After acquiring an Omega D5 XL enlarger a few months ago, I've finally been able to put together a makeshift darkroom and have started printing a few 4x5 b&w ne gs that I developed. I've outfitted the D5 with an Aristo cold light and a Rode nstock 150mm lens. I've done some rather rudimentary printing so far just to pl ay around, and I have a couple of questions that have me perplexed. Please excu se me if the questions seem naive.
1. I cannot get the lens to focus close enough to print on an 8x10 piece of pap er no matter how far I extend the bellows or how low I crank the neg./lens stage . Is it impossible for me to print on 8x10 with a 150mm lens? Am I relegated t o 4x5 contacts and printing on 11x14 and up?
2. Installing the cold light necessitated the removal of the filter drawer. Ho w can I use contrast filters now? Can I place 6x6 in. filters between the neg. carrier and the light, or should I just forget it now that I'm using cold light and go with graded paper?
Thanks for your responses. I'm just getting my feet wet in b&w, so I apologize if my questions seem painfully simple.
Bookmarks