Printing Q: The corners of my print are getting less light than the center

[filmfan]

So I began printing last night at 9:00PM and came up from the depths of darkness to see the number 3:45AM on the clock. Wow.

My question/concern is in regards to the prints I made-- the corners are getting less light than the center. For example, the thin black border which I leave around my images is more gray on the corners than the center areas. I attempted to adjust for this by burning in the corners with grade 4 filter, but it just did not quite fully do the trick and I would prefer to fix the issue instead of figure out ways around it... This issue is worse on one side than the other as well.

My equipment:
Enlarger: Beseler 23C II
En. Lens: Nikkor 50mm f/2.8
Film: 35mm BW
Paper Size: 8x10 and 11x14 (both had same issue)

Any tips? It seems as though the beam of light (light source?) is too close to the negative. I think of it like a flashlight where you rotate the end to make a finer or more broad ray of light. I need to make my enlarger's light more broad so that it covers the entire negative evenly. Does this make sense?

Thanks!

[stupidfish]

check your bellows. often times, the top bellows will be too tight causing fall-out in the corners of your print. i usually go by the four-finger rule. that is, when you put your hands up to them, they should be around four fingers tall. you may have not even touched those and just adjusted the bottom bellows to focus. you may have to raise/lower the enlarger head to get the focus you need once you do this.

tom

[Vics]

Even Ansel Adams burned the edges of each print for 3 seconds, meaning the corners got six. I have the exact same set-up as you and thast's what I do. Nopw I'm assuming that you have the head set up for 35mm?
The edge process I use is to drag a card from each edge toward the center for 3 seconds. Try it.

[philosomatographer]

Unless I have been doing something very wrong all these years with my Omega D5XL and the same lens you are using, this is perfectly normal.

I'm not sure if it has something to do with the deeper "layers" of multicontrast paper being more sensitive to the angle that the light strikes the paper with a 50mm (wider angle) enlarging lens, but I don't think it has anything to do with the coverage of your light source.

I always burn in the edges of my prints for 1 stop (double exposure time), then it looks about even. With many, I burn in for 2 stops, to subtly emphasise the print central regions.

Don't mess about with a 4-step process with a normal card. Make a circular card cutout about 5cm in diameter, and attach it to a thin, stiff wire rod. After your normal exposure, do another, placing your circle right under the lens to block all light, then gently move it down so as to create a smooth inward burn gradient for all corners at the same time. This has become second nature for me with every print I make.

[nikon_sam]

The Bellows above the negative should be fully extended to cover the 35mm format...
Look on the backside of the enlarger for a scale showing you this...

[filmfan]

Great advice so far guys, thanks.

[sepiareverb]

Condenser creep. Happens all the time with the 23C. There are two large knobs on the lens stage which control focus, and two just the same for the condenser stage. For 35mm they need to be racked all the way up or the corners will start to fade. Simple fix. If you only shoot 35mm I'd suggest getting some dowels to prop the thing up permanently.

[filmfan]

Originally Posted by sepiareverb

Condenser creep. Happens all the time with the 23C. There are two large knobs on the lens stage which control focus, and two just the same for the condenser stage. For 35mm they need to be racked all the way up or the corners will start to fade. Simple fix. If you only shoot 35mm I'd suggest getting some dowels to prop the thing up permanently.

Forgot to mention-- I have a color head, not condenser.
Edit: your response sounds good though!

[sepiareverb]

Originally Posted by filmfan

Forgot to mention-- I have a color head, not condenser.
Edit: your response sounds good though!

Ah. Could be that the liner is going brown, the styrofoam can degrade from all the heat those bulbs generate. I'm not familiar with all the different color heads- there are lots of them- so much for my theory!

[nikon_sam]

Originally Posted by filmfan

Forgot to mention-- I have a color head, not condenser.
Edit: your response sounds good though!

The Color Head still uses a set of Condenser lenses or a Diffuser and either one will still require that the Bellows is set at a specific setting...

Here's a link for the Beseler 23c II Manual...http://blurdotblog.com/manuals/Beseler_23cII.pdf

Section IV "C" covers this issue...

[zauhar]

One thing that happens to me sometimes is the paper curling, and I end up with the edges not submerged completely in the developer.

I have become obsessed with making sure the paper is uniformly submerged in the solutions. Not sure this is an issue for you, of course...

Randy

[filmfan]

Originally Posted by zauhar

One thing that happens to me sometimes is the paper curling, and I end up with the edges not submerged completely in the developer.

I have become obsessed with making sure the paper is uniformly submerged in the solutions. Not sure this is an issue for you, of course...

Randy

This is the only explanation I could come up with for myself... I tried controlling for this and there was no change.

Originally Posted by nikon_sam

The Color Head still uses a set of Condenser lenses or a Diffuser and either one will still require that the Bellows is set at a specific setting...

Here's a link for the Beseler 23c II Manual...http://blurdotblog.com/manuals/Beseler_23cII.pdf

Section IV "C" covers this issue...

Thanks I will look into this!

Is the Beseler 23C II and 23C II Dichro the same thing? (I have the Dichro)

[Dwig]

Originally Posted by filmfan

T...
Is the Beseler 23C II and 23C II Dichro the same thing? (I have the Dichro)

• 23cII = Condensor head w/ filter drawer.
• 23cII Dichro = Condensor head w/ dial-in dichroic filter "color head" lightsource
• 23cII Dual Dichro = similar to Dichro but includes both the "integrator" for use with the condensors and a diffusion can to replace the condensors.

There was a later model that spliced the color head (diffusion only) from the Beseler 67 model onto a 23cII chassis.

Any condensor head, whether conventional bulb or Beseler's fancy color head arrangement, will have some light fall off and such fall off will be greater at the edges.

[Pablito]

all of the above, plus make sure the enlarger is properly aligned, make sure the neg carrier is centered. One thing that works very well to fix this is get a 75mm or 80mm enlarging lens which has a much larger image circle and much more even light in the center of the image circle which is what you'd use for 35mm. But don't expect to make very big prints from 35mm because the enlarger will have to be up pretty high. Personally, I do all my 8x10s and 11x14s from 35mm negs with an 80mm enlarging lens. But for 16x20 I have to switch to the 50mm.

[filmfan]

Originally Posted by Pablito

all of the above, plus make sure the enlarger is properly aligned, make sure the neg carrier is centered. One thing that works very well to fix this is get a 75mm or 80mm enlarging lens which has a much larger image circle and much more even light in the center of the image circle which is what you'd use for 35mm. But don't expect to make very big prints from 35mm because the enlarger will have to be up pretty high. Personally, I do all my 8x10s and 11x14s from 35mm negs with an 80mm enlarging lens. But for 16x20 I have to switch to the 50mm.

Great. I will try this tomorrow. I have a Rodenstock or something 80mm lens.

Is there a specific enlarger that is perfect for printing 35mm film on 8x10, 11x14, 16x20?

[sepiareverb]

Originally Posted by filmfan

So upon inspecting my enlarger, I cannot find the "top bellows" that people keep referring to. What am I looking for?
Thanks,

-S.

The top bellows is likely removed for the colorhead. My lab at work had a couple of older Beseler color heads years ago and they were mounted right on the chassis. I'd still suspect it is quite possibly the styrofoam or plastic liner in the mixing chamber or the plastic "lens" of the colorhead that has discolored. Most of those Beseler colorheads have got to be twenty to thirty years old by now. I'd pull the lensboard and take a look at the lightsource from the papers point of view to start.

[nikon_sam]

This is a Beseler 23C II but without the Color Head...does your enlarger look anything like this...you can see the Bellows over the Negative Carrier and the Bellows below the Neg and above the lens board...
The Color head would mount just above the Filter slot where the nameplate is...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beseler-Phot...item3378812e41


Or do you have this model...Beseler 23C III

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beseler-23C-...item1c2b712b0a

[filmfan]

So I still have not had time to look at the enlarger issue yet. Tonight I am going to print some 8x10 and 11x14 using the 80mm lens (35mm film) to see if that makes a difference.

Originally Posted by nikon_sam

This is a Beseler 23C II but without the Color Head...does your enlarger look anything like this...you can see the Bellows over the Negative Carrier and the Bellows below the Neg and above the lens board...
The Color head would mount just above the Filter slot where the nameplate is...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beseler-Phot...item3378812e41


Or do you have this model...Beseler 23C III

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beseler-23C-...item1c2b712b0a

No. I have the Beseler 23CII Dichro like I said before with the color head. No upper bellows. That being said, despite the fact that the enlarger clearly says "Beseler 23C II Dichro", it resembles the III much more closely than any image of the II that I can find online...

[sepiareverb]

The heads are all interchangeable on the different models, tho the latest VC one may be different somewhat? Doubtful.

What color are the metal parts?