Soft(re)light With condenser enlarger

hyoro · 2004-09-29T07:15:46+00:00

Hallo, habe im Forum etwas über eine matte Glasscheibe gelesen, die in die Filterschublade eingelegt das Licht weicher machen soll. Kann man dafür einfach e...

hyoro

Hello, I read something on the forum about a frosted glass pane that, when placed in the filter drawer, is supposed to soften the light. Can you just use a standard frosted glass pane from a glazier, or is it a special type of glass? Wouldn’t the effect be even greater if you placed such a pane under the condenser? Are there any other tricks for softening the light? Best regards, Henning

MKL

There is a disc of this kind available for the Dunco 66 and, as far as I can remember, it is placed either beneath the condenser or on top of the book-viewing stage. The glass has a white coating to diffuse the light. Best regards, Michael

MirkoBoeddecker

These so-called "diffusers" are placed above the condenser or inserted into the filter drawer. The main reason, however, is not to soften the light but to eliminate irregularities in the illumination, which often occur due to uneven glass gradients in the opal bulb. This also makes the light slightly softer, but not as much as when you switch to a proper mixing light (mixing chamber). They also reduce the light output by one stop. We usually have these in stock for Meoptas. They are made of etched glass. Best regards, Mirko

hyoro

@Mirko Etched glass? I thought a diffusion panel looked a bit like an opal lamp or a lightbox panel: a brilliant, bright white. But there’s no reason not to fit a panel like that under the condenser – in theory, it should have a stronger effect there (if it’s just a matter of ‘softening’ the light), shouldn’t it? Let’s see, maybe I can find a glazier ‘round the corner’ who’ll cut me a 10x10 opal glass pane or something similar... (if it only costs a few euros, I’ll just give it a go) How much would your etched pane cost? Thanks and best regards, Henning

MirkoBoeddecker

A disc like this for Opemusse and Axomaten costs €5. It’s round and comes with a matching metal frame. If you place it under the condenser, it sits directly on the negative. This means the texture of the disc shows up in the image. I don’t know if it would work with an opal glass disc as well. But there’s probably no reason why it shouldn’t… Mirko

Gast

Hello, I read something on the forum about a frosted glass panel that, when placed in the filter drawer, is supposed to soften the light.

Hi Henning, I’ve tried all that. This solution absorbs a fair bit of light – far too much for my liking. You can also use a semi-diffusing plastic film (available in clothes bags), but the result isn’t great because it isn’t really diffusing: it absorbs light but doesn’t do anything. What really helped in the end was... switching to a fully diffusing colour enlarger <_< That was definitely my best investment in 2004! Best regards, Stefan

hyoro

Update: I picked up a piece of fairly uniformly diffusing, stiff plastic film (intended for making lamps...) from a 'craft shop' (don’t laugh) for €1.50 – it’s really very diffusing! At least above the condenser, it works a treat; the exposure times stay within the safe range, as does the heat build-up. Below the condenser, you can actually bring the rough surface into focus (!), but I still need to test whether the film is already in the plane of sharpness at a normal aperture (5.6–8) (the film is then a good 0.5–1 cm above the negative)... I also need to determine, when I get the chance, whether there is a significant difference (possibly an improvement, i.e. ‘softer’ light) in image quality by conducting a careful direct A-B comparison. Even with a filter placed over it, everything works perfectly. However, I cannot say whether the filter values change slightly, as the film might not be pure white. A question for the experts: is there any reason (heat, melting...) not to place the film precisely between the condenser lenses? -- Mirko mentioned in a post that this is the ideal location for insert filters (e.g. on a Beseler). Best regards, Henning