Practice question · True or false
An enlarging lens should be used wide open, so that the shortest possible exposure time is needed.
Hints
- Ask where a lens performs best, and what a two-second exposure does to dodging.
- The wide-open setting is for focusing, not for printing.
Show the answer
False
Why
False on both counts. Enlarging lenses are at their best about two stops down, where aberrations and corner falloff are controlled, and a very short exposure leaves no time for dodging or burning. Wide open is the focusing aperture; the working aperture is two stops below it.
Practise The Enlarger and the Print
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