Thinking of going LF - novice fqa's

[Smalesy]

Hello,

I am seriously thinking of moving to 4x5. 2 questions, I'm sorry if they come across as silly.

1-Enlargers, I have a LPL C7700 enlarger, that I love using. I've used it with 35mm & 6x6 B&W but does anyone know if it would be possible to use this with 4x5 B&W? What would I need to buy?

2-Contact prints, I really like the idea of doing contact prints in 4x5 however is it possible to dodge/burn the same way I would with enlargements. Logic tells me I can but my expert mate says that it is really difficult.

Thanks for your time.
Steve

[CG]

Q1 I can't help. I don't know your machine. But some folks do modify enlargers to add on larger format capabilities - perhaps most frequently from 4x5 to 8x10.

Q2. I think your expert source is giving you a fair estimation. 4x5 contacts are burnable and dodgeable, but it would be very hard to get very tight on details - they're just too small. The best I can imagine would be pretty broad effects like darkening a sky etc - broad brush effects.

One way to work with contacts is to make a mask on frosted acetate with a pencil or similar and put it above the contact printer to alter the light onto the contact "sandwich".

C

[jeroldharter]

No, your enlarger will not work with 4x5. Used enlargers are fairly easy to come by and a good deal.

Yes, you can contact print 4x5. You should try it to see if you like it. I don't see the point though. Might as well do contact prints of 35mm and make little dodging tools out of swizzle sticks and umbrellas. Just kidding but to each his own. I know there are some people who like the "intimacy" of small prints.

You might consider skipping 4x5 and doing 8x10. Might be cheaper because you could use your existing enlarger as a light source for contact prints.

[Charlie Strack]

Though your LPL enlarger won't handle 4x5, the LPL 4x5 enlargers are extremely nice enlargers, and are available used at reasonable prices (though probably not as cheap as some other brands, from what I have seen).

You can dodge & burn in 4x5 contact prints, and it is as easy or as hard (depends on your perspective) as dodging & burning in a 4x5 enlargement. So try making a 4x5 enlargement with the equipment & negatives you have to see if you find it difficult or easy. Personally, I don't find it that hard, but I don't look to have control over small details--it doesn't seem to be so necessary in the smaller print.

But, generally, contact prints do not require as much dodging & burning in as enlargements seem to need. Probably this is because bigger prints seem to need more contrast than smaller prints--that's a generalization, I realize, and based on aesthetics not any deep technical analysis.

Charlie

[Andrew O'Neill]

I don't think you can convert that enlarger to 4x5. I think you would be better off buying one second hand.
Yes, you can still dodge/burn 4x5 contacts by employing dodge/burn masks. They are actually better than conventional dodging and burning. Lots of info on the web about that.

[alec4444]

You might consider skipping 4x5 and doing 8x10. Might be cheaper because you could use your existing enlarger as a light source for contact prints.

Or 5x7, which is somewhat more easily enlargeable and makes for a good contact print as well. See QT's thoughts on it here.

Cheers!
--A

[Nathan Potter]

Many people make 4X5 contact prints. Of course you can dodge and burn, you'll just need smaller tools. The tricky part though is in seeing what you're doing. You don't have a reflected image off the paper to orient yourself. You'll only see the enlarger light reflecting off a dark negative so it's somewhat difficult to see just what features you are dodging and burning. It can be done though.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Brian Ellis]

Dodging and burning is considerably more difficult when contact printing than when enlarging. You can't see the image on the paper when you're contact printing as you can when enlarging so it's harder to see what you're doing with your dodging and burning tools. Also, the light shining on the glass that's on top of the negative/paper when contact printing produces glare, which also can make it hard to see where you're dodging or burning. I was working with 8x10 and still had a good bit of difficulty, throw in the small size of a 4x5 contact print and it would be even worse.

[Andrew O'Neill]

That's why you should employ dodge/burn masks rather than conventional methods.

[Jim Jones]

It certainly is doable. Edward Weston shot and printed 4x5 and up, and never used an enlarger. Also, 4x5 negatives can be scanned on a modest flatbed scanner with an appropriate transparancy adapter, and digitally printed at larger sizes. Purists are justified in scoffing at the results, but many of us are satisfied.