Bellow extension for printing 35mm on a 4x5 enlarger

Oscar Carlsson · Jul 21, 2015

Hi,

This might be a very simple question, but I don't quite understand where I'm supposed to set my bellow height when printing 35 mm film on my Omega DV enlarger. Well, to be honest, I don't fully grasp how to use the bellows no matter what format I'm printing from but the situation is extreme with 35 mm.

My Omega enlarger has a pretty large bellow, and I have the three turret lens holder attached to it. When printing with the 80 mm or the 135 mm I increase the height of the head, use the bellows to adjust focus, readjust the height if the image isn't as large as I want it, but this kind of work feels pretty random as I've used autofocus enlargers in the past and I suspect that there is some kind of logic in this I should follow rather than adjusting heights randomly.

With 35 mm, I have to pull the bellow as far up into the enlarger as possible, and then I only have a few millimeters to adjust the focus back and forth. This feels a bit unsafe and I'm afraid that I'm damaging the enlarger with this method.

So, am I missing something obvious here? If there is anything good to read up on, please point me to it! I'm just not sure what terms to look for at this moment.

RobC · Jul 21, 2015

a 50mm lens will be closer to neg than a 100mm lens. Some enlargers can handle that, others may struggle. The usual solution is a recessed lens mount which gives you an extra couple or three centimeters wiggle room for focussing with shorter focal length lenses and stops you getting to the point where the bellows is too compressed.

I don't know your enlarger but Durst made recessed lens boards for this purpose.

Jim Noel · Jul 21, 2015

The focal length of your lens and the magnification desired determine the length of the bellows, not the format of the film.

RobC · Jul 21, 2015

Rick A · Jul 21, 2015

Oscar Carlsson said:
Hi,

This might be a very simple question, but I don't quite understand where I'm supposed to set my bellow height when printing 35 mm film on my Omega DV enlarger. Well, to be honest, I don't fully grasp how to use the bellows no matter what format I'm printing from but the situation is extreme with 35 mm.

My Omega enlarger has a pretty large bellow, and I have the three turret lens holder attached to it. When printing with the 80 mm or the 135 mm I increase the height of the head, use the bellows to adjust focus, readjust the height if the image isn't as large as I want it, but this kind of work feels pretty random as I've used autofocus enlargers in the past and I suspect that there is some kind of logic in this I should follow rather than adjusting heights randomly.

With 35 mm, I have to pull the bellow as far up into the enlarger as possible, and then I only have a few millimeters to adjust the focus back and forth. This feels a bit unsafe and I'm afraid that I'm damaging the enlarger with this method.

So, am I missing something obvious here? If there is anything good to read up on, please point me to it! I'm just not sure what terms to look for at this moment.

You are doing it correctly. I start by rotating the desired lens for whichever format I'm working with, then slip the adjustable condenser into the appropriate slot, then insert a negative and holder into the machine. I focus the image then raise the head to the desired height, re-focus, and adjust height and focus as necessary. There are no short cuts with an all manual machine. I rarely use my 50mm lens, unless I'm printing larger than 8x10, I mostly use my 90mm for medium format and 35mm.

jeffreyg · Jul 21, 2015

A 50mm lens is preferable for 35mm negatives. I use an Omega D2 which is probably similar. Compose the image by raising or lowering the enlarger head with the crank handle on the right near the enlarger frame. Then fine focus with the widest aperture (a grain focus aid is helpful) using the wheel type handle. Then stop down the aperture generally three stops for the best lens performance.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Rick A · Jul 21, 2015

jeffreyg said:
A 50mm lens is preferable for 35mm negatives. I use an Omega D2 which is probably similar. Compose the image by raising or lowering the enlarger head with the crank handle on the right near the enlarger frame. Then fine focus with the widest aperture (a grain focus aid is helpful) using the wheel type handle. Then stop down the aperture generally three stops for the best lens performance.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Does your D2 use cones or do you have the extra long bellows with adjustable condenser?

ic-racer · Jul 21, 2015

Oscar Carlsson said:
Hi,

This might be a very simple question, but I don't quite understand where I'm supposed to set my bellow height when printing 35 mm film on my Omega DV enlarger. Well, to be honest, I don't fully grasp how to use the bellows no matter what format I'm printing from but the situation is extreme with 35 mm.

My Omega enlarger has a pretty large bellow, and I have the three turret lens holder attached to it. When printing with the 80 mm or the 135 mm I increase the height of the head, use the bellows to adjust focus, readjust the height if the image isn't as large as I want it, but this kind of work feels pretty random as I've used autofocus enlargers in the past and I suspect that there is some kind of logic in this I should follow rather than adjusting heights randomly.

With 35 mm, I have to pull the bellow as far up into the enlarger as possible, and then I only have a few millimeters to adjust the focus back and forth. This feels a bit unsafe and I'm afraid that I'm damaging the enlarger with this method.

So, am I missing something obvious here? If there is anything good to read up on, please point me to it! I'm just not sure what terms to look for at this moment.

Any 50mm lens is, of course, not 'preferred' because most of them barely cover the corners for a big enlargement. Centering can be very tedious.
If you do use a 50mm then, yes, a 50mm on the turret will require the bellows to be quite collapsed for big enlargements. If you are printing an image size of 8x10 or smaller, then consider using the 80mm on that 4x5 enlarger. That is what I do. In fact, for the usual 6x9in image I print from 35mm, a 50mm lens makes the head too low for comfortable use on my D Omega.

You can replace the turret with a single-lens on a plate which sets the lens farther toward the negative. That will give more useful bellows travel so the bellows is not as squished.

jeffreyg · Jul 21, 2015

I' m using the Aristo 4500VCL variable contrast light head no condenser. I switch lens/lens boards for the different film formats mostly 2 1/4 and 4x5 not much 35mm.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Rick A · Jul 21, 2015

ic-racer said:
Yes, a 50mm on the turret will require the bellows to be quite collapsed for big enlargements. If you are printing an image size of 8x10 or smaller, then consider using the 80mm. That is what I do. In fact, for the usual 6x9in image I print from 35mm, a 50mm lens makes the head too low for comfortable use on my Omega.

You can replace the turret with a single-lens on a plate which sets the lens farther toward the negative. That will give more useful bellows travel so the bellows is not as squished.

I use my 90mm to avoid the "clash of heads" when using my focus scope making smaller enlargements from 35mm negs.
Regardless of which lens used, distance between negative and focal node of the lens is equal to the lens used. A 50mm lens is in focus 50mm from the negative, a 90mm lens is focused at 90 mm from the negative.

MattKing · Jul 21, 2015

This is why I looked for my 60mm Focotar lens for my Omega D6 - when I use the 50mm the bellows is very tightly compressed and focusing is awkward.

For smallish prints, I use my 80mm lens, or sometimes an even longer lens.

If you are trying to do larger enlargements from 35mm, the issue becomes more challenging.

One thing that helps is to remove the Omega masking attachment, if your enlarger is fitted with that accessory.

gzinsel · Jul 21, 2015

for those of you who use 80/90/105 for 35mm, I totally agree. I believe the 50 is NOT preferred for 35mm. It might barely cover, but edge to edge ( corner to corner) is sub-par. when using a 50mm, the bellows are really compressed,causing undo tension.(In other words a PITA) A 50 can work, but not as easy as a 80/90/105/.

Oscar Carlsson · Jul 23, 2015

Thank you very much for your answers!

Shouldn't I be able to pre-set my bellows to say 8 cm when using my 80 mm and fine adjust the focus after that?

RalphLambrecht · Jul 23, 2015

Yes, you should.

RobC · Jul 23, 2015

Oscar Carlsson said:
Thank you very much for your answers!

Shouldn't I be able to pre-set my bellows to say 8 cm when using my 80 mm and fine adjust the focus after that?

The distance the lens is from the negative controls the magnification. The height of the head then needs to be correct to bring that into correct focus.

However, since it is far easier to engineer fine focus on the distance between the lens and the negative, the way enlargers usually work is to set the enlarger head height which gives you rough focus at a certain magnification and then adjust the fine focus which is actually adjusting the magnification to suit the focus that the head height is giving you. Hope that makes sense.

People don't normally think of it this way but if you consider you are taking a close up image of a piece of film you adjust the position of the lens relative to the subject to fill the frame (i.e. setting the magnification). Then you adjust the distance of the lens from the film to focus (paper in the case of enlarging).

So if you set your bellows to a fixed length you are setting a fixed magnification but I strongly suspect fine focus will alter that slightly.

removed account4 · Jul 23, 2015

Oscar Carlsson said:
Thank you very much for your answers!

Shouldn't I be able to pre-set my bellows to say 8 cm when using my 80 mm and fine adjust the focus after that?

hi oscar

does your enlarger use lens cones?
i don't have a d2 but a d3v and while i don't use it
with 35mm, i know it took certain sized cones to jive
with the enlarger's focusing system. from what i remember the
50mm needed a flat lensboard and NO cone to work
(at least i think that might have been the way it was on my d3v)
AND you needed a condensor lens in the top stage where the door flips open.

good luck!
john

Bellow extension for printing 35mm on a 4x5 enlarger

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