correct enlarger lens

[Raymond Bleesz]

Last night I did a bunch of contact prints, 4x5 & 6x7 negatives. Time was limit ed so I didn't switch out my enlarger lenses. My question is , "Did I need to?" The lens which I used last night for both negatives was my 4x5, 150mm. Should I have used my normal 2 1/4 enlarger lens which is a 80mm. Obviously, I could m ake the test myself, but I welcome other comments as it is a learning experience . Thanks for your input.

[Ken Burns]

Ray:

If you are making contact prints, whichever lens you use doesn't matter at all. As a matter of fact, for contact printing, a lens really isn't even necessary. A bare light bulb would suffice. The lens focal length only matters when you are making projected enlargements.