4x5 full frame glass negative carrier for Omega D2

[rbdub]

Has anyone had luck finding/making an AN glass carrier for Omega D2 that will show the full 4x5 sheet? The standard carrier cuts off 1/8" all around the film.

I made one out of garolite but it warped and so wont sit flat on the negative stage. The bottom glass is held in by two layers of the material but the top glass just drops in. Not a good design but i wanted the cut out for the film to be just oversize to index the film in position under the condenser and i cant fighure out how to do that and get the top and bottom glass to touch. Also hard to get the top glass the right size so that you dont see the edge of the glass in the enlargement.

I've looked and I don't think I'm trying to recreate the wheel because i havent seen one yet that is full frame but I've also never held a glass negative carrier in my hand to see how they work. I do know that the Omega glass carrie is 3.625" x 4.625" clear which is the same as the standard carrier.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[ic-racer]

I don't think there is an easy solution and I think this issue is common to all formats. For example, my top of the line Durst 10x10 glass only just shows an entire negative. The diffuser box barely covers. If this is part of you signature work aesthetic, I'd recommend getting a 5x7 enlarger.

For me, the full frame aesthetic was exemplified by Avadon's In the West series of 8x10 negatives, which I believe were printed with full rebate showing on an 11x14 enlarger at Modernage. (Someone correct me if I am wrong). Being fascinated by Avadon's prints in that series, I attempted the same when I first got my 8x10 enlarger, and found it very difficult and tedious to perfectly center the negatives and get the entire film rebate square on the paper.

[Molli]

I'm not sure I'm going to explain this well, but your top plate needs to have a larger cut out to sit outside the lower glass edge on the bottom plate. That lower piece of glass can't be sitting in a sandwich; it needs to be be sitting up on the plate and held in place with clips similar to the ground glass clips used on your camera (well, on my camera anyway).
While you'll still be simply dropping in the top piece of glass, it will be sitting directly in contact with the bottom piece of glass. Basically, all of your glass and guides sit inside that cut out.
I have a glass carrier here that I can photograph at different angles for you; and/or attempt to make you a cardboard template to post to you - but not right now... It's five fifteen a.m. and I'm heading to bed.
The carrier I have is engineered differently to what I've described, but my way makes use of the design you already have - it simply needs a larger cut out on that top plate to work. I did a similar thing to turn a quarter plate carrier into a 6x9cm carrier and what I've described is based on that if photos of that modification would help clarify things or give you ideas in other directions. Just yell

[Drew Wiley]

Yes. I've done it. You can just file or rout a little extra wiggle room in that carrier and still use the standard Omega sandwich with its own carrier glasses. But don't overdo it. I'm speaking simply of the functionality of allowing the full image area to show. I had zero interest in making artificial dark margins that way, which can be more easily done with a special kind of adjustable easel.

[rbdub]

Yes I think you are right in that the only way to do it with room to spare is on a 5x7 enlarger which I unfortunately don’t have. After a bit of looking they are not readily avail either. On the D2 the circle of the condenser just barely covers the film. Without a way to index the film just right it will be difficult to position it each time. Thanks for your feedback. I love Avedon’s full frame portraits from late 70s early 80s.

[rbdub]

I get ya. Would like to see your carrier if you get the time to post it. My carrier does allow the glass to sandwich the negative but since the cutout is just bigger than the negative it’s hard to get the glass out and also you can see the edge of the glass in the enlargement. It’s the bottom glass that’s is bigger than the top on my design.

[Bill Burk]

I've filed my glassless 4x5 negative carrier for my DII. It grips the edge of the film with just enough to reliably hold it. I have the numbers if anyone wants to try the same. I also had to cut slots for the standard screws that locate the carrier in position under the lamphouse. I'm using an Aristo grid light source which drops into the standard 4x5 condenser ring. It just barely covers the film plus black borders. The Omegalite I used earlier didn't cover and that was frustrating.

[mdarnton]

I made a carrier for my D2V for printing enlarged 35mm proof sheets. It was two pieces of glass, hinged with tape at the back. The size was cut so that it would rest against the pins at the back for alignment. I made a track with two strips of black masking tape to keep the strips lined up in the right place, and then could slide the film in that to enlarge nine negs at once. I thought that there would be a lot of light leakage around the edges, but for my purposes there wasn't, however, it would be very easy to mask leaks as needed with more black masking tape, and tape would be used for defining the hole for the neg as well. This wasn't made of AN glass, but it could have been. This would have been a perfect setup for full frame 4x5 but I never used it for that.

[rbdub]

mdarnton
I’d read something very similar to your description before and so after reading your post this morning was inspired. I went and bought two pieces of glass and after some work with some black gaffers tape have come up with what I think is a pretty workable solution I’ll make a print this afternoon to see if I have any issues with Newton rings but at the moment it seems pretty good I can always try it again with AN glass if needed. see pictures. You can see a tiny bit of the circle of the condenser at the corners but I think I can live with that. thanks for everyone’s input!

[Daniel Unkefer]

I've has excellent results using a hand file to open up Omega D carriers. I have them in all sorts of custom sizes.

It just takes all day but sometimes I'm in the mood to create something that requires critical attention.

I do have a omega glass 4x5 D carrier; I will look at that when I have time.

It would be cool to see the film all the way out to the edges in the print.