Camera as Enlarger

thuggins · Jul 18, 2018

It seems like an obvious question, but the only hits I see here are related to 8 x 10 cameras. Has anyone tried using a camera as an enlarger? You can certainly project an image thru the same camera you used to take the picture in the first place. It just takes a light source and a way to hold the film.

locutus · Jul 18, 2018

Yes thats possible, i've done that for a while with a 5x4 camera. Simple cardboard sandwhich holding the negative with a flat LED lightbox a couple of centimeters behind that.

The problem is alignment, its a pain.

tedr1 · Jul 18, 2018

thuggins said:
It just takes a light source and a way to hold the film.

yes, and a way to adjust focus, and someway to achieve variable contrast exposures requiring filtration, and a way to move the lightsource plus negative up and down to adjust magnification, and no light leaks in the lamphouse, and a threaded lensholder, those are the things that come to mind immediately, I think it is one of those ideas where the devil is in the details.

In this era where many used film enlargers are inexpensive it seems worthwhile to pursue that avenue, unless what is wanted is a construction project rather than time making prints.

scheimfluger_77 · Jul 18, 2018

Wellllll... Aristo used to make a lamp house with a graflok attachment for 4x5. A friend of mine in college had one, but that was the 70’s and it was for graded paper, not VC. I don’t think i have ever seen one on eBray or anywhere else.

AgX · Jul 18, 2018

thuggins said:
You can certainly project an image thru the same camera you used to take the picture in the first place.

Yes, you can... But keep in mind that typically the scale situation in printing is different from taking. Thus issues as extension and correction may come up.

Paul Howell · Jul 18, 2018

I think the core of Ansel Adams 8X10 was a camera.

ic-racer · Jul 18, 2018

A super bright LED light panel in place of the pressure plate and, perhaps an extension tube and a copy stand might work to turn a 35mm camera into a useable enlarger. However, for the price of the copy stand, you can get a 35mm enlarger

Jim Andrada · Jul 18, 2018

DIdn't Graflex offer an enlarger head for some of their cameras?

Alan9940 · Jul 18, 2018

Years ago I built a base to hold an Aristo 1212 light source behind my 8x10, and a glass negative carrier that replaced the groundglass back. Toss a 300mm process lens on the camera and you're good to go. As already mentioned, the major issues are: alignment with the paper surface, light leaks, and focusing the neg. I could focus for a 16x20 okay, but anything larger was impossible; for me.

monst · Jul 19, 2018

Intrepid camera are building a light source for their 5x4 cameras to turn them into an enlarger.

Sirius Glass · Jul 19, 2018

Graflex/Graphic had a way of using a camera as an enlarger. You might want to research and see how they did it.

thuggins · Jul 19, 2018

Thanks for the feedback; there are some good points raised. But there are also some good replies to them.

Yes, used enlargers are cheap these days. The are also very big and heavy, which is apparently why they call them en"large"rs. In a dedicated darkroom this may not be an issue, but it is a non-starter in my bathroom. As for focusing and scaling, that's a feature, not a bug. For 35mm I have everything from a 18mm to a 600mm lens, macros, extension tubes, etc. It seems unlikely there is any situation that couldn't be accommodated. I already have a copy stand for mounting and height adjustment. Although I don't have enough experience with printing to know how to get the best from using filters, it would seem that a properly exposed negative would be the best starting point.

That just leaves the light source. One advantage of this d!&!+@l era is that LED light panels, with adjustable brightness and color temperature, are readily available. Mounting them to prevent stray light would not be very difficult, especially since the copy stand was made to allow stacking of multiple devices. This seems a far more practical approach for occasional printing than a cheap, used enlarger.

ic-racer · Jul 19, 2018

thuggins said:
I already have a copy stand...The are also very big and heavy...

Your copy stand will have to be as big as the column of an equivalent enlarger to make the same size prints. Have you ever seen the head of a 35mm enlarger? They can be pretty small and light. Depending on which 35mm camera you use, it could wind up being heavier than an enlarger head because you will have a shutter, mirror, a focusing helicoid and extension tube ,film transport, batteries, pentaprism, etc, not found on the enlarger head.

removed account4 · Jul 19, 2018

graflex/aristo used to sell something called a "graflarger back "
which could be attached to any 4x5 camera with a graflok/international back
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site:graflex.org++"graflarger"&bext=msl&atb=v125-5&ia=web
they aren't uncommon you just need a level to make sure you are level
and a cop stand to ... do the opposite of copy work

AgX · Jul 20, 2018

Linhof once offered a coldlight back too.

railwayman3 · Jul 20, 2018

Way back in the 1940's my Grandfather made an enlarger based around a old 120 folding camera (this was a time when no new gear and negligible s/h kit was available, after WW2). He was a keen DIY worker with a small workshop and tools, and SFAIK it worked well for general printing and enlarging.

Camera as Enlarger

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