Durst F60

[DraganB]

Hi, how would you rate my small F60 i just aquired, i like small prints 8x8 much grain\accutance & great tonality, i want to put it in my second bathroom for quick sessions

 

[MattKing]

Post moved here because it deserves its own thread. Welcome to Photrio.

 

[BMbikerider]

I had one of these back in 1970's It was a simple to operate enlarger but limited to what degree of enlargement it was capable of. If I remember 1t was abut 10x12. That was when I was in Germany so when I came back to UK I wall mounted it to allow me to go up to 12x16. I could not go any bigger because of the limitations of the focus range. It really was very well made.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

This is the enlarger that my father owned when I was a kid, and on which I began my journey in photography. It is a sturdy, simple, electronics-free machine that will last forever and then ten years more. It can do both 35mm and 6x6 film printing by changing the appropriate Fesixcon condensers and film carrier. Sheet filters can be placed in the drawer when printing on colour or multigrade papers. Glad to see that machines like this are still around. Very smart purchase, enjoy it!

 

[Alan9940]

The F60 was my very first enlarger; a workhorse for sure! Can't remember why I got rid of it, but I made many a fine Cibachrome prints with this enlarger.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

How true! I later paired the F60 with an AC-707 Autocolor, but - my bad luck - this happened exactly when Cibachrome / Ilfochrome Classic was made impracticable for amateurs, and later discontinued altogether. It ended up that *all* the cibachromes that I printed were made with the good old F60.

 

[DraganB]

thanks for your feedback, today i cleaned everything made a wooden table and run a first test i am fine with the result but the problem is at f11 i have 3 sec exp. with a grade 2 filter. i need to extend this to about 10 seconds, is it possible to put an nd filter on the lens?

 

[koraks]

is it possible to put an nd filter on the lens?

Yes, that's a good solution.

Alternatively, stop down further. At f/22 you'll be around your target exposure time. Compare two prints to see if diffraction is a problem; I'm guessing at the size you're printing, it's not significant.

 

[Xylo]

You can definitely use an ND filter.
If you're still using an incandescent bulb in it, you can even put it on a dimmer!

But if you want to go the easy no hassle way, you can get some Lee or Rosco lighting gels and put them in the tray along with the grade filter.

 

[Marco Gilardetti]

This excessive flood of light it's definitely not normal: the F60 it's a cute little enlarger with which I could do almost everything, but its definitely not on the "lighthouse" side. My suggestion is that you check the lamp rating, possibly a lamp too powerful for the enlarger specs has been installed by a previous owner. If so, you risk overheating.

 

[koraks]

This excessive flood of light it's definitely not normal

He's making relatively small prints and modern enlarging papers are quite fast. An exposure time of 3 sec @ f/11 doesn't sound outlandish at all. There's no sign of anything being out of order here.