• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Durst Laborator 138 buying advice: lens panels etc

mnemosyne

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
759
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
I have been offered a Durst L 138S recently. I will have a closer look at the machine next week, so far I have been trying to get to know it a bit better by reading the manuals available for download.

My biggest question at the moment is what kind of lens plates I will need to obtain to be able to use the L138 with my existing collection of lenses, mostly fairly "modern" six element Nikon and Schneider lenses, the oldest being some classic Nikkor ELs from the 1970s. My problem is that I have two different versions of the L138 manual (one older, one more recent) that give seemingly conflicting information on the necessary lens plate configurations, which leaves me confused. Will I need special adapter plates for LF lenses (RORING this SORING that) like the older manual suggets or do the lenses magically mount directly to the UNIPLA/TRIPLA base plate like the table in the more recent manual seems to suggest ... ?

Also the seller told me the pedal for the baseboard is not working and the baseboard has to be adjusted manually, so I wonder if this would pose a major obstacle when operating the enlarger in the eyes of those who are familiar with it.
 

mike c

Subscriber
Joined
Jan 5, 2009
Messages
2,863
Location
Los Angeles
Format
Multi Format
I have an older 138 with the nondetachable 3 lens torrent. This torrent will limit your choice of newer type lenses , and example is the 210mm Modern El-Nikkor that has a wider thread width than the any of the lens mounting disks.The disks are called lapla or something like that, Later models have a removable torrent that you could use newer and wider mounting threads.