Newibie question: Contact prints, VC paper, light source

[NancyP]

It seems to me that most available photo papers are variable contrast.
If I want to do "standard" contact prints of 4 x 5 negatives at medium contrast, and don't have an enlarger (yet), what sort of light source do I need?
I had originally planned to get some #2 contrast paper and just use the room's ceiling light. If the available photo papers are variable contrast, would I need to rig up a light source with a diffuser and a #2 filter glued to it?

Or, do most people just scan in their 4 x 5 negatives, reverse tonality in Photoshop (or equivalent), and use the scans to review, select, file the images?

[Francisco J. Fernández]

would I need to rig up a light source with a diffuser and a #2 filter glued to it?


OK, is one good option

[Mark Woods]

Edward Weston used a bare bulb directly over the neg & paper. I'm sure he used graded paper, but you could use a lamp with a shade with the interior painted black and then tape, or build a little frame to hold the filter.

Good Luck!

[Pawlowski6132]

Why not just cover your frame and VC paper with a 6x6 Ilford filter?

[chuck461]

I believe that most VC papers when exposed without any VC filter act as a Grade 2. So, if all you want to do is contact print on a medium grade paper you should be OK with a low watt (7 or 15w would be my guess) bare bulb without a filter. Different brands of paper will likely give you somewhat different contrasts. To do any contrast changes you would need to cobble together some way to to use contrast filters with the light.
I hope this helps.
Chuck

[NancyP]

Thanks, all. I just want to set up a "standard" proof procedure to allow me to start evaluating negatives and to file images. I am a real newbie, starting with unfamiliar format (4 x 5), film (HP5+), film developer (HC-110, probably at 1:63 dilution), and paper (Ilford seems to be the one brand carried locally). Bear in mind, I did 135 format over 30 years ago, Plus-X and old-style Tri-X, Microdol, Kodak variable contrast fiber papers, and Dektol. It is somewhat sobering to realize that all these products are gone or significantly altered (except maybe Dektol).

By the way, any suggestions on RC paper and developer?

I just need to get myself in the groove again.

[Mark Woods]

Ilford RC is a good paper, although not archival. I use Clayton CT P-90 developer 1:7. BTW, I wouldn't put the lifter on top of the glass, it's another optical element that show scratches, etc. The further away it is from the paper the less problematic it is.

[Drew Wiley]

You could probably find a small colorhead enlarger for free. Since it's just for projecting colored light onto a contact frame, it wouldn't even have to be a full 4x5
sized enlarger, though it would be nice to have something full-sized just in case you change your mind about enlargement per se. But if you use a halogen bulb
per se the problem will probably be too much brightness to control. Use can use neutral density as well as heat-tolerant colored lighting "gels" over them, but make
sure them are properly air-spaced to prevent a fire. Gel holders which do this can be acquired from the same studio sources as the gels themselves. But for the
investment, you probably could get a used enlarger even cheaper. Most of the current VC papers seem to me to hit around Grade 3 with no supplementary filtration, but that would depend on your exact light source. Scanning and reviewing on a scrren is a completely different ballgame, and less likely to give you an accurate impression of how a neg will actually print in a darkroom. If you just plan on posting subject matter on the web, or digitally printing per se, it's OK.

[William Whitaker]

Why not just cover your frame and VC paper with a 6x6 Ilford filter?

Seems any scratches or defects in the filter would show in the print if you did that. I'd keep the filter close to the light source.

There was a time when I made some contact prints in a bathroom and simply turned the room lights on and off at the wall switch.
It was crude, but effective and worked surprisingly well. But I can think of better ways to do it now, especially if I wanted to burn or dodge an area.

[MIke Sherck]

If you're using a bare bulb suspended over a contact frame with a negative in it, (or just a piece of clean glass over it,) you can hold a contrast filter a couple of inches or so under the bulb for the length of the exposure. Take care not to shadow the negative with a finger and it'll be fine.

Mike