Seeking Ideas For Simple 8x10 Contact Printing Solution

[LFLarry]

We are getting ready to move in a couple weeks to a smaller house and my space for making enlargements is going away and so I am going back to making 8x10 contact prints.

Seeking some simple ideas on how to make a DIY type contact printing setup that I can use in my guest bathroom and then put away when not using it.

I already have a good contact printing frame, so all I really need to figure out is the light source (type of light, watts, distance from printing frame), how to use variable contrast filters under the light source.

I am sure whatever I come up with won't be as good as the collective group here, so I am really looking forward to hearing your idea.


Thanks!

[ic-racer]

You need a computer controlled closed loop lighting system with quartz timing and a regulated power supply to produce any meaningful photographic work...or maybe not...
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[LFLarry]

Well, as funny as it sounds, finding regular incandescent lightbulbs aren't as easy as you think any longer... Plus, a lightbulb hanging from a wire probably won't cut it for the guest bathroom. Edward may approve, but I am not thinking my family will be quite as supportive...


You need a computer controlled closed loop lighting system with quartz timing and a regulated power supply to produce any meaningful photographic work...or maybe not...
197132

[David Schaller]

Well, as funny as it sounds, finding regular incandescent lightbulbs aren't as easy as you think any longer... Plus, a lightbulb hanging from a wire probably won't cut it for the guest bathroom. Edward may approve, but I am not thinking my family will be quite as supportive...
The light bulb hanging doesn’t need to be permanent. Just put a hook in the ceiling and bring in the lightbulb on a wire when you print. It’s handy to have it plugged into a timer. This works easily with Azo /Lodima papers, but you could probably figure it out for enlarging papers without an enlarger.

[LFLarry]

The light bulb hanging doesn’t need to be permanent. Just put a hook in the ceiling and bring in the lightbulb on a wire when you print. It’s handy to have it plugged into a timer. This works easily with Azo /Lodima papers, but you could probably figure it out for enlarging papers without an enlarger.

I print with enlarging paper, typically Ilford MGIV WT or Silver Chloride papers which require significantly different volume of light. For the Ilford paper I am working on a solution to diffuse the light and be able to slide multi grade filters under the light source and also have a dimmer attached to a timer. Then I am thinking I will just switch out the bulbs for each type of paper. I’m playing around with concepts for making a light stand out of pvc pipe because I can’t install anything permanent in the guest bathroom and I need to be able to store it when not in use. It’s a lot of fun working through the different ideas to eventually settle on the one that’s best for me.

[ic-racer]

For contrast control, I'd use the same Rosco gels I used below my 8x10 coldlight. You can cut big pieces to cover you entire printing frame from the inexpensive rolls. You can make a set of Y30, Y60, Y90, etc. much cheaper than the large Ilford MG filter sets. These are somewhat calibrated, you see on the label "1 Stop" so one stop is by definition 0.3 log d and the filter grade is "30", so the "60" is two stops etc.

There should be no need to diffuse the light if the light has not first been collimated. That is, if not using an enlarging lens or a reflector bulb, the light is already diffuse. Raising and lowering the hanging bulb will be better than a dimmer because a dimmer affects the color temp.

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[LFLarry]

For contrast control, I'd use the same Rosco gels I used below my 8x10 coldlight. You can cut big pieces to cover you entire printing frame from the inexpensive rolls. You can make a set of Y30, Y60, Y90, etc. much cheaper than the large Ilford MG filter sets. These are somewhat calibrated, you see on the label "1 Stop" so one stop is by definition 0.3 log d and the filter grade is "30", so the "60" is two stops etc.

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That’s a super idea!!! Thanks for sharing that.

[ic-racer]

Maybe stock up on these lamps?

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[John Kasaian]

I use a Printfile contact printer under a cheap old 35mm enlarger used for the light source, plus a timer.
It's pretty high tech compared to the sheet glass and light bulb I used to use, but don't let that scare you!

[LFLarry]

I use a Printfile contact printer under a cheap old 35mm enlarger used for the light source, plus a timer.
It's pretty high tech compared to the sheet glass and light bulb I used to use, but don't let that scare you!

That’s a great solution and similar to what I’m doing now but we are moving and this is the reason I am checking on a very simple solution that I can use on demand in the guest bathroom and then store when not in use. We have no extra room so it makes it challenging for me when I’m used to having a full Darkroom.

Then I realized I wanted the solution to be small and portable enough to make contact prints when I’m on the road and forced to stay in a hotel or a friends house. What started off as a negative for me has turned into new opportunities. Funny how that works... :)

[Jim Noel]

Light is as simple as what Edward Weston Used - an incandescent bulb mounted at the end of a rod secured through a hole in a piece of wood wotha thumbscrew. Use toilet tissue to reduce light as needed.

[Doremus Scudder]

I second the idea of using an enlarger head as a light source. It could be a small dichro head (35 or 67). It wouldn't even need a column, just some way to hang it from the ceiling temporarily when in use. Then you would have built in filtration and, by adding equal amounts of yellow and magenta to whatever filtration you have, a simple way to add effective neutral density. Heck, I used to drag a Beseler 23C in and out of my 4x8' bathroom and printed both black-and-white and Cibachromes that way. I had a small sink on legs with suction cups that fit exactly over the bathtub and used the shower pipe sans nozzle for a hose connection for water. A drain hose just hung in the tub. You could do something like that easily.

I've done the hanging bare bulb and dimmer too. Worked just fine, but I didn't use it for VC paper. A dichro head instead of bare bulb seems an elegant solution to me.

Best,

Doremus

[LFLarry]

Thanks to everyone for your ideas and input.

I just got back from Home Depot with a pile of stuff that I thought might be useful.

I am going to work on building and testing my solution this coming week.

[Red]

This is a good question. I recently went through a similar process and here is what I decided on.

For enlarging paper, I use Ilford MG IV Fiber paper, I got a 15W incandescent night light with a regular base on it and got a shop light from Home Depot. I bought a lamp dimmer and plugged that into my timer so I could control the light. I got one of those silver shop light reflectors and hung that from a hook I put in the bathroom ceiling. On that lamp housing, I made a way to slide in the 6x6 Ilford VC filters. Works really well and when I need to do a little dodging and burning, I just dial back the intensity of the light.

For silver chloride paper, I use a 100W flood light with the same dimmer and timer. I just change out the light source from the 15W to the 100W and everything else stays the same.

If you can't screw anything into the ceiling, then think of some options to either clamp the light to or whatever. Only you will know this based on your bathroom setup and personal preferences.


Good luck!



We are getting ready to move in a couple weeks to a smaller house and my space for making enlargements is going away and so I am going back to making 8x10 contact prints.

Seeking some simple ideas on how to make a DIY type contact printing setup that I can use in my guest bathroom and then put away when not using it.

I already have a good contact printing frame, so all I really need to figure out is the light source (type of light, watts, distance from printing frame), how to use variable contrast filters under the light source.

I am sure whatever I come up with won't be as good as the collective group here, so I am really looking forward to hearing your idea.


Thanks!

[John Berry]

Be sure to check output with light meter. Using a frosted floodlight for azo, I went through 6 bulbs to get less than 1/4 stop center to edge on 8x10 from 5 ft away. They aren't concerned about centering filament needed our purposes.