I have a space in my house which is about to become a darkroom. 75% of what I d o is contact printing, but I would like to be able to enlarge 8 X 10 negs maybe 25% of the time. The space has only 7 foot ceilings, but at least 20 feet of st raight shot uninterrupted space, so I assume I am looking at horizontal use. Que stions:
1. Any reasons that mounting an enlarger horizontally is not likely to give good results, or is such a headache that I should give up on this idea?
2. Any companies/makes esp. suited for horizontal mounting?
3. At the print/easel end, how does one generally guarantee flatness, esp for l arger prints (I'd like to be able to go to 30 X 40)?
4. How does one deal with the issue of alignment when working horizontally? I assume the table with the enlarger needs to be fixed. Is the easel usually some how attached to the table with the enlarger, or do you just line things up reall y well with a zigaline or whatever at the outset?
5. Any references you'd suggest that speak to this specific issue?
6. Finally, any reasonable alternatives given space requirements and the fact th at all I shoot is 8 X 10? (easel on the floor? Seems like you'd hate yourself a fter about a week of crawling around on your knees!)
Thanks as always for the help!
Nathan
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