Nic
Hello,
I’m a typical beginner and, naturally, I’m making my first mistakes straight away.
I wanted to make contact sheets from my negatives. However, my test prints are completely black after just 3 seconds in the developer. I’ve tried everything from 1 second to 30 seconds at f/8. It’s always the same.
The paper is new. I’m using Adox Adotol Liquid Ne developer, with a dilution of 1:7. Red darkroom light!
Where could the problem be?
I’d be grateful if anyone could give me a few tips on where to start troubleshooting!
Best regards, Niklas
wosis123
What exactly did you use for the exposure, and how?
3 seconds suggests far too much light.
Best regards,
Hendrik
Nic
I used a timer to take the photo. I used a Meopta/Axomat with a standard lens set to f/8 for the exposure.
Best regards, Niklas
Gucker
How far apart are the paper and the lens? What is the focal length of the lens?
Wolfgg
Hi Niklas,
Perhaps someone counted the number of sheets in the pack in daylight. Don’t laugh – anything goes these days, ever since ‘photographic paper’ for colour printers came onto the market.
So first, check whether the paper is still unexposed: take a small, unexposed piece from the box, place it in the developer with the emulsion side down for 1 minute, then stop and fix it as normal. If the paper is still white, it’s fine.
Then, for the next test, without film in the enlarger, set the aperture to f/11, raise the head high enough to illuminate the contact sheet, then perform an exposure on a small piece of paper for 1 second, then one for 2 seconds, then one for 4 seconds, then one for 8 seconds, and so on, always developing with the emulsion side down (write the time on the back in pencil). Keep doubling the exposure time until the black no longer gets any darker. Using the time for the first maximum black and aperture 11, then expose the contact sheet, but start by taking a small piece to evaluate and, if necessary, adjust the time for the large sheet slightly.
Make a note of the values you’ve determined for head height, aperture and exposure time; these will then always remain the same for this paper, provided your films are always correctly exposed and developed.
Regards, Wolfgang
TiMo
If your exposure times are very short and therefore not very precise, you could also use a graduated filter.
piu58
First, develop an unexposed sheet to check that the paper is in good condition. Even if someone has opened the pack, the sheets underneath might still be usable for contact prints.
Then make a test strip. If everything is black at f/8, just use f/16.
