I am unable to focus both the left and right sides of my image at the same time. when I focus the left side, the right goes out of focus and vice-versa. I have used a bubble level to align the enlarger head and negative carrier with the enlarger platform (easel) both side to side and front to back, but the out-of-focus problem remains.

Interestingly, some negatives come into focus evenly more than others, but a majority of my prints are waste paper due to this problem. Any ideas would help.

Craig Murphy

-- Craig Murphy (cmurphy68@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001

Answers

Maybe your enlarging lens is not fittet at level.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), January 04, 2001.

Craig, Sounds to me as if your enlarger is still not correctly aligned. But first check to make sure your negative carrier holds the negative tight in the sides and corners and that the negative is not bowing to much (i.e. higher or lower in the middle that at the sides). Sometimes you have to tape the negs in to get them relatively flat. If that is not the problem, try this method for aligning your enlarger and see if it helps. Take the largest negative carrier you have and tape lengths of thread across it from side to side and corner to corner so that they make a star in the middle. Then, using your several-hundred-dollar grain focuser, focus and adjust the enlarger head/carrier till all corners and the middle are in focus at the same time. This can be frustrating, but you should at least be able to tell which way something is out and in which direction so you can make adjustments in the right direction. I find this method adequately accurate and easier than most others. Hope this helps. ;^D)

-- Doremus Scudder (ScudderLandreth@compuserve.com), January 04, 2001.

To expand on what Marc said: I think your first suspect should be the lens mount.
Does the lens fit smoothly and snugly, or is it a sloppy fit that can rock from side-to-side before it's tightened down? I've seen enlargers with moulded plastic lens mounts that are a complete disaster. Check for squareness by putting a steel rule across the front ring of the lens (assuming the desin allows it), and use your bubble on the ruler. If that's your problem, the only solution for this is to make a new board and fit a 39mm flange to it.

Doremus: Several hundred dollar grain magnifier? I know prices have gone up lately, but did you buy that special collector's edition Platinum plated Skoponet, personally signed by Gene Nocon and Eddie Ephraums, by any chance?

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), January 04, 2001.

I use a simple bubble-level tool that seems to work pretty well, but a friend of mine made the best tool I have ever seen. He cut a mirror the size of his lensboard and had a small hole drilled in the center of it. He replaces the lensboard with this mirror (mirror side facing down), then puts another mirror on his enlarger easel (facing up) and turns on the enlarger light. The infinite reflections all merge into a single dot of light if the enlarger is properly aligned.

I understand there is a commercial tool called Zigalign that uses a mirror and LED, but I have never seen one.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), January 04, 2001.

Let's see: Make sure that your easle sits evenly on the base board; Make sure that all four sides of your negative are supported in the carrier; Make sure that contact prints do not indicate that this is a negative problem; make sure that the enlarger lens is mounted on the board correctly. The next thing to try is rotating the lens 180 degrees in its mount. If the other side of the image is now the unsharp one, your lens lens is out of alignment. Unless it is an expensive one, throw it away and get yourself another.

-- Ed Farmer (photography2k@hotmail.com), January 04, 2001.

after alligining with a level on the enlarger right to left do it again front to rear then check the base board the same way then if still not sharp stop down the lens to bring in focus also make sure lens is mounted flat in lens board make sure the lens is of good quality $125 or more nikor or schneider compon or the like

-- craig elbe (celbe@prodigy.net), January 09, 2001.

Problem resolved!

Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions. I leveled the enlarger head by using the string technique: crossing string from side to side and corner to corner of largest negative carrier and focusing while checking all areas. This enabled me to adjust the head - which was slightly out. The main cause for my problems appeared to be my negative carrier - which has raised ridges that pinch the negative on top and bottom, but leave the ends open to bend or flop. This is especially a problem when the negative I'm printing from is on the end of the strip. I could visibly see the negative edge concave and distort, throwing off the focus, especially after being under the enlarger lamp for a while. I corrected this problem by adding electrical tape to the outside edges of the 35mm frame on the carrier to even them up with the raised ridges on the top and bottom. Now the negatives are tight and even!

I am a bit confused about someone's comment on a 'several hundred dollar grain focuser'. I did not say anything about this. I have a $55 basic 10x model that does the trick.

Craig Murphy

-- Craig Murphy (cmurphy68@hotmail.com), January 10, 2001.