6x6 lens for Laborator 139

Mats_A

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I'm finally getting my darkroom finished. Not quite but getting there. Today I tried to fire up the Laborator 139 for the first time. Some observations/questions. I'm having four lenses for this machine. 50, 75, 150 and 250 mm. The 50 mm is using a recessed lens board and the 150 and 250 are not. I bought a Nikon 75 mm to use for my medium format pictures and noticed that it also must be recessed. Common sense tells me that the one for the 50 mm lens should not be optimal (even if I can focus with that one).
Anyone here has any information on what kind of lens board to use for medium format on this machine. Is 75 mm even the right size? On some other site I saw a recommendation of 100 mm for medium format on this machine.

Anyone using this beast of a machine who can enlighten me?

r

Mats
 

Paul Sorensen

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Can't comment on the enlarger, but the Nikkor 75mm should cover 6X6 fine. For larger 120 negs, especially 6X9, you may wish to have a longer lens like the 100mm you saw recommended elsewhere. The particular enlarger does not affect the necessary lens length, but it will effect whether you need to have a recessed board. Generally speaking, however, usually longer lenses might need an extended board and shorter lenses a recessed board. Some enlargers have bellows that allow you to use a large range of focal lengths with flat boards, sounds like yours does not have that flexibility.
 

Mark Crabtree

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The lensboard for the 50mm will work until you get another. Your 139 should have a huge bellows draw, so you won't have any trouble focusing. The disadvantage is the difficulty adjusting the fstops. I mostly leave my aperture at 5.6 anyway. You'll probably want f8 or 11 with the 75 Nikkor to get sharpness to the edges. I just count the clicks.

Yes, a Seipla would be fine. A Setopla should work also. It has less recess, but the 75 shouldn't need much; my 80 Nikkor works fine on a flat board on my 139 (I think that is what I have). Your 75 might even work on a flat board depending on the magnification.
 

Marcus S

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I use a 80mm Nikkor lens on my Laborator with a lens mount that is recessed about 19mm.
 

ic-racer

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Did you try the 150mm? Depending on how big you want to go, it may be enough to get started. You can get a 6-element shorter lens when you want to do some 24x24" prints from 6x6cm. That Nikkor 75mm lens may give some blurry corners if you exceed its recommended magnification ratio (ie when doing big prints).
 
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Mats_A

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I have a flat board and the 75 mm does not work with that. Can't get a focus. Found a company "Stone Mills Company" http://www.webwoods.com/stonemills/index.cfm that seem to have what I need.

r

Mats
 

Mark Crabtree

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shimoda said:
I have a flat board and the 75 mm does not work with that. Can't get a focus. Found a company "Stone Mills Company" http://www.webwoods.com/stonemills/index.cfm that seem to have what I need.

r

Mats
Click to expand...

It's a close thing with 75's. I have one that focuses on a flat board (at low magnicfication), but couldn't remember whether the 75 Nikkor did or not. Also I had a non-standard lower insert in my carrier for a while (just a piece of glass taped in) and even that was enough to let some lenses focus that no longer would when I got a proper insert.

That is a fair price for the lensboard. You should be all set. It's a wonderful enlarger.
 
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