New at enlarging

[Fred Braakman]

Hi, My name is Fred, and I am new to the forum. I have recently set up my darkroom. I have a Super Chromega D, dichroic enlarger which I bought used. A question I have is regarding stray light from the enlarger when I make an exposure. Is it normal for stray light to emit from the enlarger head when the light is activated? It reflects back from the head against the wall behind the enlarger. I worry that it may negatively affect the print exposure.

Thanks.

[Brian Ellis]

Most enlargers leak light at various points even when new. Some people think the leaks don't matter but I never liked to see stray light emitting from the enlarger even if it was in a place where it probably didn't affect the exposre. In one of his darkroom workshops John Sexton recommends putting a cap on the lens, sitting in the dark for ten minutes to let your eyes adjust, then turning the enlarger light on to observe the location of light leaks. Also, with the light on look up through the lens from the base board and see if light is leaking around the lens board. Then tape up or otherwise cover the leaks.

[Nick_3536]

It depends on what is leaking and what around it can reflect the light. Light isn't a gas. It won't just fill the room. If light drifts off away from the paper then it's not an issue to me. If on the other hand the light is hitting the paper either directly or by reflection then it's an issue. Before you cocoon your enlarger remember it likely needs some cooling to.

[ronald moravec]

People tend not to align the enlargers. The lens needs to be set parallel to the base, then the neg stage set parallel, then you adjust the head so it sets flat to the neg stage. I assume this is where the light is leaking, right? It is fully adjustable to set flat.

[Brian Ellis]

People tend not to align the enlargers. The lens needs to be set parallel to the base, then the neg stage set parallel, then you adjust the head so it sets flat to the neg stage. I assume this is where the light is leaking, right? It is fully adjustable to set flat.

When you do the little test I mentioned you can often see light leaking out of a lot of places. Light on all four sides of the negative stage of my new Beseler MXT literally poured out (I adapted a shoe box to put over the head when the light was on to deal with that), another leak at the point where the power cord was attached to the head (I taped that up), and a big leak from the lens stage (I used a piece of cardboard with a cut out for the lens to deal with that).

I tried to deal with light leaks rather than assume they had no effect on the print for the same reason I tested my safe light. You can get away with a safe light that's too bright depending on how long the paper is out of the box before it's in the stop bath. But I never wanted to rely on always staying within that time so I made sure my safelight was truly safe. I fixed light leaks for a similar reason - maybe the light hits a dark wall and has no effect on the exposure, or maybe it does but the degradation of print highlights is so slight that you don't realize the effect the leak is having. Or maybe today it doesn't have any effect but tomorrow you lean a piece of mat board against that wall and the light bounces off it onto the paper. Better IMHO to fix light leaks than to simply assume they will never have any effect on the print.

[David Karp]

I agree with Brian. I use thick black construction paper and black cloth tape to creat shields and covers to keep the light away from the paper. I also attended a Sexton workshop. Once I saw how John shielded his paper from the leaks in his enlarger, I ran home and did what I could to prevent stray light from reaching my paper.

Check your safelight also. At the workshop, John took one look at my prints and asked me if I ever tested my safelight. I said no. He asked if I had to fight with the highlights when printing. I said yes. He asked me if I used an inexpensive brand which I will not name, and I, of course, said yes. He recommended a Kodak bullet type safelight. Sexton recommends using the procedure recommended by Kodak. If we are lucky, they still have their testing procedure available on their website. Well, I went home, bought a new safelight, and the quality of my photos when up instantly, without any change in technique. Then, as I added the techniques I learned at the workshop, my printing improved even more.

[Fred Braakman]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to protect my paper by building a shield to protect it from the stray light. I have tested my safelight, and actually found it to be safe for at least 5 minutes, so quite possibly the stray light does not have any impact. But better safe than sorry.

Fred