Anti-Newton-Ring glass

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

I am just setting up my darkroom, I have a Besler 45. None of the negative carriers have any glass at all. I really think glass would be a good idea on 4x5 and probably 6x6, and I can't see where it would hurt on 35. Can plain window glass work? Is ANR glass really necessary/worth it? Where do you get it?
Thanks,
Bill

[ROL]

ANR is not necessary unless you're having problems with rings. Since they are frosted, they can have other consequences to your enlarging. I have them and don't use them.

Cletus?

[vinny]

Focal point sells it.

[Drew Wiley]

Real AN glass is NOT frosted! I sometimes use it on BOTH sides of a color chrome or neg,
and I'll bet my enlargments are as sharp as they come. But which AN glass to choose is a
more involved subject. Generally you only need it above the negative, on the non-emulsion
side which is smoother and more subject to Newton rings. I personally sometimes need greater AN control because I work with various film mask sandwiches, involving more than one sheet stacked and registered in the carrier at a time. Focal Point has an excellent selection of it, and can even custom-cut sizes if necessary.

[Bob Salomon]

ANR is not necessary unless you're having problems with rings. Since they are frosted, they can have other consequences to your enlarging. I have them and don't use them.

Cletus?

You only need AN glass on the base side of the film so plain glass can be used on the emulsion side. Since you focus on the emulsion side the AN should not create a problem.
And Drew is correct. It should be acid etched.

[Drew Wiley]

PS - plain window float glass is not ideal, though it can be made to work in a pinch. If you
don't need AN, then a thin optically flat or even coated glass can be obtained. Again,
Focal Point is a convenient source.

[ROL]

Real AN glass is NOT frosted!

I should of known I would get blow back on that term...

But my "acid-etched" do come from Focal Point, who I thought was no longer in business.

[ROL]

You only need AN glass on the base side of the film so plain glass can be used on the emulsion side. Since you focus on the emulsion side the AN should not create a problem.
And Drew is correct. It should be acid etched.

True, I was casually and inarticulately referring to using glass in the carriers at all unless absolutely necessary to keep film flat, particularly with smaller than sheet film varieties.

[vinny]

I bought a piece of "frosted" glass from the local framer to try in my 10x10. It works great until you have an area like open sky, then the texture shows up. Bummer. I have a bunch of 10x10 AN glass but two of the corners are clipped off all of them so far that enlarging an entire 8x10 neg isn't possible.

[Bob Salomon]

True, I was casually and inarticulately referring to using glass in the carriers at all unless absolutely necessary to keep film flat, particularly with smaller than sheet film varieties.

All quality enlarging lenses require a flat negative as well as a propely aligned enlarger. There is no instance where a glassless carrier is to be preferred if optimal print quality is the desired result. Even large format sheet films will not be flat enough when using a glassless carrier and all film sizes can pop during the exposure.