Durst Laborator 138s setup advice pls

I've recently acquired a Durst Laboratory 138s and hope to be using it for printing from 6x6 and maybe some 5x4 one day... Up until now, I've almost exclusively been using a Leica V35.

I've read the manual and done some googling but am still a bit unclear about setup (unfortunately my maths is a bit suspect I don't have the full suite of kit obviously and unfortunately don't have an 80mm lens. The kit includes: 150mm lens, 105 and 50. I'm hoping I can use the 105... The condensers I have are: 240, 240T, 85T and 130T. Am guessing the 'T' is for 'top'??

I would like to print 6x6 onto 11x14 paper (so about 10x10). Would be my best setup?

Thanks very much,

David

Hi David,

If you search for the 138 manual online, you'll find a list of the correct condenser combinations for using the different lenses.

For an 80mm, ideally you'd have a 200 on top and 130 on the bottom. You could try 240 on top if you don't have the 200. The other option you could use, for 6x6 negs, is to use the 105mm lens, with the 240 on top and the 130 below. For small prints that would be fine, for 10x10 it might be pushing it.

The 'T" condensers are coated, and were designed to be use with a point light source to reduce flare.

Good luck,

That Durst "T" designation likely has been taken from Zeiss who used it for their vapourcoated lenses that by that gained a "Transmissioncoating".

A 105mm lens will be fine for anything up to 6x9cm, so 6x7, 6x6, 6x4,5 will not be limited in any way except enlargement size. Similarly, when the condensers (240T and 130T apparently, post #2) cover a 6x9 neg, then the smaller formats are also covered - just that you won't be using some of the collimated light, and therefore the exposure times might be a little longer.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'll give that a go tonight and report back Appreciate all the help.

I've hardly ever used an 80 for 6x6, usually use the 80 for 135 n a 105 for 6x6. I have all the condensers but don't make monster prints. The "T" condensers R for a point light source but certainly usable for opal bulbs.

I agree with Louis-F-S above. For example on the 8x10 Durst, the sensors for the electric-focus emergency stop are 23cm below the lensboard. The longer lenses are needed to allow a 20x24" easel to open when enlarging 35mm or 6x6cm negatives to 8x10" or 11x14" paper

Sorry for the late reply, but I wanted to say that the recommended combination of 240 on top and 130 below works a treat. I'm printing on 11x14 around 250mm square. Thanks again.