DURST-C35 .. Is it good?

MarizeParra · Aug 22, 2015

Hello, i want to buy a DURST-c35 Enlarger, would you recomended??? what are the good and bad thing about ?? till what size can i enlarge with it?

thanks !!!

<3

RobC · Aug 23, 2015

it doesn't get any more basic. Its really a first enalrger for a student on very small budget. I doubt it will do bigger than 12x16 on the baseboard.

bdial · Aug 23, 2015

All Durst enlargers I've encountered are made pretty well. A nice feature of the smaller ones is that they can be broken down for storage in between printing sessions easily.

That said, you may find a 35mm only enlarger a bit limiting, I wouldn't spend very much for it unless it's got a really good lens.

fotch · Aug 23, 2015

A well made beginners enlarger. Wouldn't give much for it, maybe $10, if it has stuff with it.

RobC · Aug 23, 2015

A good starter enlarger is the Durst M670 which was a more recent model. ( If it has all its bits and transformer.)

grab a copy of this durst catalogue, which contains the last enalrgers that durst made, and use it to assess what was available. There are many earlier models on second hand market too but at least with these last ones you can see what should be included if you buy one.

http://darkroom.ru/info/manuals/durst_catalog_eng.pdf

I guess the more modern M370 is roughly the equivalent of the much older C35

If you want to be able to print onto 20x16 paper in an easel(which adds maybe 3 inches) then you really need to get a Modular 70 which has a big enough baseboard and importantly you must consider the distance from the enlarger lens axis to the column which indicates half the maximum print size in that direction. i.e. twice that distance is how big a print you can make. So if it's 12 inches you could make a print around 20 inches considering the easel takes 2 or 3 inches.

GKC · Aug 23, 2015

An F-30 was my first enlarger. I wish I still had it It could project an image horizontally if required but IIRC the filter drawer took an odd size filter. I had a really bad lens on her (Voss) The metal "bellows" were pretty cool and came with a kit to handle MF. One nice thing is that it broke down into a very small size for storage (it would fit into a drawer) so was perfect for use in a bath room/dark room.

Nige · Aug 23, 2015

I had one. Great little enlarger but needed a special globe (a frosted reflector called a MELAMP 55.. something like that...). I couldn't buy them anymore so struck a halogen 'down light' in it on a hand crafted holder made from a coat hanger Used it like that for years until upgrading cameras and needing a MF enlarger to suit. The C35 could be upgraded to a C65 with an optional kit which included a 6x6 (?) mixing box & neg carrier. Probably impossible to find these days and better things out there to use your money on anyway.

M Carter · Aug 24, 2015

People are pretty much giving away Beseler 67's and even 23c's. There are 67's on eBay for $50, every week it seems. Parts are plentiful, too.

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

Very disappointed with this C35 that I've been testing recently. I'm printing 4x6 prints @ f2.8 with a 90 sec ~ 2 mins exposure times. Same negative on 2x3 paper, 30secs at f5.6. Of course, lens is close to easel / paper. I'm guessing the 55w lamp is not pumping out enough. I wonder wat kind of exposure times if printing 8x10s. Tempted to try out 90w bulb, but don't want the possibility of roasting the machine.

AgX · Aug 11, 2017

I never heard of any 90W bulb. Though that 55W reflector lamp is unique too. In case of finally burning through I would substitute it by a household reflector lamp of 60W driven by higher voltage.

The b&w version of this enlarger has a common opalized enlarger bulb (I forgot wattage).

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

AgX said:
I never heard of any 90W bulb. Though that 55W reflector lamp is unique too. In case of burning through I would substitute it by a household reflector lamp of 60W driven by higher voltage.

Yes, I substituted it with exactly that (60w), and those were the results I was getting. I was thinking of trying this from IKEA: http://www.ikea.com/jp/en/catalog/products/40347853/

AgX · Aug 11, 2017

No, I meant this
http://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/AuwAAOSwcUBYPeUj/s-l200.jpg
or this
http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mYnEYL8LYyO0z5rnNGSffCA.jpg
depending on reflector diameter (80 or 63mm).

Most common over here.

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

AgX said:
No, I meant this
http://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/AuwAAOSwcUBYPeUj/s-l200.jpg
or this
http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mYnEYL8LYyO0z5rnNGSffCA.jpg
depending on reflector diameter (80 or 63mm).

Most common over here.

I still have the original Durst 55w lamp (which still works), and I replaced it with this: http://www.yodobashi.com/community/product/100000001002743088/review.html

AgX · Aug 11, 2017

Yes, that is the household version of the Durst lamp.
In Europe we got the E27 thread though. I do not know whether Durst for their 110V version used the E26 thread. I guess the E27 thread works too.

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

Yes, the Durst that I have is an export model for the Japan market, and does use the E26. I like the size and form of the enlarger and size of the C35 (for home use), but would be cool if it had more power. More testing.... Thanks for the input, AgX!

Nige · Aug 11, 2017

you could do what I did, replaced the lamp with a 12V 100W 'downlight' and associated transformer. I've done the same thing for a LPL C7700 VCCE head that I didn't have a power supply for. Works like a charm. For my C35 I had to make a globe holder as mentioned above since the original setup doesn't support such a globe. There may be a LED equivalent these days which would run cooler I'd imagine.

Juan Paller · Aug 11, 2017

Nige said:
you could do what I did, replaced the lamp with a 12V 100W 'downlight' and associated transformer. I've done the same thing for a LPL C7700 VCCE head that I didn't have a power supply for. Works like a charm. For my C35 I had to make a globe holder as mentioned above since the original setup doesn't support such a globe. There may be a LED equivalent these days which would run cooler I'd imagine.

Interesting. Will have to look into that one.
Re: LED, I've been thinking about putting an 11.4 watt Hitachi LED @ 1520lm (I guess only available in Japan). But when I saw this link, that idea is quickly going down the toilet: http://www.paulglover.net/20140211-...3-contrast-exposure-and-coverage-comparisons/

pentaxuser · Aug 11, 2017

The OP posted on 23 August 2015. He was last seen on 24 August 2015. He either got what he regarded as great answers by 24 August and hasn't needed us again or he couldn't stand us and 24 hours here was enough
This has been a "sobering Friday"

pentaxuser

AgX · Aug 11, 2017

Nige said:
you could do what I did, replaced the lamp with a 12V 100W 'downlight' and associated transformer. I've done the same thing for a LPL C7700 VCCE head that I didn't have a power supply for. Works like a charm. For my C35 I had to make a globe holder as mentioned above since the original setup doesn't support such a globe. There may be a LED equivalent these days which would run cooler I'd imagine.

Yes, one could do so. And yes, though basic the Durst 35s work fine (eg. the friction drive).
But with typically more advanced enlargers around for cheap one may refrain on doing too much modification on a C35.
Except of course for the joy of tinkering...

DURST-C35 .. Is it good?

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