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Thread: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Hello all,

    Thank you very much for your collective recent help with my Enlarger Problem I. I said I was not going to post part II till I got my scanner working, but that is turning into a hassle, so I'm going to try. I will post the print this weekend if necessary.

    The third photo I printed in my photo printing session on Saturday night was taken at night, and had a black sky. It was also a very thin negative, since I forgot to adjust the film speed on my light meter and underexposed two stops (the shutter was open only 15 minutes, instead of over an hour! I did adjust the wrong reading for reciprocity, though.) I liked the shot fairly well, apart from its underexposure, so I printed using a #4 contrast filter to try to coax some contrast from it.

    That was somewhat successful, except that the print had small white "dots" all over it, as well as a few larger (dime-sized) whitish areas. (The small dots were white, whereas the larger spots faded from fairly white in their center to light grey). This made me sad, since I figured that the negative must have had some dust and errors on it that I hadn't noticed, but when I looked at it very carefully, I could see nothing. I wondered if there were a systemic error, so I printed another, utterly thin and underexposed negative that I had (i.e., pure black) and it had the same effect.

    I started wondering if it might be my contrast filter, which is plastic and attached under the lens -- one of the ones with a round filter in a square holder, which slides into a frame. I looked at it and saw a good bit of dust and such, so I ran some light water over it and dried it carefully with a lint-free cloth, though it seemed still to have some spots and dust on it. I then reprinted the original photo, and found that it still had white dots and spots, but in different places now.

    This raises a few questions.

    1.) Can this happen? I thereafter googled extensively on polycontrast filters, but could find nothing about dust on them causing such extremely noticeable marks. (I at first thought they might be stars, and I had just forgotten that there were stars that night, but there were no tails, and I found a couple on the ground!). In fact, this is almost the only optical surface in photography that I've ever read of where people do NOT seem very worked up about dust. Is my problem caused by something else?

    Another possibility I might mention is that my condensor lens is a little dirty. I should of course clean this, but I don't really suspect it in this case, since I did not move it between shots. Could it cause that, in any case?

    2.) Would above-the-film filters cause the same problem? I looked at some Ilford sheet filters that I could get cheap, but they too had quite a few white spots etc. Would defects in them have as egregious an effect?

    Thank you for any thoughts you may have. I will post a scan of the print(s) this weekend if necessary.

    Incidentally, the first two photos I printed were daylight and had forest, grass, etc. in them, so I could not really tell whether the same effects were present there. They were not printed with a high contrast filter.

    Thank you,
    Stephen

  2. #2

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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    white small spots on paper is likely to be dust falling onto the paper, probably from a unclean easel, i use a feather duster and a air purifier to solve this issue and i use a blower on the paper once in position on the easel.

    bigger white marks is dust on the neg, this is solved partly by drying neg in a dust free environment and careful brushing and cleaning in the neg carrier, using glass neg carrier makes it even tougher to keep dust away.the rest of the white marks on the print must be spotted with dyes, i personally enjoy touching up prints especially fibre matt papers.

    condensers must be kept as clean as possible , i vacuum mine and polish with a lens cloth, and the occasionally remove and feather dust and blow them off

    i have a Kodak 2mm frosted panel to diffuse the light at the light bulb stage, and believe it or not but it does cut out a lot of spotting but mostly it softens the edges of white marks and makes for easier retouching, it does extend printing time, average 1min at f11 for 20x 16" prints

    i use a standard under the lens grade 00 filter and a grade 5 above the condenser 0-this allows for spit grade printing without touching any filters. ( i have a durst 138s)

    overall if you suspect dust then get cleaning, i halved my issues once i had a reasonable way of dusting/cleaning and a little convenience with the hepa filter, it is not a perfect system , but at 17 euro for my hepa and 2 euro for my duster ,its a start.

    the dime size marks i hate to say may be related to your fingers having contaminated the paper, wash them well, very well before handling the paper sheets, look at the dime/finger print sized mark and see if there are any wavy marks from your fingerprint

  3. #3
    Octogenarian
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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Stephen,

    Sounds like the condenser unit you got from Don is either chipped or dirty.

    Remove both condenser lenses from the aluminum housing and check them over.

    They just might need a good cleaning with glass cleaner. If they are chipped or damaged, return the unit to Don.

    Make certain that the condenser lenses are re-installed the proper way (round surface-to-round surface, with the corrigated aluminum spacer between).

  4. #4

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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Can you post a photo?

    Might these specks be star-trails?

  5. #5

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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Just a few of comments that might be helpfull.
    Filters under the lens are unlikely to cause spots, no matter what is on them, dust and scratches will degrade the sharpness first, in my experience, it would have to be a pretty serious mark to show up on the print.
    Condensers can will cause lots of dust, and depending on the lamphouse, serious dust in there could be to blame also.
    Are you using a glass carrier? If so, that would could cause fairly sharp white spots.
    A thin neg printed at high contrast will emphasize flaws that would not be noticable with a more normal image.
    The dime sized marks might be something like the above poster mentioned.
    These are only guesses and possiblities, it would help if you could post some pictures of your problems.
    Keith

  6. #6

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    Jun 2009
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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Thank you all for your responses. I will indeed try to post a picture this weekend.

    The reason I am skeptical about the problem being dust on the condenser is that the specks all moved around between prints, while I did not move the condenser at all. (Unless I put the negative in a different way. I'll check this.) The dust-on-the-paper explanation of the small specks, actually, sounds pretty credible. As for the larger spots, though, I have my doubts, too, about dust on the negative, since this is what I suspected, and I looked very closely for any, and found none. Also, it doesn't really look like dust (I've had dust on 35mm negatives in the past).

    Regardless, I'll clean my condenser lens to be safe. Perhaps I did flip the negative.

    The star trails were my first thought too, but again, those would definitely not move between photos, and would be only in the sky! This was a relief to realize, really, because if there were stars in my photo and I did not even remember it, I would have bigger problems.

    Oh, and I don't have a glass carrier, but thanks for mentioning that.

    Stephen

  7. #7
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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    William,

    Under the OP's original question #1-Can this happen?

    Stephen mentions that these specks also showed up on the ground. Star-trails would show up as black spots or streaks only in the sky areas of the negative.

    He is using a glassless negative carrier. He finds no dust or defects on the negative.

    More likely than not, the problem is occuring above the negative stage.

    I suspect the condenser unit that he purchased from Don Puckett.

  8. #8

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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    dust in the bellows is another big issue, i vacuum all my bellows on a weekly basis, cameras and enlargers, you have to be really quite religious about this, a larger neg will attract a lot more dust than a 35mm, so much so i use glass with 35mm as the problems of dust are less.

    my biggest tip get a feather duster lol

    could also be water marks on your neg, especially on a thin neg, what is your neg washing routine?

    all the best its a wonderful feeling when you have all the dust and marks under control, and you will still need your spotting dyes , they are your best friends..

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jun 2009
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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Hi all,

    Well, as promised, I have scanned my prints. They look rather worse scanned, I must say, as far as specks. Perhaps not a surprise. Anyhow, dime-sized was an exaggeration, it turns out, but not by a great deal. Four of the larger spots would make a dime.

    I should point out that, as I mentioned before, I underexposed this photo by at least 2 stops, perhaps closer to 3, due to light meter error; I forgot to bring any light source with which to focus in the dark; the wind was blowing; and the negative was buckled in my enlarger (see "Enlarger Problem I.") I mention these because they are, in some sense, pre-diagnosed. Any other incidental constructive criticism on composition or exposure etc. would be welcome if there's something that strikes you.

    Thanks a lot -- I'd love to hear your thoughts on what might be causing these spots.

    Stephen

    PS. I'm posting both prints that I made.

    PS 2: Actually, when I resized the picture to fit the forum rules, a lot of the specks went away -- I'm left with what I could already see by my eyes. If necessary I can reupload elsewhere, though it is a sad indictment of my darkroom technique. :-P

  10. #10
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    Re: Enlarger Problem II: Specks and Spots

    Hello, again Stephen,

    Did you clean both of the condenser lenses inside of the aluminum housing? Unless you disassemble the condenser unit, you will not be able to reach all of the glass surfaces.

    Assuming that the surfaces of the condenser lenses, as well as the enlarger lens, were clean when you made those prints, I strongly suspect that your film processing procedure is the cause of the problem.

    Looks like uneven blotches that were formed during film development, or possibly water spots that dried on the negatives. Place the negatives on a light table, and look at them under high magnification. You may have missed seeing the defects on your first examination.

    I have also seen similar blotches on prints that were placed into a stop bath that was too highly acidic.

    To see if the VC filters are the cause of the problem, make a print without a filter and see if it reoccurs.

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