Durst AC 707 Autocolour for B/W prints?

[Jakub_Te]

Hello Everyone! This is my first post at the Forum, so to start I would like to share with you that I am very impressed how extensive and dynamic things go here! It is great to virtually met so many people involved in photography, specially analogue. Happy to be a part of it

My issue is about using Durst AC 707 Autocolour for black and white photography. I have an opportunity to buy one for 700 pln (about 170 euro). It has connected external clock to b/w. As far I know everything is OK except broken color probe. At the weekend I will have time to check it personally.

What do you think about using Durst AC 707 and, in general, about using color enlarger for b/w prints?

I will appreciate all replies.

 

[ruilourosa]

The chassis is very good, the eletronics are not necessary and do not contribute to a faster, better or more economical use of our materials. You can always use the color filtration to do multigrade filtering. Or try to find a bw head for that chassis.

 

[Neal]

Color enlargers are very convenient for black and white printing. Yellow reduces contrast while magenta increases it. I normally start at about 10M with my old Omega D-5.
Have fun!

 

[Paul Howell]

The probe is not needed for black and white printing, you can make test strips to determine exposure time. While learning you may want to explore split contrast printing, there are several how to videos on U tube.

 

[ic-racer]

That would make a great B&W enlarger for multigrade paper. But if you want to do split grade printing, you will probably want to look elsewhere. You might wear your fingertips raw trying to split grade print with that.

 

[Paul Howell]

What are the issues Split Grade printing with a color head?

 

[MattKing]

Some dichroic heads are more amenable than others to split grade printing.
My LPL VC head works great - spin the dial to one extreme for the low contrast exposure, then spin it to the other extreme for the high contrast exposure.
The colour heads require two such spins - one for the magenta dial, the other for the yellow.
The spins themselves are easy and quick, and the geometry allows easy use without any vibration.

 

[Paul Howell]

Although I dont do a lot of split printing I have a 6X7 LPL with color head and found it as easy using as swapping out filters on my D3.