4x5 enlarging

Jacob W · Jul 29, 2020

I’ve been shooting film and wet printing for a while now but I’m relatively new to 4x5, I have been limited to contact prints and want to enlarge my b+w work. My enlargers won’t allow for this though and options seem scarce in the UK. What is my best bet ?

wyofilm · Jul 29, 2020

Welcome to Photrio!
The first thing you must decide is how much you are wiling to spend. There are brand new enlarger options out there, but they will cost thousands. On the hand, you will have to wait until find the best condition enlarger that fits your budget. You can post a wtb request in photrio. You never know, one might be waiting to off-load their great 4x5 enlarger but hadn't posted it, yet.

Finally, there are ways to cobble together an enlarger using your 4x5 camera, but I don't know much about this.

Good luck!

summicron1 · Jul 29, 2020

In the UK? Contact Ilford -- they've been working to set up community darkrooms, may have a source for you.

OR -- is there a camera store nearby? One that handles film? Make friends and put the word out that you are looking for an enlarger. It is entirely possible someone who has one has recently died and the family is desperate to get rid of the damn thing.

There a photography museum (sorry, forget the name) in London near the British Museum that specializes in film photography. Go ask around.

Jacob W · Jul 29, 2020

summicron1 said:
In the UK? Contact Ilford -- they've been working to set up community darkrooms, may have a source for you.

OR -- is there a camera store nearby? One that handles film? Make friends and put the word out that you are looking for an enlarger. It is entirely possible someone who has one has recently died and the family is desperate to get rid of the damn thing.

There a photography museum (sorry, forget the name) in London near the British Museum that specializes in film photography. Go ask around.

Thanks for your reply! I’m in the middle of photographic nowhere at the minute at my family home because of the pandemic but I’ll be back to the city reasonably soon when I start back at uni, I’ll have to do some digging and poking around the analog camera shop in town then !

138S · Jul 29, 2020

Jacob W said:
I’ve been shooting film and wet printing for a while now but I’m relatively new to 4x5, I have been limited to contact prints and want to enlarge my b+w work. My enlargers won’t allow for this though and options seem scarce in the UK. What is my best bet ?

Well, if you want to enlarge 4x5 then you need a 4x5 enlarger...

So you should follow all used market local sources until you find the right opportunity, this may take some time, it can take a week or six months.

For the lens, you may start with a Componon-S or Rodagon 150, even a beaten lens may perform perfectly to start, see this search: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...t=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=graflarger

First locate your enlarger and later locate the lens with the right threads or adapter.

As mentioned by wyofilm a provisional way to start enlarging 4x5 is to use the LF camera itself as the enlarger, https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/products/intrepid-enlarger-kit

if you are a DIY enthusiast you can do it yourself, even you may reuse an old Graflarger accessory if you can find it. This should be a temporary solution, for the long term you should find a nice enlarger.

Donald Qualls · Jul 29, 2020

In the end, an enlarger is just a projector. You need a light source that's uniform across at least the area of the negative (usually condensing lenses or a diffuser, often with a center grad ND filter, are used to get this), a way to hold the negative in the light and keep it flat, a lens that will cover the negative (that is, the corners of the negative should still be illuminated evenly and be sharp on the work surface), a means of focusing, a means of adjusting the size of the projected image, and a flat place to put the enlarging paper.

Ideally, the lens should have an aperture iris, and camera lenses will work (though enlarging or "process" lenses from the printing trade are better optimized for short focal distance, the difference only shows if you examine the print with a loupe or print really large), providing you can lock the shutter open. My only lens for 6x6 format is a taking lens off a Kodak Reflex II TLR; it works fine at any size I'm likely to print. Focusing need not be a bellows -- a box that slides into another box will work fine, as long as it keeps the lens plane parallel to the negative and base board. Most enlargers move the head up and down to adjust image size, but you can enlarge horizontally, too (Ansel Adams did it this way for decades, from 8x10).

If you're a bit handy, you can build a 4x5 enlarger for about the cost of a used one that will need lots of dusting and cleaning (and possibly repairs). Negative carriers can be cut from mat board (commonly used for mounting prints for framing). So can easels (which hold the paper flat and delimit the exposed area, so as to leave a white border). Alternatively, if you're very lucky, you may find an enlarger with negative carriers and lenses for carting it away.

As noted, a 4x5 camera and a copy stand can do most of this -- you'll need a way to mount the negative so light can shine though it, and you'll probably want a ground glass that's uniform and doesn't have the clipped corners commonly seen on view cameras.

Paul Howell · Jul 29, 2020

There is a post in this area just down from a person in the U.K who has Omega gear from his parents estate, he may have a 4X5. Scroll down and contact him.

Clearing our late parent’s house – there’s quite a large quantity of new Omega enlarger spare parts (boxed & part numbers etc) and a few new enlargers. Dad was a/the UK Omega agent as far as we recall. There’s also a quantity/variety of other photo processing equipment. Based in Berkshire, UK.

Not sure if it is of interest to anyone, so just listing on a few forums and looking for guidance really on who might be interested or how to go about it. Apologies if this is posted in the wrong area! Thanks

Jacob W · Jul 30, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
In the end, an enlarger is just a projector. You need a light source that's uniform across at least the area of the negative (usually condensing lenses or a diffuser, often with a center grad ND filter, are used to get this), a way to hold the negative in the light and keep it flat, a lens that will cover the negative (that is, the corners of the negative should still be illuminated evenly and be sharp on the work surface), a means of focusing, a means of adjusting the size of the projected image, and a flat place to put the enlarging paper.

Ideally, the lens should have an aperture iris, and camera lenses will work (though enlarging or "process" lenses from the printing trade are better optimized for short focal distance, the difference only shows if you examine the print with a loupe or print really large), providing you can lock the shutter open. My only lens for 6x6 format is a taking lens off a Kodak Reflex II TLR; it works fine at any size I'm likely to print. Focusing need not be a bellows -- a box that slides into another box will work fine, as long as it keeps the lens plane parallel to the negative and base board. Most enlargers move the head up and down to adjust image size, but you can enlarge horizontally, too (Ansel Adams did it this way for decades, from 8x10).

If you're a bit handy, you can build a 4x5 enlarger for about the cost of a used one that will need lots of dusting and cleaning (and possibly repairs). Negative carriers can be cut from mat board (commonly used for mounting prints for framing). So can easels (which hold the paper flat and delimit the exposed area, so as to leave a white border). Alternatively, if you're very lucky, you may find an enlarger with negative carriers and lenses for carting it away.

As noted, a 4x5 camera and a copy stand can do most of this -- you'll need a way to mount the negative so light can shine though it, and you'll probably want a ground glass that's uniform and doesn't have the clipped corners commonly seen on view cameras.

Thanks for your knowledge and response ! I'm A student that has a part time job and studies a degree in something that’s not photographic in the slightest hah ! I think the time it would take for me to fashion my own and figure it all out would be too much of a task, I’m not that handy or good enough succeed at building one I don’t think. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled of eBay and around this forum for a used one!

Donald Qualls · Jul 30, 2020

Jacob W said:
I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled of eBay and around this forum for a used one!

As suggested above, don't forget to check local sources -- a community darkroom may not have one, but someone who uses it might know of one. Camera stores (if you can still find one that deals with film) are another good information source.

Jesper · Jul 30, 2020

You'll find the Ilford initiative at https://localdarkroom.com/
Good luck.

Ian Grant · Jul 30, 2020

My darkroom is available through the Localdarkroom website. I've had a couple of users plus it was featured in AP. Ironically it turned out only my darkroom had disabled access (within quite a large radies) and the first user was in a huge 6 wheel wheelchair, he came in a smaller one after that.

Ian

Lachlan Young · Jul 30, 2020

Jacob W said:
I’ve been shooting film and wet printing for a while now but I’m relatively new to 4x5, I have been limited to contact prints and want to enlarge my b+w work. My enlargers won’t allow for this though and options seem scarce in the UK. What is my best bet ?

If you're looking for an enlarger, there are plenty of excellent 4x5 enlargers available second hand (5x7 and 8x10 are thinner on the ground), I could immediately buy LPL's, De Vere 504's, various Beselers etc with a bare minimum of searching. You might want to consider what search terms you have been using and where you have been looking. Scarcity is not a word I'd use for a 4x5 enlarger in the UK - however they aren't as cheap as they have been.

Alan9940 · Jul 30, 2020

Jacob W said:
I’ve been shooting film and wet printing for a while now but I’m relatively new to 4x5, I have been limited to contact prints and want to enlarge my b+w work. My enlargers won’t allow for this though and options seem scarce in the UK. What is my best bet ?

I see that you're not a photography student at your university, but do they have a darkroom facility that you might use? Also, you didn't mention what kind of 4x5 you have; if Intrepid, they make a very reasonable cost enlarging kit for their camera.

David Reynolds · Jul 31, 2020

Jul 23, 2020#1
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Clearing our late parent’s house – there’s quite a large quantity of new Omega enlarger spare parts (boxed & part numbers etc) and a few new enlargers. Dad was a/the UK Omega agent as far as we recall. There’s also a quantity/variety of other photo processing equipment. Based in Berkshire, UK.

Not sure if it is of interest to anyone, so just listing on a few forums and looking for guidance really on who might be interested or how to go about it. Apologies if this is posted in the wrong area! Thanks

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have copied D Hales post of July 21 (above) enquiring how to sell a quantity of darkroom equipment. (located in Berkshire ? Not sure if it is close to London.)
You can find the original post in this forum (Darkroom) titled Omega Enlargers & Parts ----D Hales
Maybe you can obtain the equipment from him to make prints. I would find the original post in this forum and PM the OP(D Hales) . Good Luck

tezzasmall · Jul 31, 2020

Hi Jacob, just to let you know that as a UK resident, I got my 5 x 4 enlarger not that long ago on ebay.co.uk for a reasonable price.

The only downside is the matter of time for another to pop up! Oh, and there is also the case of how far it is from you and of course other bidders.

One other site that you may wish to join / enquire on is a more UK based and followed one; http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk

Good luck in your search,

Terry S
UK

John Koehrer · Jul 31, 2020

Is there any way to post a wanted to buy ad local to you? In Chicago and most cities in the US we have craigs list and a couple of others.

Horatio · Jul 31, 2020

Turn your camera into an enlarger with this UK product: https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/products/intrepid-enlarger-kit

I'm considering this.

wyofilm · Jul 31, 2020

Horatio said:
Turn your camera into an enlarger with this UK product: https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/products/intrepid-enlarger-kit

I'm considering this.

Looks well made. And it is smart of them to market this bundle as an ad-on.

4x5 enlarging

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