Big difference with glass neg carrier?

[Nick Wood]

I've always printed MF negs in glassless neg carriers, but have now encountered a problem with my recent move up to 5x4.

Am using a Beseler 45M with Zone VI cold light head. Everything seems to be fine with HP5 negs - acceptably flat in the glassless neg carrier.

But Polaroid 55 negs... not a chance!

Having never used glass (and apart from the dust factor), will I notice a decrease in print quality with plain glass bottom & anti-Newton glass top?

Does anti-Newton glass in anyway nullify the benefits of a cold light head?

Thanks

[Bill_1856]

With the Beseler the best solution for Polaroid negatives (which are on roll-film base rather than the thicker sheet-film), they make a negative carrier which grabs the negative on the edges and puts tension on it so it can't sag. I believe that it's called a Nega-Tran(?) and are often on ebay. Much easier than the mass of using glass carriers.

[reellis67]

Nega-flat is the one the grabs the negative. The Nega-trans is the one that allows for strips of roll film to be moved back and forth in the carrier. I like the glass carriers, and contrary to what I was led to expect, dust has not been any more of a problem with a glass carrier than with a non-glass carrier. I have seen an increase in sharpness in the larger negative sizes, especially with larger print sizes.

- Randy

[reellis67]

Almost forgot, the Beseler glass carriers are made to be universal - with a simple cardstock paper mask they can be used with any size negative. I have the 6x9 size for all roll films and 2x3 sheet film, and the 4x5 for 4x5 negatives.

- Randy

[Brian Ellis]

I owned and occasionally used the Beseler glass carrier with anti-Newton glass on one side. I never noticed any fall-off in quality and like Randy, the dust problem was much less severe than I was expecting.

[Dave Brown]

On the recommendation of a friend, i bought a negaflat for use with type 55. I experimented with it for awhile, but found that it "wrinkled" the negative at the ends where the carrier grabs the negative. Granted, this experience is from a sample of one; my carrier may be misaligned or otherwise damaged.

I've had dust problems using a glass carrier, but that problem wasn't insurmountable; a little more care on my part took care of things.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Does anti-Newton glass in anyway nullify the benefits of a cold light head?
...Absolutely not.

[Dave Brown]

Here's a (very poor quality) shot showing the wrinkles induced by the Beseler NegaFlat:

[Nick Wood]

I am so thankful for this forum, and for all your replies.

Randy - wow, I never expected the use of anti-Newton glass increasing sharpness. What on earth's going on there?

Andrew - that's good to know. I just wasn't sure whether such glass does weird things to different wavelengths of light.

Looks like the glass carrier is winning over the Negaflat. Next task is to try and get one here in the UK.

Thanks again for all your help.

Nick