Anyone have a De vere 504 DVF - Floor Standing Model

Jersey Vic · May 19, 2007

I'm literally excavating my basement to build a new workspace and need to know how tall (in inches if possible) this model is when the head is fully raised as well as how tall the base column is (minimum space needed for use).
I bought, dissassembled and carted mine off in pieces 2 years ago (from a prolab - $102 including some cases of chemistry) in advance of this project and will not be able to reassemble until we're done.

Thanks in advance-

Victor

CGross · May 19, 2007

The manual says the total height of the DVF is 93inches. But I just measured mine which has the Dichro head and with it all the way up, I measure 97 inches to the top of the head. To be safe I would make sure you have at least 8 feet from your finished floor to ceiling.

btw...if you have the Varicon head then you will need at least 8ft 6inches.

Jersey Vic · May 19, 2007

This is exactly what I needed-Thank you very much

Sparky · May 19, 2007

I highly recommend the wall mounted version - if you don't mind a little extra work. It's a bit more flexible - and allows more working space. More stable, too... if you prepare the blocking in the wall properly...

Mick Fagan · May 20, 2007

Mine is a 1981 model with the Dichroic colour head.

Fully extended it is 92" high +-1" due to the floor stabilisers.

The column is 83" high so that is your minimum height +-1" due to the floor stabilisers.

The minimum width you will need, if you are using the back tray holder (1 tray each side) which is used for the timer and/or power supply transformer is 33" wide.

Coming from the back wall and with the tray holder attached, your focusing handles come out 38".

I didn't measure the width of the unit without the tray holder, but it would be about 12" narrower without the tray holder.

With the free standing 504 with the drop table attachment, I can see no realistic advantage to wall mount this enlarger. I have seen one of these enlargers wall mounted, and it was good, but the ability to focus accurately whilst on your knees with the head touching the roof, is something no other enlarger I have seen or heard of can do. You lose this ability if you wall mount this particular enlarger and use a home built drop table.

Mick.

Sparky · May 20, 2007

Mick Fagan said:
You lose this ability if you wall mount this particular enlarger and use a home built drop table.

Mick.

No - you don't..! Well - I suppose I should speak for myself... but mine's a table top model - so the controls are still just less than three feet off the floor. I find it (the wall mount version) to be a much 'cleaner system' because then you can make large prints on the floor - something you really CANNOT do with the floor stand version (column's in the way. I'm gettin around 44"x60" murals.

Mick Fagan · May 20, 2007

Dear Spark, perhaps you should have a close look at a free standing, drop table, DeVere 504 enlarger.

Effectively, you can drop the table to about 4" from the floor. Then be on your hands and knees, and still still able to focus with the focusing wheels with a deadly accuracy, that no other enlarger I have ever seen is capable of. The drop table, is also able to be placed in about 5 different lower positions in seconds.

They are also built like the proverbial brick outhouse. I take it you must be more familiar, with timber outdoor dunnies)

Mick.

Mick Fagan · May 20, 2007

Hmmmm, Spark, just carefully re-read your posting. I have enlarged Ilford 48" wide B&W roll paper using a drop table 504 enlarger.

Using 35mm film and an Apo Rodogon lens. The film was in glass, I was able to get the image to nearly cover the paper width.

Effectively that would have been about 44" by whatever it was the other way. Interesting comparison.

Mick.

Tom Stanworth · May 20, 2007

Wall mounted devers are rock solid...but dont foget you can still attach the top of the column to brackets and anchor to the wall for increased rigidity.

My floor mounted 10x8 devere is free standing but I will tether the top of teh column soon. That said, on a concrete floor ane weighing what it does, it is not going enywhere! Rock solid unless I walk into it!

Great enlargers.....

Sparky · May 20, 2007

Mick Fagan said:
Hmmmm, Spark, just carefully re-read your posting. I have enlarged Ilford 48" wide B&W roll paper using a drop table 504 enlarger.

Hi Mick - well - I don't really mean to contest you - but you're not really addressing the critical dimension here - which is the depth. Sure - you can go 6 inches (exaggerating to make a point) by 10 million feet if you have the right lens and the right building... but you're not going to be able to do anything beyond 26.5" deep (tall). That's the distance from center of lens (13.25")x2, assuming a symmetrical cone of light (safe bet - I'm guessing). The only thing I'm trying to argue for here - is simply that you can get a few extra feel to front-to-back depth out of the mix by floor projecting - and this way - you can project back PAST the column about a foot (and so it follows with the front as well) - bringing the max print DEPTH to around FIFTY inches.

I just feel this is especially important to consider since Vic does predominantly square format work. Using any floor standing OR drop table devere, his max print size would be distance from center of lens to column x 2, which works out to about 26.5"x26.5". In the real world - that probably means 24x24. This way - he could EASILY do 48x48 prints.

And that, Mick, was my point. Sorry to be so long-winded about it.

Mick Fagan · May 20, 2007

Sparkling, I just went into the darkroom again and did some critical measurements.

With a 150 lens in the head and the head at the top of the column and focused, the image available with the drop table is approximately 38" on the short side.

If I take the projected and focused image off the floor, then I'm looking at 45" on the short.

If I was cropping part of the long side of the negative I could get a depth (forward/aft) image of 51" by extending my base outwards with a piece of timber.

It appears that your floor 44" is more doable than a drop table!

I concede.

That said I have done almost the width of 48" paper on one of these tables.

Mick.

Sparky · May 20, 2007

Mick Fagan said:
Sparkling

ha ha..! I like your style. Anyway - wow. 38"?? maybe the floor model is structurally different than mine (mine's a tabletop model that I converted to wall mount - I'll post a piccie when I can get a stupid cable for the stupid digi). I measured 13.25" from lens axis to column face! Perhaps they were thinking of large prints when designing your model. I assumed that the tabletop model would be identical... so I have to give you some credit there...! Sorry to make you have to go in and do that.

Anyone have a De vere 504 DVF - Floor Standing Model

CGross

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