I've just spent the last couple hours making 8x10 test prints and the results aren't good. The top corners are really soft, so much so they almost look out of focus but looking at the neg under a lupe I can see detail which doesnt show in the print.
I'm really not sure what to do now, my Rodenstock has a larger thread than that of the Kowa. My chances of finding a LPL lensmount to fit the Rodenstock seem pretty slim.
What aperture did you print at?
I ask because of a story one of my friends in France tells. He bought a Boyer Saphir B (this really is an enlarging lens), was very disappointed by it, so disappointed that he went to Boyer's offices/factory to complain. They questioned him, told him that the lens was designed to be focused wide open and used for printing at apertures no larger than f/11. And they were right, he says, he'd printed at too large an aperture.
Cheers,
Dan
Just the TOP corners?? Alignment and centering OK?Originally Posted by mealers
A good alternative would be to just get a 'brand name' 150mm in a 39mm mount. I think the Nikkor 150mm came with a 39mm adapter.
Not sure how hard it would be to find a LPL 50mm board for your existing Rodenstock...(sarcasm)
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-50mm-Threade...713.m153.l1262
BTW that LPL 7452 looks like a fantastic enlarger!
Well Ive done a few prints and none of them looked too good to be honest. The top corners are soft and the detail and sharpness of the whole print is pretty poor.
I did a scan and I nearly fell of my seat!! The quality and sharpness look amazing!
This rules out user error as far as actually taking the photo with movements, right?
How do I check that the enlarger is aligned correctly? The enlarger was shipped by courier so the chance of it being handled carefully is pretty slim!
I do have a 80mm Componon-S which I used on my old Durst 670 but I have no 6x6 mask for my new LPL. I guess the simplest way of finding out if the problem is with the lens or alignement issues is to use the 80mm but with the 4x5 mask, is this possible just for test purposes?
Sure, just don't look for the sharpness much outside the central 6x6 portion of the negative. That would be asking the lens to do something it was not intended to do. There will probably not be image much outside of that section, but if there is, there is no reason for it to be critically sharp.
My off-the-top-of-my head sense is that the shorter lens may be even more sensitive to misalignment than is the 150mm. Per Scheimpflug, the shorter image distance would tilt the projected plane of focus even more, but I am not considering the depth of field effects of the shorter lens. Certainly use the maximum aperture or something close to it.
There are a number of enlarger alignment tools sold. I don't know if any are inexpensive. Several were discussed recently in the following thread:
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...rger+alignment
Personally I like the alignment device that uses the little laser.
Also, check out this page. All the items with a 'C' are currently available. You are in a good position with that enlarger as it looks like, most things are current. Next year they may all be discontinued. So, you might think about picking up some of these things that might be hard to find in the future like the 50mm lensboard for the Rodenstock and anything else you might anticipating needing in the next 5 years.
http://www.khbphotografix.com/LPL/LPL4x5.htm
Here is a link to some info on alignment. http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/2...ce-manual.html
Just an update on this one....
I received my lens board for my 150mm Rodenstock today, after a couple test prints it was pretty clear that the Kowa lens was the problem.
Many thanks to everyone who tried to help me with this.
Mike
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