Recent content by RogerHyam

Good advice. Thank you. It triggered me to look at getting an Jobo/LPL (they had fallen off my radar). I saw one at a good price and I just purchased it! Now I am hoping the cheap courier will come good on their offer. I've been hanging off buying a 4x5 enlarger for years and it feels good to...

There is a listing for two Omega D5500 enlargers on UK eBay at the moment. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/147281706770 I'd really like a 4x5 enlarger but had always considered De Vere 504s before. I hadn't considered an Omega let alone a D5500. Aren't Omegas just for the yanks? 😃 I'm in...

Well here is my first attempt using @grahamp suggestion of 4 1/8th inch (105mm) longest dimension. It just slots on the top of the front standard. It looks to match the image on the ground glass quite closely - just trying it out in the living room. I'll have to try it outside at the weekend...

You sound like an MPP expert! Have you any idea what the specification for the two little screws on the back of the front standard that hold the finder in place are? Presumably they are some imperial thread. I can make a clip on frame but to attach something that stays on the camera I'd need to...

I thought about doing that. I use a little 3D printed view finder to scout shots and I could stick it to the top of the rear standard. But there is one theoretical advantage of having the frame on the front standard. When you apply rise or shift (the most common movements) the frame should still...

I just bought myself a rather battered M.P.P. Micro Technical VI (1952 I think) and have been sprucing it up. I've paired it with a Schneider 150mm that I've had for many years (sentimental value as it was made in 1965 - year my wife and I were both born). It is lacking the front frame of the...

Well the ABS has arrived from China. It seems ideal. 1mm thick sheet for the dark slide is opaque to the lights I try to shine through it and also somewhat flexible. 2mm sheet is stiff enough to give rigidity to the holder although I may be able to use 1mm for that too. I'm printing the holder...

Ooh I'd forgotten about Plastikard. I remember it from the distant past - maybe modelling as a kid. I've got some ABS on order but I'll look into Plastikard as well. At least I should be able to go to a big model shop and check out what it looks and feels like.

I have spent ALL Sunday morning and 4 cups of coffee on this now! It is paralysis through analysis. I think I might order some black ABS and see how stiff and opaque it is. It seems to be readily available, cheap and light. The question is how stiff it is (@ 2mm for the septum) and opaque it is...

Yeah I saw one supplier on eBay but only one size and I'd be worried about how opaque of if they would be available if I went back for more.

Ah copper clad! Looking at what was on offer I was thinking FP4 or possibly G10 but they all seemed translucent and painting would be a pain and unreliable.

I thought about aluminium but I'm trying to make it as light as possible and painting the septum would be an extra complexity. It is an option though.

This is an old chestnut but I'm wondering if someone can help me out from a UK/EU perspective. I'm thinking of a 4"x10" camera project with my own design of holders. I need a material for the septum (somewhat ridge) and dark slides. Most discussions talk about using garolite xx from McMasters...

This is just a quick share rather than write a long blog post or video. A few years back I bought a Vageeswari 10x12 with four plate holders from Oxfam UK. I cleaned it up and got it working. Blog on it is here. A commenter on the blog pointed out it wasn't a Vageeswari but made by a break...

Anyone know why Borut Peterlin's YouTube channel has disappeared? https://www.youtube.com/borutpeterlin His website is still going strong and he posted a video to it last month https://borutpeterlin.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/nurturing-creativity-with-making-frames/ Would be a great shame if...