contact frames

[adelorenzo]

I just hold the paper and negative in registration with one hand. Put it into the frame still holding on to it, clamp down the other half of the paper in the split back to hold it in place before you release your grip.

[Dhuiting]

Why do you need to work in red light? What sort of paper do you use actually?

A passepartout can hide slight imperfections when mounting it in a frame.

I prefer to work with 5x7 negative on a bigger 8x10 paper - putting the negative on a 5x7 paper would be a ticket to the looney bin for me.
... unless you have to show the whole 8x10 paper and print a 8x10 negative on it ... then you're up the creek with no paddle.

EDIT: just re-read your original post - sorry, saw that the contact frame is indeed 8x10 (or 9x11). I've always worked with "one size up" frames.

I work in Red light because I’m using normal enlarger paper (Ilford Multigrade RC) to make my 8 x 10 contact prints. It was suggested to me on another thread about contact printing that before blowing a bunch of money on some vintage AZO or Lodima paper, I should learn what the heck I’m doing with normal paper first. Make the mistakes with the cheap stuff before going up to expensive paper....

I guess I could sell the 8x10 frame, buy an 11x14 frame and 11x14 paper and then just cut the sides all the time to crop down to 8x10.

But it just seems silly that someone hasn’t yet made a contact frame where there are spring-loaded retractable guides on 3 sides of the paper (coming out of the felt or whatever) that simply push back down below the felt and retract when the glass is pushed down. It would be such a nice effortless thing to not even have to think about lining it up and have it perfect every time.

(When I use my yellow metal easels and my enlarger that principle is there (having guides), so why not design a contact print frame that works the same way? )


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jimi]

Dan,

I see your points - obviously there are always ways to make things better - even contact frames. Some of them (older ones) have cropping rulers (like an easel) which also could help getting things looking nicer.

With multigrade RC paper you don't have to use red light - you can use the orange filters (can't remember the designation at the moment) for this. That would definitely make things easier to see.

[Dhuiting]

Dan,

I see your points - obviously there are always ways to make things better - even contact frames. Some of them (older ones) have cropping rulers (like an easel) which also could help getting things looking nicer.

With multigrade RC paper you don't have to use red light - you can use the orange filters (can't remember the designation at the moment) for this. That would definitely make things easier to see.

Thanks! I’m very interested in the orange filters.

I’m reading Angel Adams “The Print” for the second time through now, and I noticed he says on page 68 that he has long since abandoned contact printing frames in favor of contact sheet proofers, as they are faster and easier, and he says: “the whole reason for the contact frame with hinged back originally was for use with printing-out papers, which require that the user be able to check periodically on the effect of the exposure. For contact printing with developing-out paper however I discarded these years ago in favor of a simple “sandwich” of negative, paper, and heavy cover glass, supported on a sheet of sponge rubber...I am presently using the HP Film Proofer, which consists of a hinged sheet of heavy glass, foam pad, and base.”

Well I’ll be! If it’s good enough for old Ansel...

I just saw an HP film proofer on EBay for $20. Looks like my brand new $218-plus-shipping B&S contact frame is going to be showing up in the “for sale“ section of this forum very soon




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jimi]

Dan,

The specific filter that I was thinking of was a Ilford SL1 filter, useable for multigrade papers. Dear old Ilford has buggered up ("re-made") their homepage so I can't find the safelight information that used to exist there. Perhaps an Ilford 902 could work too for the multigrade papers.

When you continue onwards with the silver chloride paper, you may have to switch back to the red safelight, but by then you probably know how to put things straight with ease.

[karl french]

Yes, for 8x10 with smooth RC or Fiber silver paper the proofer will produce sharp results with less trouble than the frame. For Alt printing on watercolor paper and for the option of checking on your exposure without losing registration, the frame wins.

[Sal Santamaura]

...Angel Adams...

Interesting. Saint Ansel is an angel now. Wonders never cease.

[Jerry Bodine]

Here is the link to Ilford's Safelight Filters & available models. Please note that none of the housing models are available in U.S. voltages and use bulbs with non-U.S. standard base types. The filters are made of glass and Ilford MAY supply them cut to size, if requested, to fit properly in an existing U.S. housing. Here is a website showing standard U.S. bulb sizes.

Many years ago I started using the HP Film Proofer and after several years the foam began to disintegrate into a sticky gooey mess, so it went into the trash bin. I also experienced Newton Rings with it, because the glass wasn't able to "float" at the hinge pin and allow uniform pressure against the negative. Live and learn.

[Leigh]

I work in Red light because I’m using normal enlarger paper (Ilford Multigrade RC) to make my 8 x 10 contact prints.

Get a Thomas Duplex safelight.

Hang it from the ceiling. It's very bright monochromatic yellow sodium vapor. Bright enough to read small print on a bottle label anywhere in the darkroom, even when shaded by your body.

I too use Ilford Multigrade RC, and have never had any kind of problem with the Thomas.

- Leigh

[tgtaylor]

Initially I used a Print File Custom Proofer that I found used for $5 and replaced the worn foam. But IMO the glass is not heavy enough so I picked-up a split back 8x10 frame for $20.00 that was hardly, if at all used. The blades on the back apply sufficient force as required for a sharp print and the resulting contact print shows that tell tale part of the rebate that indicates it is a contact print. When using oversized paper, I use the 8x10 B&S frame for prints that I will trim-off the rebate when mounting and the 11x14 frame for prints that I want the brush over coating to show. The main difficulty when using a frame that is larger than the paper is seating the glass onto the sandwich which I found to be easily accomplished by using the method I set-out above.

Thomas