Enlarging 35mm negative with 105mm lens...

[chad hallblade]

Hello all. I am wondering how well it will work to make prints from a 35mm negative with a 105mm lens? I am going to be renting darkroom space, and when talking to the owner last night, he realized he didn't have the smaller focal length lens for 35mm.

So will I be able to get quality prints using the 105mm lens? Or do I need to find a smaller lens?

I should note, I will be printing at about 13" x 20".

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Chad

 

[Robert Hall]

I love using the lens, the only problem you may have is the height you will raise the enlarger head. The lens itself may render better prints due to using the sharpest part of the lens, the center. But as lens quality can vary quite a bit the difference could be slight.

Again, the only real issue is that you will have your enlarging head fairly high and this may affect how large of an enlargement you may be able to make.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I suspect you'll need a shorter lens, unless the enlarger has a very long column, or if you do something like project onto the floor, which invites alignment problems. You need around 65" of column to print 13x20" from a 35mm neg with a 105mm lens.

The good news is that darkroom equipment is cheap these days, so you can buy an outstanding 50mm/f:2.8 enlarging lens and lensboard for whatever enlarger is available to you for not much money, and if you're using rented darkroom space, it's not a bad idea to have your own lenses that you take care of yourself.

 

[Ian Grant]

A 105mm lens for 35mm is just far too impractical, it's less than ideal for 6x6 120 negatives I put one on my Durst last week and needed full column height, it's desgned for 6x9.

50mm lenses are vbery cheap secondhand and if you ask nicely someone might even donate one to you

Ian

 

[fdisilvestro]

You may not be able to get 13" x 20" from a standard enlarger with that combination. I would try to find a 50 mm enlarging lens, maybe you can borrow one or get a used lens in good condition, especially if you are going to do this frequently.
Regarding quality, it will depend on the lens. A high end 105 mm lens will give you excellent results. It will also be useful if you need to do perspective correction (if the enlarger allows it) since the lens will have a larger FOV and will be farther away from the negative.

 

[mooseontheloose]

I've never printed 13x20 from a 35mm negative, but the 105mm lens is my standard enlarging lens on my 4x5 enlarger for both 120 and 35mm negs and I've had no issues with it. The 50mm is not practical for any of my purposes. That being said, I don't do large enlargements -- in your case I agree with the others -- you'll need a 50, or maybe a 75 would work too, but it depends on the enlarger that you are using as well. Getting your own lenses to use in a public darkroom is good advice as well, speaking from experience.

 

[Rick A]

Hello all. I am wondering how well it will work to make prints from a 35mm negative with a 105mm lens? I am going to be renting darkroom space, and when talking to the owner last night, he realized he didn't have the smaller focal length lens for 35mm.

So will I be able to get quality prints using the 105mm lens? Or do I need to find a smaller lens?

I should note, I will be printing at about 13" x 20".

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Chad

If you need a 50mm lens, I have a spare 50/3.5 Omegaron that came with an Omega enlarger I have in storage. It's a new lens-- Mail me $15 and I'll ship it to you postage paid.

Rick

 

[BradS]

Chad, Drop me a PM with your mailing address and I'll send you a 50mm enlarging lens.

 

[Ian Grant]

Chad, Drop me a PM with your mailing address and I'll send you a 50mm enlarging lens.

You can't get better than that Chad I've just done similar and sent an |APUG member in Istanbul 50mm & 75mm enlarger lenses along with a Durst neg carrier.

It's not about money rather helping others get started. Nice one Brad.

Ian

 

[chad hallblade]

Thanks a lot everyone for your responses. Some good folks here at APUG! I think that I might be able to get the 105mm to work, since the enlarger is sort of mounted on the wall, with an adjustable baseboard. But it sounds like it might be a bit inconvenient. Since I have time alloted to print tomorrow, I think I need to get on the phone and find a 50mm locally. Thanks again all.