"Full frame" Omega negative carriers

[Jim C.]

Is there such a thing as a negative carrier that will also include the border
of film be it 4x5, 6x6 or 35mm ?

[vinny]

Yes. 4x5 Glass carriers come up here and on apug in the classifieds. Or you can make your own.

[Mark Sampson]

The Omega 4x5 glass carrier crops even more than the standard glassless ones. The only answer is to mill out your existing carriers. Of course you can use the 4x5 glass carriers with smaller formats and a mask. But the Omega light sources will not illuminate all the rebate edges of a 4x5 negative, either, so you'll need a different enlarger to do that.

[ic-racer]

The Omega D5500 system addresses the problems Mark pointed out, however, I think the best way to print 4x5 full frame with rebate is to use an enlarger one-size bigger (5x7 etc.)

[Jim C.]

Thanks for the replies, I've been mucking around with sheets of thin plexi,
I kind of figured that i would have to customize an existing negative carrier
to to be able to enlarge with the film border. The Omegalite head I have
could possibly not illuminate the entire negative because of the opening size of the light,
aperture, but the condenser head which is currently installed does.

[vinny]

I made mine out of a 5x7 piece of glass. no notches where the factory holders have notches. just a 5x7 piece with another piece hinged on top with tape.

[Bill Burk]

I used a jeweler's saw to cut out the standard glassless carrier so it gives me full-frame with black borders.

For several years I used an Omegalite and it covered adequately, though I had to carefully position the lamp housing.

http://beefalobill.com/imgs/_MG_6906.JPG

[mdarnton]

I used to have two sheets of thin glass, about 6x12 inches, tape-hinged on the long side. This would hold three strips of six 35mm negs for making enlarged proofs 9 at a time, and also served as a borderless carrier for anything I could fit in it.

[Doremus Scudder]

I've filed a 4x5 holder to expose more of the frame. Often I'll need to print all of one side of the negative and a bit if it is covered by the carrier. If I am planning to crop the opposite side anyway, I'll just trim the negative edge with scissors to I can slide it further to that side in the carrier and expose more of the opposite side.

When I really need to print the image out to the edges, I'll use a 5/7 glass holder and tape the negative to the glass. I never print the rebate of the film, but occasionally do need all of the image.

Coverage with Omega 4x5 enlargers is always tricky. I often have to reposition the carrier a time or two to ensure adequate illumination to the corners.

Best,

Doremus

[Harold_4074]

Bill Burk: It doesn't surprise me that you "milled out" a negative carrier by means of a jeweler's saw; anyone who owns a real handsaw-filing vise definitely qualifies as "old school" in my book. Way to go!

Harold

[Jim C.]

Bill, I guess that you added a piece of glass to keep the neg from dropping thru the enlarged opening ?

[Bill Burk]

Bill Burk: It doesn't surprise me that you "milled out" a negative carrier by means of a jeweler's saw; anyone who owns a real handsaw-filing vise definitely qualifies as "old school" in my book. Way to go!

Harold

Haa, yes that's from back when I wanted to do everything, even planing and rabbiting the wood for frames. No Aaron Brothers for me...

But no glass in the carrier... Fractions keep the negative well supported. It's 1/64th inch all around*. Next time though, I'd make one left-hand cut instead of both left and right, since it was an unecessary cut. Took about two days and a dozen saw blades. A file is a better tool for the job.

*I think... I'll try to post the actual measurements in case anyone's interested.

[DannL]

No need to ruin a good negative carrier. Just go to a framing shop and have them cut two identical mat boards to your specifications. Place them together, put tape down one side for a hinge. Bingo. . . a negative carrier. I personally make my own with a straight-edge and razor blade.

[Drew Wiley]

Yeah... that matboard is wonderfully dimensionally-stable stuff isn't it? Goes well with an enlarger made of paper mache.

[Vaughn]

Yeah... that matboard is wonderfully dimensionally-stable stuff isn't it? Goes well with an enlarger made of paper mache.

8-ply is pretty stiff stuff, though. I have lens boards made of a piece of 8-ply dry-mounted to a piece of black 4-ply...hole cut out with a coping saw. Not good in the rain, though -- might need to use a spray fixative or something on them! LOL!

[Drew Wiley]

Gosh. Where did you find crystals clear enough to makes the lenses out of back in the Pleistocene?

[DannL]

Yeah... that matboard is wonderfully dimensionally-stable stuff isn't it? Goes well with an enlarger made of paper mache.

Don't let your lack of first-hand experience prevent you from being a reliable source of useful information. A little education combined with the willingness to experiment can solve many of the simplest problems. As for myself, I have no first-hand experience with "enlargers made of paper mache". But, I hope to hear more from you on that topic. It does sound interesting. And, I have no experience maintaining equipment for the purpose of show. Trust me, nobody on this planet gives a hoot what my negative carriers are made of. So, moving this along . . . Tell me about the stability of wooden negative carriers used with Elwood Enlargers and Kodak Enlarging cameras. Are they dimensionally unstable? Should I avoid them? Your expertise in the stability of negative carriers would be appreciated. Thank you Drew. Dann

[Vaughn]

Gosh. Where did you find crystals clear enough to makes the lenses out of back in the Pleistocene?

I miss the Pleistocene, especially in the earlier days. Boiling down woolly mammoths to make gelatin for my carbon prints are fond memories. I was sorry to see them go extinct. Gelatin these days from cows and pigs just is just not the same thing. Kids have it so easy these days, but no better.

The Neanderthals were pretty good at finding clear crystals, they had quite the knack for it. I would trade carbon prints for them. I printed them fairly light to best match the ambient light levels in their caves. It was the Ammonium and Potassium dichromates that were harder to find/make. A little ammonia, some sulfuric acid and some chromite all had to be found. Not easy. The Neanderthals were no good at that sort of stuff. Crystals, mushrooms, and macrame were all they were good at...bloody hippies. No wonder they went extinct.

[Bill Burk]

I use mat board negative carriers for 35mm and half-frame... But even though I use them... I would not vouch for their dimensional stability. I can't even assure you there is no impact on enlarger alignment. I always wonder if I am causing myself problems. So even I cringed a bit at the thought of a full-frame 4x5 negative carrier made of cardboard. That's got to be worse than what I'm doing.

[DannL]

Don't let your lack of first-hand experience prevent you from being a reliable source of useful information. A little education combined with the willingness to experiment can solve many of the simplest problems. As for myself, I have no first-hand experience with "enlargers made of paper mache". But, I hope to hear more from you on that topic. It does sound interesting. And, I have no experience maintaining equipment for the purpose of show. Trust me, nobody on this planet gives a hoot what my negative carriers are made of. So, moving this along . . . Tell me about the stability of wooden negative carriers used with Elwood Enlargers and Kodak Enlarging cameras. Are they dimensionally unstable? Should I avoid them? Your expertise in the stability of negative carriers would be appreciated. Thank you Drew. Dann

My apologies to Drew. I took that way too far. I normally try to avoid making comments on posts that have little value to the PO's original inquiry. I'll have to chalk this one up to having a bad-hair-day. :(

[Drew Wiley]

Well, I have nothing against Pleistocene lifestyles, or even against the Republic of Jefferson, over which Vaughn presides, though I suspect that mastodon meat he
claims to be eating is actually elk. So to make at least a positive contribution to this ... What I like to use for neg carriers is copper-clad fiberglass electronics board. It's cheap, thin, very smooth and flat, stays flat, and is easy to machine with ordinary woodshop tools. And yes, I always use glass in carriers. Always ... even if that means hiring Neanderthals to polish down crystals (which have become quite expensive, since modern day-chemically-induced Neanderthal minds have ascribed certain magical qualities to them). About the only down side of electronics board is that you need to prime and paint it black. And obviously you need to buy the undrilled type. A very distant second would be thin-veneer hobby plywood, epoxy-pickled. But since D2 carriers are abundant and dirt cheap, I simply filed mine a little bigger for full-frame coverage. The standard glass still fits.