>   Well, on a lark I set-up my camera on a tripod with a negative and set-up
> my computer behind it. 
 
Back in the early 1960's I worked in Kenya as an electronic instrument technician.
The Kenya Survey Dept had an electronic contact printer for their survey film, I can't remember the size but at least 12 inches square.It consisted of a Cathode Ray tube that displayed a Lissajous figure where the electron beam was controlled  by the light that had passed through the negative and the photo paper and was picked  up by a photomultiplier tube.
I think it was called a LogEtronic Printer.
It was quite a fiendish piece of electronics but when eventually I managed to get it working the results were incredible. Knowing a bit more about photography now the LogE was referring to the Log E of the film or paper which could be changed at will. The difference  between a straight print and one dodged with this machine was astounding with dodging that could never be done by hand. It  would have required complex masking to achieve the same results.
There must be lots of these things laying around in Surplus stores, I'm pretty sure the Armed Services would have used them.
I've often wondered if anyone had used the same technique for an Enlarger light source.
 
Norman Dennett
 

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