the screen to be sure the focal plane was accurate. Unfortunately I really didn't do any serious printing with negs exposed since having the Maxwell screen installed before tearing down my darkroom to move(stupid, stupid me!). Now, about a year later I'm finally getting back into some serious photography and my prints are definitely lacking in sharpness compared to the ones I made a year ago. After some troubleshooting I found putting some old negatives up in the enlarger and printing them has me about 95% convinced that the focusing screen is to blame - the old negatives print with the same degree of sharpness and detail as they did before I tore down my old darkroom. They are obviously sharper and show finer detail than the negs I've been shooting with the Maxwell screen.
Before I call Maxwell, anybody got any ideas about how I can strengthen my case with Maxwell? Because the screen is a combination fresnel / ground glass type of arrangement I'm not sure I can just measure the distance from the back of the camera to the screen and compare that to the measurement with a film holder in place. I also think the Maxwell screen is a one piece unit - could somebody verify this before I try to take the thing apart? Unfortunately I can't find my old focusing screen to use for comparison, it seems to have gotten lost in the move.
Anybody got any advice? I know it's my fault for not checking the camera thoroughly after having the Maxwell screen installed. Because I've heard nothing but good words about Maxwell I just assumed it would be ok, which was, admittedly, kind of stupid. I just hope I won't have to eat the cost of the screen.
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