Unpopular opinion: I called grain focusers a waste of money until I printed a 16x20 at f/2.8

Julia Moore · 2026-09-25T07:30:03.715401+00:00

I shot a roll of Tri-X at a friend's backyard wedding in Austin last month and decided to print my favorite frame at 16x20, and every single one came out soft on the left side. I blamed my enlarger, my lens, even the cheap easel, but a guy at the local lab handed me his grain focuser and told me to check the corners, not the middle. Turns out my negative was sharp, my alignment was garbage, and I had been guessing focus with a magnifier for almost two years. Now I want to know, does anyone actually print big without one, or did I just waste two years of paper?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

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Unpopular opinion: I called grain focusers a waste of money until I printed a 16x20 at f/2.8 | Analog Photo Stories - Pinecone Attack