An enlarger lens allows a photographer to create different size images from one negative. An enlarger lens can be used to crop a photograph or to add or subtract color from an image. Learn properly use an enlarger lens to achieve photographic success.
Instructions
1. Choose the correct enlarger lens that fits your needs and budget. A 3-element enlarger lens is inexpensive but lacks the quality that the more costly 6-element enlarger lens can offer.
2. Know that an enlarger lens is created to enlarge black and white prints. The lens can enlarge color prints with the use of special color filters that add or subtract color from the subject area.
3. Use a condenser enlarger lens to showcase the detail in your prints. The condenser uses light passed through the print negative to the enlarger. A cold cathode enlarger--in which diffused light filters through the negative--produces good color images but with less detail.
4. Attach your enlarger lens to your enlarger. Set the aperture dial to the appropriate setting. Aperture is the size of the hole on the lens that controls the amount of light that reaches the negative. If you need more light for your exposure, set the aperture to f-4.5 (the "f" refers to the focal distance; the number signifies the diameter of the aperture.) For minimal light, use the f-22 setting. The common setting is the f-8 position which is in the middle.
5. Adjust the lens to the focus you desire and process your print.
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