i have an old bogen enlarger with a filter tray above the diffuser, it came with a "haze" filter i guess someone left in there but it's pretty scratched up & i dont use it... anyway, i'd like to get a set of filters that allow me to change the contrast with VC paper, are they all pretty much the same? the size looks about like a 6x6 negative & the one that was in there was just a thin piece of plastic.... can anyone recommend something to suit my needs or advise me what to avoid?

thanks for any info, joe

-- Joe H (joe1013_@excite.com), March 14, 2001

Answers

Both Ilford and Kodak offer VC filters you can cut to size to fit your tray. Pick Ilford for Ilford papers, and Kodak for Kodak papers. Other mfrs will tell you which to use.

The Bogen enlarger I used to have also had an IR cut off filter to reduce the heat to the negative. This would be a glass plate that fit in the enlarger. Depending on the model your's might have this, or not, or it might be mounted elsewhere.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), March 14, 2001.

Agfa also makes filters in that size for use with their paper. If you chose to use Agfa, your dealer should have the filters or be able to order them. Because the papers all use a similar principle to achieve VC, each has a filter set that is desiged to give best results with that paper. ie., grade control and range. Using another paper's filter set will make you have to re calibrate your grading.

Cheers,

Duane

-- Duane K (dkucheran@creo.com), March 14, 2001.