Focomat v35 misc help

Rc101 · Feb 14, 2018

Hi Everyone,

I have just purchased a Focomat v35 with the Focotar 40mm and a two week return window, and trying to figure out if it's a keeper or a dud. Any feedback from v35 owners would be greatly appreciated!

The bulb is out so I have ordered replacements from https://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lamp13139.html, specifically the Donar 13139 12V 75W Lamp and also got the Donar EFN version. Are these the best matches for this device? I also saw there a Philips EFN bulb, but I recall seeing some reports that it isn't a good fit, and same for the Osram bulb.

I don't fully understand how the auto focus mechanism works, but I was assuming that the focusing cam would turn the focus ring on the Focotar lens. This isn't happening, but I do see the lens lowering slightly as the enlarger head is lowered, and then it retracts slightly as the head is lifted back up. Is this how it's supposed to work, or should the focus ring rotate as part of the auto focus process? I did make sure that the focus ring is clicked in the auto focus notch. There is also a creaking/squeaking noise from the arm as I move the head up, not sure if this has anything to do with it.

Lastly, anyone knows what lens cover might match the Focotar 40 2.8? I haven't been able to find any traces of a replacement cover, I suppose I should measure the diameter and go from there.

Thanks so much in advance, and sorry for the load of questions.

Rc101 · Feb 14, 2018

I just wanted to add that the blue paint marks on the adjusting screws seems intact, and the lens does have the two tiny screws in place.

So my main question at this point is whether or not the Focotar focus ring is supposed to turn on its own as part of the auto focus process, or not. It's probably not and I'm just freaking for no good reason .

choiliefan · Feb 14, 2018

I wouldn't mess with anything until you have the new bulbs and power the machine up. Here'a a pdf set-up guide for the V35:

Dead Link Removed

Rc101 · Feb 14, 2018

choiliefan said:
I wouldn't mess with anything until you have the new bulbs and power the machine up. Here'a a pdf set-up guide for the V35:

Dead Link Removed

Thanks so much, I did read the manual over at bonavolta.ch. Yep, I’ll test once I have bulbs.

John Koehrer · Feb 15, 2018

The lens should travel up & down as you raise & lower the head. The Lens mounts adjust if you need to readjust the AF mechanism.

Rc101 · Feb 16, 2018

John Koehrer said:
The lens should travel up & down as you raise & lower the head. The Lens mounts adjust if you need to readjust the AF mechanism.

Thank you John for confirming. I was also able to reach out to another member earlier who confirmed the same, so at this point just waiting for bulbs so I can test.

Malcolm Stewart · Feb 16, 2018

Rc101 said:
Hi Everyone,

I have just purchased a Focomat v35 with the Focotar 40mm and a two week return window, and trying to figure out if it's a keeper or a dud. Any feedback from v35 owners would be greatly appreciated!...

Let's hope that the model you've purchased has the later lamp holder fitted. An incomplete V35 that I purchased for spares was the original first version, and I'm still working on the lamp-holder so that it will take the current lamp.
(If necessary, I can advise on reassembling the 40mm WA Focotar...! )

Rc101 · Feb 16, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
Let's hope that the model you've purchased has the later lamp holder fitted. An incomplete V35 that I purchased for spares was the original first version, and I'm still working on the lamp-holder so that it will take the current lamp.
(If necessary, I can advise on reassembling the 40mm WA Focotar...! )

Sorry to hear Malcom, and I appreciate the offer, I might take you up on it!

The v35 I have purchased is the second version with the grey font on the front vs black, I made sure of that. Overall in great condition minus the arm being a bit squeaky and stiff. Can’t really teak if it’s the arm assembly/joint or under the head where the two shafts glide up or down. I did take the arm cover off and it all looks properly lubricated at all moving parts.

Rob Skeoch · Feb 16, 2018

I had to get the new lamp housing for mine. It took a long time to get and I bought a Sanders 4x5 enlarger while waiting. Haven't fired the Leitz up yet.
Just so you know I don't find the AF super accurate. Not on the unit I own or when we used them at newspapers, they got you close but if printing a final print I would check the focus.

John Koehrer · Feb 16, 2018

BTW The older focomat lC was adjusted for a 1" base board. That's one reason you would want adjustment at the lens mount, I don't know about the V35.
Rob's comment is something to check but I've never seen a difference if the thing is adjusted properly.

Rc101 · Feb 17, 2018

Rob Skeoch said:
I had to get the new lamp housing for mine. It took a long time to get and I bought a Sanders 4x5 enlarger while waiting. Haven't fired the Leitz up yet.
Just so you know I don't find the AF super accurate. Not on the unit I own or when we used them at newspapers, they got you close but if printing a final print I would check the focus.

Interesting, I thought the auto focus is rock solid on these enlargers, but never actually used one. The only one I have used was the beseler 23iiicxl over a decade ago.

canuhead · Feb 17, 2018

iirc, I focused the lens on a given easel ( I would then set the focus stop) then everything shld be a-ok. there is a knob on the column to adjust height for different easels but I never bothered with that and found the way I set the af, fine.

Rc101 · Feb 17, 2018

I got my bulbs and the enlarger seems to be working fine. I adjusted the focus at max height, tightened the little screw/knob, and the enlarger keeps the focus throughout its range. Pretty amazing!

The only issue I have encountered is that in the process I seem to have lost the focus notch/detent. I have a feeling I f** it up in the process of turning the dials (have not removed screws). I do see part of a tiny spring stuck inside if I turn the lens all the way down. Oh well, I suppose it’s possible that it was loose and I dislodged the bearing and spring while trying to calibrate the focus.

I don’t believe the focus notch has any affect on functionality, do you guys think otherwise? Anyone has tried to take the lens housing apart to try to fix this?

Thanks so much for all the feedback.

Malcolm Stewart · Feb 17, 2018

Rc101 said:
... Anyone has tried to take the lens housing apart to try to fix this?

Sadly, yes ! Being a retired engineer, I'm often over confident with my assumptions of what the designer intended.

Starting 15 months ago, I've acquired 3 used V35s and the first one had been meddled with before my ownership, and I certainly knew less than what was necessary. The WA Focotar's image was poor. At first I thought it was merely an AF problem, so set about investigating the circular lens mount area. I managed to get the lower helical screw free from the fixed part mounted to the negative support area, and I could then see the baffles etc. below the negative stage. Could I then get the lower helical back into the fixed helical? No! I struggled for two days with no success, and then remembered that aluminium has a high coefficient of expansion. I froze the lower and inner helical, and it screwed back into the upper as sweet as could be. Somewhere in this period I lost the ball bearing, and although I've bought replacements, I haven't managed to reassemble. (I didn't lose the minute spring.)
I bought a 40mm F/4 WA Rodagon lens and that gave a decent image, so what was wrong with the supplied Focotar? Looking at the end of the lens closer to the negative (i.e. that normally hidden from view) I noticed that the paint showed slight signs of "wear", and unscrewing this lens element retaining collar was easy. Two elements came out. Reassembly was easy, but the image was still poor. Referral to Leitz lens diagrams for the lens showed that the elements were not symmetrical, so I tried reassembling exactly as shown by Leitz. First impressions were that this was impossible. The elements would go in, but the retaining ring wouldn't engage with the threads. Check with other lens schematics for the lens, and they all showed the same assembly. So another try, and gentle tapping of the lens before engaging the elements retaining ring and I was able to tighten the ring. The WA Focotar was now a sharp lens, and the AF worked. At some time during this period (just in case!) I bought another WA 40mm F/2.8 Focotar, and that performs similarly to the one I reassembled.

Both WA Focotars seem to contain small specks of dust close to the aperture diaphragm, whereas the WA Rodagon is perfectly clean, like my other enlarging lenses.

For the record, numbered in order of my purchase: - all have the original lamp-house
V35 #1 Colour module, black lamp-house font. Oversized negative holder for black print surrounds. AF detent ball missing.
Current lamp socket swapped with original lamp socket from #3. I'm currently modifying this original lamp socket to take modern lamps which have a larger diameter - so Work-in-Progress. (Not quite sure how best to retain the lamp, but I have some ideas.)
V35 #2 Multigrade module, grey lamp-house font. Std 35mm negative holder.
V35 #3 Colour module, black lamp-house font. Std 35mm negative holder.

#3 was bought very cheaply as it was incomplete, but at least the AF area worked. The colour module for it was bought off ebay, and on assembly into #3, it jammed. Some gentle bending soon had it working smoothly, and I then realised that other modules had a tendency to jam when the filters were adjusted, so I eased these. I was surprised at how soft the aluminium sheet was, but then they're all around 40 years old.

One day I must finish the meddling and do some printing!

Rc101 · Feb 17, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
Sadly, yes ! Being a retired engineer, I'm often over confident with my assumptions of what the designer intended.

Starting 15 months ago, I've acquired 3 used V35s and the first one had been meddled with before my ownership, and I certainly knew less than what was necessary. The WA Focotar's image was poor. At first I thought it was merely an AF problem, so set about investigating the circular lens mount area. I managed to get the lower helical screw free from the fixed part mounted to the negative support area, and I could then see the baffles etc. below the negative stage. Could I then get the lower helical back into the fixed helical? No! I struggled for two days with no success, and then remembered that aluminium has a high coefficient of expansion. I froze the lower and inner helical, and it screwed back into the upper as sweet as could be. Somewhere in this period I lost the ball bearing, and although I've bought replacements, I haven't managed to reassemble. (I didn't lose the minute spring.)
I bought a 40mm F/4 WA Rodagon lens and that gave a decent image, so what was wrong with the supplied Focotar? Looking at the end of the lens closer to the negative (i.e. that normally hidden from view) I noticed that the paint showed slight signs of "wear", and unscrewing this lens element retaining collar was easy. Two elements came out. Reassembly was easy, but the image was still poor. Referral to Leitz lens diagrams for the lens showed that the elements were not symmetrical, so I tried reassembling exactly as shown by Leitz. First impressions were that this was impossible. The elements would go in, but the retaining ring wouldn't engage with the threads. Check with other lens schematics for the lens, and they all showed the same assembly. So another try, and gentle tapping of the lens before engaging the elements retaining ring and I was able to tighten the ring. The WA Focotar was now a sharp lens, and the AF worked. At some time during this period (just in case!) I bought another WA 40mm F/2.8 Focotar, and that performs similarly to the one I reassembled.

Both WA Focotars seem to contain small specks of dust close to the aperture diaphragm, whereas the WA Rodagon is perfectly clean, like my other enlarging lenses.

For the record, numbered in order of my purchase: - all have the original lamp-house
V35 #1 Colour module, black lamp-house font. Oversized negative holder for black print surrounds. AF detent ball missing.
Current lamp socket swapped with original lamp socket from #3. I'm currently modifying this original lamp socket to take modern lamps which have a larger diameter - so Work-in-Progress. (Not quite sure how best to retain the lamp, but I have some ideas.)
V35 #2 Multigrade module, grey lamp-house font. Std 35mm negative holder.
V35 #3 Colour module, black lamp-house font. Std 35mm negative holder.

#3 was bought very cheaply as it was incomplete, but at least the AF area worked. The colour module for it was bought off ebay, and on assembly into #3, it jammed. Some gentle bending soon had it working smoothly, and I then realised that other modules had a tendency to jam when the filters were adjusted, so I eased these. I was surprised at how soft the aluminium sheet was, but then they're all around 40 years old.

One day I must finish the meddling and do some printing!

Haha, your last line is priceless! Thank you for the detailed account of your experience. That is quite an endeavor, I am nowhere near as dedicated or capable, so I will probably stay away for now! Especially since it does work, though the idea that there is a small spring sticking out the wrong way and rubbing against the inside of the cylinder holding the lens is bugging me..

Claudio Bonavolta does talk about this briefly on his site (http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/v35.htm#Adjusting the AF), but that relates to the spring and bearing popping out due to unscrewing the tiny screw that holds it in place, opposite to the tiny knob. My case is different in that I have not messed with the screw, but it appears that the spring (or a spring) fell in between the lens casing (oily part, revealed when lens fully lowered) and the external cylinder protecting it.

Rc101 · Feb 20, 2018

The missing focus click stop has been on my mind, not fully understanding its purpose. Can anyone explain what is the significance of NOT having the click stop? My understanding is that when the lens is focused, if it's in the focus notch with knob tightened, it will maintain its focus. But it appears that by tightening the small knob in any position on the focus ring (with no focus notch) gives the same results - maintains focus when lowering/raising the enlarger head. Am I missing something?

Back tracing my steps to when the enlarger arrived, the focus notch was there, so to speak. The issue was though that I could not get the lens to focus, it would just spin and spin without the helicoid moving the lens up or down. Then, by applying a bit of pressure I managed to twist the lens mount to a point where the helicoid kicked in and was finally able to focus the lens. But, I'm thinking I may have twisted it too far where the spring and ball got dislodged. After that point there was no more focus notch, and I started feeling some resistance when turning the focus ring, due to the spring being stuck in there. I was able to see part of the tiny spring when lowering the focus mount, and by wiggling it a bit while turning the focus ring, I managed to pull it out of the lens mount. Of course it's all bent and unusable. I'm guessing the ball is still inside.

John Koehrer · Feb 20, 2018

The click is just a setting to set a correct start point for a given lens. If you were to change lenses you'ld adjust it then set the reference click thing.

darkosaric · Feb 21, 2018

My 2¢ about V35:

I print full frame with black edges, I needed to file the original negative holder to make is bigger than exact 24x36mm.
At first I was disappointed with lack of contrast from V35 in comparison with my previous condenser enlargers - but after some time I have noticed that it is actually better, and giving more details and more pleasing prints.
Substitute bulb is not so bright as original - but this is not so important, little longer exposure time does not hurt.

Here is the test (on fixed grade 2 Fotokemika Emaks FB paper):

Magnifax + nikkor:
https://darkosaric.deviantart.com/art/el-nikkor-magnifax-test-339814179
https://darkosaric.deviantart.com/art/el-nikkor-magnifax-detail-339814256
V35 and Focotar:
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

Rc101 · Feb 22, 2018

John Koehrer said:
The click is just a setting to set a correct start point for a given lens. If you were to change lenses you'ld adjust it then set the reference click thing.

Thanks John. I’m not sure I fully follow.. could you elaborate a bit more? So the click stop is some type of memory device for the correct focus point for a given lens or easel combination? Could you give a step by step of how you would use the click when switching lenses or easels and then switching back to the original? I think that might put it into perspective for me.

A lot of posts seem to suggest that the click is for maintaining focus, and without it it will not maintain it.

For example, in article:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/v35.htm#Adjusting the AF

“

Focus is maintained throughout all autofocus domain when the ring (15) is in the notch.”

Malcolm Stewart · Feb 23, 2018

Rc101 said:
Thanks John. I’m not sure I fully follow.. could you elaborate a bit more? So the click stop is some type of memory device for the correct focus point for a given lens or easel combination?...

In "Leica Darkroom Practice" by Rudolph Seck, (Hove Books, 1983 - worth getting a copy) on p44, Seck writes:

"The autofocus adjustment set at the factory is secured by a stop on the helical focusing mount. For manual focusing, such as for work outside the autofocus range or for the enlarging of framed slides, the helical mount can be disengaged from the stop. When, after such tasks, the enlarger is to be used again in the autofocus mode, the helical mount is returned again to the stop position, the autofocus mechanism will then be re-engaged."

I hope this helps explain what the stop is trying to do. In a busy darkroom it should speed up work when going back to the optimum focus position.

Rc101 · Feb 23, 2018

Thank you Malcolm for that excellent, to the point quote! I will get a copy of the book, seems well worth it.

So the book suggests that the click stop is indeed required for accurate autofocus, so I shall consider getting it fixed.

Do you recall seeing anything in the book in terms of what provides the click stop, and where/how is it installed? I understand that it is a spring loaded ball that provides that functionality, supposedly behind the tiny little screw on the focus ring (#15). But I see two tiny screws on the focus ring, suggesting two separate springs? Also not sure of the order.

Has anyone replaced this spring & ball before, that could possibly provide some guidance?

John Koehrer · Feb 23, 2018

The click isn't required. The helical isn't loose but it just provides an easily found reference if for some reason you adjust the lens.

Like Malcolm quoted "The autofocus adjustment set at the factory is secured by a stop on the helical focusing mount. For manual focusing, such as for work outside the autofocus range or for the enlarging of framed slides, the helical mount can be disengaged from the stop. When, after such tasks, the enlarger is to be used again in the autofocus mode, the helical mount is returned again to the stop position, the autofocus mechanism will then be re-engaged."

I hope this helps explain what the stop is trying to do. In a busy darkroom it should speed up work when going back to the optimum focus position.

RE: filing edges. Leica also made a mask that would let you print with the borders. Like many things Leica that's IF you can find one.

Rc101 · Feb 26, 2018

darkosaric said:
My 2¢ about V35:

I print full frame with black edges, I needed to file the original negative holder to make is bigger than exact 24x36mm.
At first I was disappointed with lack of contrast from V35 in comparison with my previous condenser enlargers - but after some time I have noticed that it is actually better, and giving more details and more pleasing prints.
Substitute bulb is not so bright as original - but this is not so important, little longer exposure time does not hurt.

Here is the test (on fixed grade 2 Fotokemika Emaks FB paper):

Magnifax + nikkor:
https://darkosaric.deviantart.com/art/el-nikkor-magnifax-test-339814179
https://darkosaric.deviantart.com/art/el-nikkor-magnifax-detail-339814256
V35 and Focotar:
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed

Thank you Darko, those are really nice prints. Never seen the output of the original bulbs, but the EFN version I got is pretty darn bright, I'm getting 12s print times at F5.6.

Rc101 · Feb 26, 2018

John Koehrer said:
The click isn't required. The helical isn't loose but it just provides an easily found reference if for some reason you adjust the lens.

Like Malcolm quoted "The autofocus adjustment set at the factory is secured by a stop on the helical focusing mount. For manual focusing, such as for work outside the autofocus range or for the enlarging of framed slides, the helical mount can be disengaged from the stop. When, after such tasks, the enlarger is to be used again in the autofocus mode, the helical mount is returned again to the stop position, the autofocus mechanism will then be re-engaged."

I hope this helps explain what the stop is trying to do. In a busy darkroom it should speed up work when going back to the optimum focus position.

RE: filing edges. Leica also made a mask that would let you print with the borders. Like many things Leica that's IF you can find one.

Thanks John for confirming. My interpretation of the quote was that the notch is in fact required for the auto focus to work correctly, so are you saying that it is NOT required for autofocus? Or that it isn't required for manual focus? The later is clear to me.

Either way, autofocus seems to work OK without the notch, though I keep having to adjust focus several times within a printing session as it appears to drift. Not quite clear if this is a result of the lens not being parked in the notch (which was my primary motivation behind trying to understand it and potentially fix), or if this is just the expected result in real life. I've seen others mentioned that autofocus can't be relied on 100%, so I'm leaning towards that school of thought.

Long story short, I think I'll just use the enlarger as a manual focus enlarger and forgo the auto focus bit. Thank you everyone for your input!

Malcolm Stewart · Feb 26, 2018

Rc101 said:
...
Long story short, I think I'll just use the enlarger as a manual focus enlarger and forgo the auto focus bit. Thank you everyone for your input!

Have you set the height of the enlarger column above the baseboard to allow for the thickness of your paper easel? I spent some time checking that out using a focus magnifier, and it did make a difference to how well the focus tracked the enlargement ratio. Set correctly, my V35 tracks very well, after being set with the head at maximum height.

Focomat v35 misc help

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