FOCOMAT 2C

Hi I have just bought a FOCOMAT 2c from Germany. Jumping in at the deep end is not quite strong enoug a phrase to describe my folly. The Atlantic ridge is more like it - now thats deep. Now 58 the last time I was in a dark room was at school. While I understand the principles, processes and chemistry of developing and printing film I have no practical experience of actually doing it. I shoot B&W 35mm film only Leica M6 35mm lens.

Humpty dumpty needs to be put back together again.. As all the Kings horses and all the Kings men are attending Mandelas funeral then I need help from the someone to put it all back together again.

Also I understand it the negative holder has glass both above and below which is not a good idea . There is a guy apparently who makes a replacement for this which is without the glass below the negative. Does anyone know this guy?


The one I have bought has the 2 Focomat lenses 5.6/100 4.5/60. I was thinking of asking Malcolm Taylor to look at them for me.

Shoud anyone be bold enough to offer I need some help.

Sincerely
Robert







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Yep, I've had IIc's before. Black, grey, beautiful beasts.

Here is one source of parts and advice:
http://www.glennview.com/leitz.htm

Here is another：
http://enlarger.de/home_english/enlarger/A-type/a-type.html

The enlarger is beautifully straight-forward. Is it complete, with the focusing cam, and Bowden cable to change the cam? No big deal without the cable. Might need to rewire it; sometimes the wiring is pretty degraded.

The glass is good to keep the negatives flat, and one sheet should (needs to be ) anti-Newton ring. I found the dust thing to be less of an issue than what's said on the 'web. Keep a blower in your darkroom and blow off the neg when you mount it. Dust is very obvious.

Give me a shout if you get into trouble, at vick.ko@sympatico.ca

Thank you VYSK for Kienzle link! They are incredible machines and almost unknown. Years ago a friend of mine had one (6x9cm autofocus) in his darkroom. WoW!!

Also I understand it the negative holder has glass both above and below which is not a good idea . There is a guy apparently who makes a replacement for this which is without the glass below the negative. Does anyone know this guy?


My 11c has glass above but not below in the 35mm holder. I imagine Leitz sold this as well. 11c bits come up on German eBay more than other sites, but not very often.
The 6x6 and 6x9 holder has glass top and bottom, otherwise the negative pops.
The autofocus is to die for.
If you only want 35mm, the V35 is excellent, also has glass on top but not below. I have a V35 as well which I bought shop-soiled in 1990 for about £1000- the 11c I bought from eBay about 6 years ago for £170. It was incomplete and just sold as part of developing equipment job lot - I don't think anyone else realised what it was, but it took me a couple of years to find the missing bits on eBay, mostly from Germany. Oh and there was a spare kit for mounting an Ilford Multigrade 500 head which raised £120 on EBay so I did quite well.
Richard







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Double glass neg-carriers are by no means a bad idea. I use a double-glass 'universal' carrier on my 35mm/6x6 enlarger, with no noticeable dust problem and enjoying very flat negatives. The upper glass is the one which you would want to be of anti-newton glass while the lower glass should be clear.

For 35mm many use an upper glass only, with apparent success. While I also recall using a glassless 4x5 sheet-film carrier those negs are much stiffer than rollfilm and did not seem to give a flatness problem.

If you make a klick on the German flag in the Kienzle link, quite a lot more will come up ( in German ) . They have a large amount of spare and replacement parts for both the IIC and other enlargers. They have both original parts and new manufactured. Send them a mail and tell them what you are looking for and you will probably get some lists of components. It may take some time to get an answer, but have patience, it will certainly come. It is a good and solid company to make business with even if things don't go to fast. Good luck with your new and fantastic machine !

Karl-Gustaf