isonull
Hello everyone,
A few months ago, I bought the Meopta Magnifax 4. So far, I’ve only enlarged 35mm film in smaller formats, and everything’s been great.
A few days ago, I wanted to start enlarging a series of photos I’d taken in 6x6 format onto 85x85 cm paper, projecting them onto the wall. And that brings us straight to my problem: the print (or rather, the grain) becomes lighter and out of focus towards the edges. I’m using the large condenser no. 1 with a 75mm lens. Everything’s correct so far, isn’t it?
If you look at the light leak without a negative, you can actually see the light getting weaker towards the edges.
The distance to the paper is 1.15 m. Could that have something to do with it, and is the Magnifax 4 even suitable for enlargements of this size?
I’m afraid I don’t have a solution at the moment.
It would be great if any of you had some advice!
Until then,
Micha
isonull
Sorry about the headline
It should, of course, read "MEOPTA Magnifax 4 – vignetting" and not "Opermus" ;)
jonny
Hi Micha, unfortunately I don’t have much experience with the condenser system in the Magnifax 4, as I use the colour head myself. If the condenser fits, it could be down to the lens. Magnification lenses for 6x6 usually have a focal length of 80mm. What sort of lens are you using there?
Urnes
I haven’t had mine for ages. But if you can’t adjust the bulb inside the housing, try stopping down the aperture by one or two stops. That should sort it out. I vaguely remember having the same issue with mine.
Regards, Sven.
isonull
Thanks for your replies so far.
@Elizabeth:
I need to correct myself here. It wasn’t a 70mm lens. I tried it with two different ones – both 75mm lenses – and had the same problem with both. I can’t say exactly what brand they are at the moment. I’m off to the camera shop in a minute, so I’ll have a look.
@urnes
I’ll have a look to see if there’s anything that can be adjusted.
Regarding stopping down... it’s true that when you stop down by one or two stops, the light field appears even to the naked eye, but what I’d really like to know is... doesn’t that just extend the exposure time?
As a complete amateur, I would assume that this doesn’t change the uneven light distribution, does it?
Apart from that, due to the greater distance, I already prefer a fairly wide aperture.
For those of you who know the device well:
The condenser compartment contains the interchangeable condenser marked No. 1.
No further condensers were included with the enlarger.
I can’t find a user manual either...
There is another condenser lens marked No. 2, but it’s smaller. So I’m assuming that one is for 35mm film.
I’m curious to see if there’s a solution.
Many thanks for now
AchimBauer
Hi Micha,
At http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/manuals/magnifax-4-instrction-manual-p6647.html
you can buy a guide in English.
I’m not aware of a German version available for download.
Best regards, Achim
jonny
Thanks for your replies.
@Elizabeth:
I need to correct myself here. It wasn’t a 70mm lens. I tried it with two different ones – both 75mm lenses – and had the same problem with both. I can’t say exactly what brand they are at the moment. I’m off to the camera shop in a minute, so I’ll have a look.
@urnes
I’ll have a look to see if there’s anything that can be adjusted.
Regarding stopping down... it’s true that when you stop down by one or two stops, the light field appears even to the naked eye, but what I’d really like to know is... doesn’t that just extend the exposure time?
As a complete amateur, I would assume that this doesn’t change the uneven light distribution, does it?
Apart from that, due to the greater distance, I already prefer a fairly wide aperture.
For those of you who know the device well:
The condenser compartment contains the interchangeable condenser marked No. 1.
No other condenser was included with the enlarger.
I can’t find a user manual either...
There is another condenser lens marked No. 2, but it’s smaller. So I’m assuming that one is for 35mm film.
I’m curious to see if there’s a solution.
Many thanks for now
You really should stop down for the sake of image quality (especially at high magnification levels), and of course this also reduces the drop in brightness
from the centre of the lens towards the edges of the image.
isonull
Thanks, Achim
Basically, I just need to know what types of capacitors there are and what they’re used for. Although I’m pretty sure I’ve got the right one in there.
It’s still a mystery! ;)
isonull
@elizabeth
OK. That’s interesting.
So could it be that this drop in brightness has nothing to do with the lens or the condenser, but rather with the wide-open aperture
in combination with the magnification? It seems quite normal then...
The problem is the exposure time. It’s already unhumanly long as it is.
But honestly, if that really is the reason, I’d put up with it.
Urnes
Which 75mm lens are you using? Does it cover 6x6 format at all, or just 645? During enlargement, are you still using the enlarger bed, or have you moved on to floor or wall projection? What are your exposure times?
You could switch to a 200W bulb or use a 60mm WA wide-angle lens; that would reduce the extension.
Regards, Sven.
piu58
Dimming usually helps. Of course, any unevenness is more noticeable in large images, and you can’t do without dodging and burning anyway. A round piece of black card on a stick works well for this.
isonull
I’m using a 75 mm Rodenstock lens and shooting 6x6.
I took your advice on board and stopped down by two stops (in some cases as far as f/11). Actually, the light fall-off towards the edges isn’t quite as bad anymore, though a slight distortion (or out-of-focus area) in the corners is still noticeable – even when I enlarge to a ‘smaller’ size, in this case 30 x 30 cm.
For enlargements projected onto the wall, I’m currently exposing at 90 x 90 cm with an aperture of f/8.
On average, that gives an exposure time of between 8 and 13 minutes. That’s quite a long time. Unfortunately, a 200W bulb isn’t an option with the Magnifax because it can only handle a maximum of 120W.
I took the thing apart once, but as far as I can tell, everything is in its place, at right angles, etc.
At least it’s not too bad thanks to the stop-down, but as I said... that slight but visible out-of-focus area in the corners
is giving me a headache.
(Apologies for the late reply)
isonull
@ piu58
During exposure, of course, there’s always something to dodge. With a 12-minute exposure, you can take your time ;)
The last few times, I’ve also compensated for the light fall-off by re-exposing the corners (while shielding the centre).
But that can’t really be right.
It gets particularly frustrating when you’ve got a heavily exposed negative. Even with an aperture of f/3.8, you still have time to pop out for a bit of shopping in between. Then another 30 minutes of re-exposing the corners, only to realise you’re still under the time limit... it’s a right pain!
piu58
> It gets really frustrating, especially when you have an overexposed negative. Even at f/3.8
Something’s not quite right here.
I’m not enlarging to that size, just up to 40x40. 80x80 would take four times as long, and with a bit of the Schwarzschild effect, perhaps even longer.
With the least sensitive bromochloride paper I have, I end up with exposure times of around 2–3 minutes, which is slightly inconvenient in itself. At f/8!! That means that at f/4, even with very insensitive paper, you’d end up with comparable times. Although I’d never use f/4, because then the corners would certainly be out of focus. This is particularly noticeable with large prints.
Pitt23
Hi Isonull,
Have you found the manual? If not:
http://rangefinder.r...a-pdf-5828.pdf.
In my experience, the Magnifax provides VERY even lighting, including the condenser head.
Vignetting: Is there a proper opal bulb (150W) in there or just a standard incandescent bulb? (Clear bulbs are the obvious choice for results with an exaggerated Lomographic look; even a standard frosted bulb won’t do the trick.) Is the bulb properly aligned? Are the lamp and housing etc. clean? The successes mentioned above achieved by stopping down may also indicate weaknesses in the lens.
As PIU58 said: 13 minutes of exposure time for standard photographic paper – something’s not right there!
Best regards and good light!
Pitt
