Enlargers, enlargers everywhere...

[Stephanie Brim]

I emailed on the Omega enlarger and it looks as though that one may be a go. If it is, expect me to be asking for trays/tongs/timer/etc next.

 

[mjs]

Never say never! I thought my Beseler 45 would be 'good enough' forever, but if I found a 5x7 enlarger which I could afford and which I could fit into my minature darkroom, I'd drop the 45 like a hot tomale! Go for the largest format enlarger you can manage: I bet that you grow into it before you know it!

Mike

 

[mjs]

Oops, almost forgot: a while back I promised to look around the darkroom and see whether I had any leftover stuff after having donated those three spare darkrooms to the school last spring. Sorry, I apparently gave away all my spare trays, timers, safe lights, etc. If I see any at local garage sales or auctions I'll keep you in mind.

Mike

 

[Arelia99]

You are making the right decision! I have had an Omega C700 for only a couple of months and it is already too small! I now have 6x9 negatives that I cannot fully print (largest is 6x7). But I have the negative carriers 6x4,5 and 6x6. I can see myself going 4x5 someday so another enlarger is in my future! Good luck!

Nancy

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Right now my darkroom is suffering from a surfeit of enlargers - I have a Beseler 23C Dichro, and a 45M??? with the Dichro head as well. Even though I'm not using the 23C at all, and barely using the 45M??? since I'm mostly alt process contact printing these days, I am very reluctant to give them up because if I want or need to enlarge, between the two of them I can print just about anything I want.

 

[donbga]

Well, the 23C series stuff is my second choice because it will at least do 6x9. If I can't get this one (and he may be having second thoughts because he's not getting back to me on it, even after the first note I sent) I'll start looking 'round for a 23C II or III.

IF at all possible get the 45MX - don't fool around with the 23C. The MX is only slightly larger than the 23 but a much superior enlarger.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I really don't want to post the auction for the enlarger here because I don't want someone sniping me at the last minute...but it's an Omega with a condenser head. It's a 4x5 and in what looks to be very good condition. I'm bidding and I'll go over to see it tomorrow.

So, yeah...now I'm looking for various things including trays, tongs, a timer, a couple of safe lights (bigger space, I want two just in case), etc. I don't know what she'll have for me either. I'm waiting to hear.

I'm going with stuff from the Formulary for developers and fixers since I plan to keep using TF-4 so I may as well just order everything from there. Are there any developers that I should be looking at as a first? I'm drawn to Formulary 130 because it seems to be a good balance of working life, cost-effectiveness, and capacity.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

If you're married to the idea of the Ansco 130 formula from PF, there's nothing wrong with that. It's an excellent developer. If you decide to venture forth from PF's hallowed grounds, take a look at the Ilford Warmtone/Cooltone developers, or even the PPPD formula paper developer (I believe the formula is posted here in the recipes section). It is a pyro developer for papers. Either that, or if you really like playing with nasty chemistry, get some Amidol.

 

[vet173]

Just wait till you realize you need an 8X10 enlarger

 

[Stephanie Brim]

If you're married to the idea of the Ansco 130 formula from PF, there's nothing wrong with that. It's an excellent developer. If you decide to venture forth from PF's hallowed grounds, take a look at the Ilford Warmtone/Cooltone developers, or even the PPPD formula paper developer (I believe the formula is posted here in the recipes section). It is a pyro developer for papers. Either that, or if you really like playing with nasty chemistry, get some Amidol.

I think starting with 130 will give me a good foundation, then I'll branch out from there as I see fit. I'm not going to mess with Amidol until I can build or rent out space for a real darkroom instead of a dark(bath)room due to the toxicity. I also want to make sure that I have an appropriate place to take chemicals like that.

 

[Claire Senft]

A 4x5 enlarger takes up little more space than an elarger made for smaller sizes and is generally sturdier and more rigid. I would latch on to the best 4x5 that you can acquire and also load up on accessories for it.

 

[srs5694]

I really don't want to post the auction for the enlarger here because I don't want someone sniping me at the last minute...but it's an Omega with a condenser head. It's a 4x5 and in what looks to be very good condition. I'm bidding and I'll go over to see it tomorrow.

I understand the desire to limit competition on bids; however, if you're bidding properly, competing against a sniper isn't any worse than competing against any other type of bidder. The eBay bidding system is designed so that you should enter your maximum bid value. The eBay computers will automatically increase your current bid to exceed that of anybody who enters a lower maximum bid. If everybody used the system this way, sniping wouldn't be a problem; however, people have a tendency to treat eBay like a live auction, checking back and incrementally increasing their bids whenever they're outbid. This behavior, by and large, means that people are either entering initial bids lower than they should have (in which case they're at risk of being sniped) or they're irrationally increasing their bids beyond what they'd choose if they'd thought it over (in which case they overpay). There's also the fact that, when you're outbid, you're always outbid by a small amount, because of the way the eBay bidding system works. This makes it look like a small increase will bring you back to being the high bidder, but that may not be true. If your bid is $50 and somebody else bids $70, the auction price will go up to $51 or $50.50 or some such. You might enter bids of $55, then $60, then $65, then $70, and finally $75 before you become the high bidder again. Each of those increments is small, but if you knew you'd have to bid $75 (or more likely $71 or thereabouts) to win the auction, you might not have entered such a bid. The psychology of it is really kind of insidious for buyers but benefits sellers. I recommend you decide how much you're willing to pay, bid that amount, and don't increase your bid. This will help your peace of mind if you're outbid and make it less likely for you to get caught up in an irrational bidding war. Remember that it's a buyer's market for enlargers; another great deal will come along soon!

I'm going with stuff from the Formulary for developers and fixers since I plan to keep using TF-4 so I may as well just order everything from there. Are there any developers that I should be looking at as a first? I'm drawn to Formulary 130 because it seems to be a good balance of working life, cost-effectiveness, and capacity.

If you're just starting out, I'd recommend sticking with a fairly standard print developer. I'm not familiar with Formulary 130, so I can't comment on it specifically. Oddball developers may have peculiar properties that you might not be able to appreciate or properly use if you're new to printing.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Heh. If you want to know what 130 is, search the board for Ansco 130. That I did and found all the information I could ever want. Not an oddball developer by any means...just not one manufactured by Kodak or Ilford.

 

[srs5694]

I didn't mean to imply that Formulary/Ansco 130 was oddball. I'm just not familiar with it, but wanted to suggest that, whatever you choose, it be a fairly "normal" developer as opposed to something intended for some special purpose.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yeah, it is. I didn't want something special purpose...I wanted something that could be used in many different ways to get different looks, though, and this seems it...so as I grow as a printer I can utilize the developer in different ways.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

130 is a very "standard" developer. Just not currently in vogue on a commercial basis. It is a good all-round neutral-tone developer that benefits most papers. It's no solarol soft if that's what you mean.

 

[MattCarey]

Stephanie,

Keep in mind--you will really only be bidding againts people within a short drive of the enlarger. No one wants to ship one of these things if they can help it.

Second, 130 is a reasonable developer. Not that I have a lot of experience, but I have used a variant of it and been happy.

photo-forumulary is a good group. I got mine through the Digital Truth site just to pay back for some of the information I have used from there.

Matt

 

[Paul Howell]

[Omega with a condenser head. Formulary 130 because it seems to be a good balance of working life, cost-effectiveness, and capacity.[/QUOTE]

Is it a fixed condenser or a variable condenser? You will know the difference because the variable condenser housing has adjustable positions for the top condenser depending on the lens. I have owned a D3 or over 30 years and find the Omega to be a well build enlarger. Negatives carriers and lens cones and boards are common on E Bay. I am currently using 130 which I find to be a very good developer, I like it better than Dektol. But I don't see much, if any, difference between 130 and Zonal Pro or Ultra Black. Cost seems about the same as Zonal Pro.

 

[MattCarey]

If you get the 4x5 and need a 50mm lens, I have a Nikon 50mm f4 lens you can have. The f4 is not a valuable toy, but it might be a an OK start. I had no problems with it. Besides, getting it out of the house will help me forget the guy who sold it to me at the f2.8 price...


Matt