Durst M700 questions

[mlp]

I was fortunate to be given a Durst M700 enlarger recently, which included a Setoneg negative holder and Setobox 66 diffuser box. Having spent a few printing sessions with it so far, I came up with a few questions:

1) For printing 35mm negs, the Setoneg holder seems to be OK, but often the adjustable masks let light through outside the negative, which doesn’t seem ideal. I’ve read about 35mm specific neg holders but wasn’t sure if it’s worth the effort to buy one just for that format.

2) It appears as though there was once foam or some kind of sealant between the top and bottom portion of the area where the neg holder slides in. Considering the age of the enlarger I assume, as is often the case for light leak protection in SLRs, that the material simply eroded over time. When turning on the enlarger lamp I see light streaming out the sides of the head. Can anyone suggest a material I might use to replace what was once there, or any practical way to limit light spillage?

3) Using a 50mm 4.5 lens with the above setup I find that the focusing bellows need to be closed as much as possible in order to achieve focus. This is made worse when deploying under the lens filters, which requires installing a filter holder that pushes the lens slightly away from the lens mount. Am I doing something wrong here? Fine focus adjustments are barely possible and I feel like the bellows really ought not to be so tightly closed just to get focus.

Will happily post photos if it helps getting answers to any of the above.

Thanks in advance!

 

[koraks]

1) For printing 35mm negs, the Setoneg holder seems to be OK, but often the adjustable masks let light through outside the negative, which doesn’t seem ideal. I’ve read about 35mm specific neg holders but wasn’t sure if it’s worth the effort to buy one just for that format.

I'd buy one if you can find it easily and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Otherwise, I'd just fashion something out of whatever material you're able to work with and that is suitable. Many options, really. Either way, a good mask is indeed a necessity; a little spillage of light can have serious consequences. You really want to block out any light that leaks along the edges of the negative.

2) It appears as though there was once foam or some kind of sealant between the top and bottom portion of the area where the neg holder slides in. Considering the age of the enlarger I assume, as is often the case for light leak protection in SLRs, that the material simply eroded over time. When turning on the enlarger lamp I see light streaming out the sides of the head. Can anyone suggest a material I might use to replace what was once there, or any practical way to limit light spillage?

I usually just tape some pieces of cardboard to the enlarger to block out stray light. Doesn't look very professional, but it's a 1-minute job and quite effective. If you only tape along the top side, you have yourself a hinge so you can easily lift the piece out of the way to slide in a negative carrier etc.

3) Using a 50mm 4.5 lens with the above setup I find that the focusing bellows need to be closed as much as possible in order to achieve focus. This is made worse when deploying under the lens filters, which requires installing a filter holder that pushes the lens slightly away from the lens mount. Am I doing something wrong here? Fine focus adjustments are barely possible and I feel like the bellows really ought not to be so tightly closed just to get focus.

You likely need a recessed lens board. I don't have an M700 myself, but with my M605 and also my 138S, a recessed lens board is a necessity for accommodating shorter focal length lenses. Otherwise you're limited to making very small prints due to the focus limitations. Alternatively you could keep using a medium format (75/80mm) lens for enlarging 35mm, but this also has obvious limitations such as inefficient use of the available light and limitations to the enlargement factor. Long story short: a recessed lens board makes life easier.

 

[mlp]

Thank you, @koraks ! I'll look into all of your suggestions, very helpful.

Regarding the topic of a recessed lens board, I stumbled across an existing thread here which has given me some product names to search for.

 

[bunip]

1) on the Setoneg you find the glass setup or the glassless masks (AUMET 35 for 35mm film). I use the aumet on lower part ant the glass on the upper; when glassless is preferred i use the 66 Aumet as the 35 Aumet cuts the negative too much for my taste. In the glass setup you should paint black the glass edges to prevent light piping/diffusing. 2) I have 2 M700 and both have the same light spilling problem; I use black tape around any slot (filter and condenser drawer) and black lighttight fabric around the setoneg slot attached by tape on the left and 1 magnet on the right. 3) I find easier to print 35mm with 105 lens and condenser. It gives me more time to work. Also my 105 and 80 rodagons are the shortest lenses I have

 

[mlp]

Thanks, @bunip ! As I've never used masks, do these (AUMET 35) fit into a Setoneg, or are they used separately? My Setoneg has glass in it, for what it's worth.

When using a 105mm with 35mm film, I guess I would need to raise the head higher than when using a 50mm lens, correct?

 

[bunip]

Hi mlp,
Aumet masks goes the same place the glass is retained, they are the same dimensions and shape and retained the same way. My M700 is wall mounted and kept much higher than on his column because I was used to print large prints (10X) from 6x9 on it. Since 3-4 years I aquired the 138 and the M700 is rarely used (only for 35mm). As the head is high it's better for me to use the 105mm. Yes, your guess is right.

 

[mlp]

Thanks, @bunip, that's very helpful to know. Meanwhile, I found this useful snippet from the Durst M600 manual (presumably applicable to the M700 as well):

 

[bunip]

With setoneg you can't print without glasses or masks. If you like I can send you some pictures of the italian user manual.
you need either the glasses or the masks; you can combine them, glass over the mask. The red adjustable light masks included in the setoneg are for masking light around the negative in case you print for example a 35mm negative with glasses, or a 35mm with the 66Aumet masks, just to block the excess of light around.

 

[mlp]

That would be great, @bunip. After several printing sessions I see how a mask would make preventing light spill much easier, not to mention make positioning the negative much easier. Currently I'm using the adjustable pegs inside the Setoneg to butt the top of the negative against, which kind of works (no idea if that's why the pegs are there).

Do you know if the Durst Sivopar (Sixma, Sivoma) would fit in the Setoneg? These seem to be much more widely available than the 66Aumet.

UPDATE: Having read the section on negative carriers in the M700 manual, I found some related information I found helpful and thought I would share:

1) As @bunip mentioned above, AUMET masks should be the mask code used, there's no mention of the Sivopar mask pair I thought might work

2) The adjustable pins in the Setoneg are intended to correctly place film strips into the negative holder as I was using them.

Here's a screenshot of the said section: