This is a question for those that have upgraded thier stock View I ground glass. Did you find it much brighter? I received my 5x7 Ansco a week or so ago and I'm very suprised at how bright it is. So I'm wondering if I should think about replacing the glass on my 4x5 cameras.

The ground glass on my View I is no better then that on my Calumet or B&J so I'm figuring it's a fair comparison.

The most common and worthwhile first suggestion is to diassemble the GG and give it a good wash in mild dish detergent. This has considerably brightened up all my old Graphic screens with or without an Ektalite. If you have an Ektalite, of course you have to take it off the GG and wash seperately (stating the obvious)...

The next suggestion is that for the cost of a Satin Snow GG, why not replace it anyway? It's been advertised here before but go to:
http://www.satinsnowglass.com/
and order one. For the cost, it's worth it even just to have a spare! I replaced two GG on my 8x10's and certainly haven't regretted it. Best GG I've ever seen!

I think mine are clean they're just darker then the one on the 5x7. I haven't swapped them out just because they haven't broken-) To be honest I didn't think it was possible to be this much brighter.

Nick,

Let me know if I can help, I have reports from a lot of my customers, especially on the 4 x 5 size that they are seeing 1-3 stops brighter and a lot less grain in the glass for focusing, I know glenfromwy said he could use his 8x loupe with out seeing grain and one of the other guys on here said he was still able to focus with his lens set to f/32, so I guess it is a bit brighter and a whole lot less expensive than all of the other companies on the market, if orders are any indication...I am working my butt off producing glass

Dave