Ensmalling

[BetterSense]

Has anyone ever printed reductions? I have an auxiliary bellows for my D2, which I assume is for printing reductions, but I have never had occasion to do that. The smallest I've ever wanted to print is 4x6 postcards. I suppose with an 8x10 camera it might be more typical. Anyway I'm just curious if anyone ever prints reductions and what circumstances led to the need.

[Bill Burk]

I have used it for pictures for lockets.

I can imagine using it for business cards, wallet size prints, and to fit small picture frames.

[Jim Michael]

Years ago when I did custom printing we had to do them on occasion, but not frequently enough to remember how to get the size and focus in synch.

[Leigh]

All the time... 4x5 Speed Graphic shots for a newspaper.

The final one- or two-column image was much smaller than the negative.

- Leigh

[ic-racer]

I do it on occasion.
Points to remember:
1) Recommended lens focal length = diagonal of the reduced print.
2) Lens to print distance will be smaller than lens to negative distance. Thus the need for a long bellows.

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum41/55616-cool-enlarger-trick.html