A Soviet colour corrector for printing - take a look, it's fun :)

[eumenius]

Dead Link Removed

It's the only thing that was ever made in the USSR to adjust colours during colour printing. This tube contains four aluminium mirrors to ensure good light mixing, and it could be set up with any BW enlarger, under the lens. A set of mosaic filters to set up the right filtration, a square diaphragm to equalize the lighting, and a big set of gelatine filters. I wonder if such thing was ever made abroad? It's Russian analog of Ebay with different crap, but you see, it often contains something funny

PS. And there's more monstrosity - five-kilogram lens with shutter, obviously aero - Industar-52, 500/5 (Dead Link Removed)

 

[srs5694]

I recall stumbling across an enlarging lens with built-in color filters on eBay recently. IIRC, it was Polish in origin, but it might have been Czech (for a Meopta). I don't know how it worked internally, but it looked like an ordinary enlarger lens with a couple of dials added to the sides. Presumably one controlled yellow and the other magenta filtration.

 

[eumenius]

I recall stumbling across an enlarging lens with built-in color filters on eBay recently. IIRC, it was Polish in origin, but it might have been Czech (for a Meopta). I don't know how it worked internally, but it looked like an ordinary enlarger lens with a couple of dials added to the sides. Presumably one controlled yellow and the other magenta filtration.

Oh, that was a famous Janpolcolor, made by PZO for their atrocious Krokus enlargers There's four filters to satisfy every need, two yellows, cyan and magenta - you can employ C-Y or M-y, or C-M filtration, and that covers every need. And it works with colour only on a full aperture. Not a bad lens, I must say - I printed color with it by myself, making most of filtration with filters in slot of my enlarger, and fine-tuning it with the controls of Janpolcolor

 

[Lee L]

Oh, that was a famous Janpolcolor, made by PZO for their atrocious Krokus enlargers

Were all Krokus enlargers atrocious? I had one in '82-'83 in Germany, a 6x7 model, that I thought was pretty well done, especially at the price. Not a rivet on it, all threaded fasteners and user adjustable, with a 3 metal rod column that was nice and rigid. Sometimes I wish I still had it, but I sold it on departure in '83 to a US Air Force dentist who was getting started in darkroom work. The lamp was on a rod passing through a gimbal at the top of the housing so that it could be adjusted over a large range horizontally and vertically for even coverage.

Lee

 

[eumenius]

Were all Krokus enlargers atrocious? I had one in '82-'83 in Germany, a 6x7 model, that I thought was pretty well done, especially at the price. Not a rivet on it, all threaded fasteners and user adjustable, with a 3 metal rod column that was nice and rigid. Sometimes I wish I still had it, but I sold it on departure in '83 to a US Air Force dentist who was getting started in darkroom work. The lamp was on a rod passing through a gimbal at the top of the housing so that it could be adjusted over a large range horizontally and vertically for even coverage.

Lee

Not really all of them, but a pair of CL4 (unless I'm wrong) is rotting somewhere in our lab's barn All as you describe, right, three rod column, 6x9, but the condensor lenses were just crap - made by molding not grinding, with AWFUL irregularities inside. So the only choice was a matted screen. Or an another condensor. But Krokus MF enlargers were at least available in USSR, unlike the others... and now they cost here next to nothing, like $10, or there are people just giving them away.

 

[Lee L]

Not really all of them, but a pair of CL4 (unless I'm wrong) is rotting somewhere in our lab's barn All as you describe, right, three rod column, 6x9, but the condensor lenses were just crap - made by molding not grinding, with AWFUL irregularities inside. So the only choice was a matted screen. Or an another condensor. But Krokus MF enlargers were at least available in USSR, unlike the others... and now they cost here next to nothing, like $10, or there are people just giving them away.

That would explain why it didn't bother me. I sprayed the lamp housing interior white and put diffusion material in the system, somewhere between condensers most likely, or perhaps in the filter drawer, so I got even coverage.

Lee