Enlarger Exposure Time

[Sam Bowman]

In printing with my Omega D2 Enlarger, I find that, with the paper/negative/lamp combination, the paper is 'properly' exposed in around 3 to 8 seconds, much too short a time to do any significant dodging/burning. Is this solvable by a lowe r wattage lightsource, a neutral density filter, paper selection, other?

[Simon_443]

I've often had to use neutral density filters in enlargers to get exposure times up, especially when keeping the lens fairly wide open. The ND arrangement that will work best depends on your enlarger; the ideal ND filter is one that can easily be removed for focusing and replaced before exposure (you'll soon get in the habit of automatically reinserting it before starting the timer). I use some cheap gel-filter ND stuff I bought at Calumet in page-sized sheets and then cut them to the 6x6 size I needed (I needed two thicknesses). As long as the filter is above (not below) the negative, isn't close to the focusing plane, and doesn't have big chunks of goo on it, it shouldn't affect optica

[Simon_443]

l quality. . . .

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