Focomat v35 misc help

Rc101 · Feb 26, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
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.

Hi Malcolm, yes, I did set the easel height and autofocus is on point as I go from high to low and vice verse. And then I would check again and I would need to fine tune it as it has drifted. I use a grain focuser to check.

Malcolm Stewart · Feb 26, 2018

Rc101 said:
Hi Malcolm, yes, I did set the easel height and autofocus is on point as I go from high to low and vice verse. And then I would check again and I would need to fine tune it as it has drifted. I use a grain focuser to check.

I've not managed to replace the steel ball on my V35 (i.e. the first one where I investigated too much...). The ball-bearing is essentially a mechanical aide-memoire and helpful when deliberately changing the AF settings for extra large prints etc. I wonder if you could use strong adhesive tape to secure the movable ring against the fixed ring? There's a photographer near me in the UK who's offered to sort mine out, but that's a long way from VA!

Rc101 · Feb 28, 2018

@Malcolm Stewart haha, yes, that would a bit far from me. Thanks for the suggestion about the tape (and your continued support!), I may try that with gaffers tape. I’ve done some more printing last night and focus seems to drift ever so slightly even between two consecutive prints - I would develop a test strip for example then a few minutes later a test print, and most of the time I would need to fine tune focus, even though I have not touched the enlarger, height same, f stop same etc, my only contact was gently removing the paper from the easel. Focus is not horribly off, but enough to see an improvement in grain sharpness when fine tuning it. There are no perceivable vibrations that could case this, and the enlarger is on a solid 70lbs cart. I have tried manually shaking the cart a bit to see if I can make it drift, but my impressions was that it didn’t drift easily due to cart being bumped or shaken. So all very strange!

There is a photo shop not far from me that is willing to look at it (though has not performed this specific repair), so may consider replacing the spring and ball in the notch to see if that stabilizes focus. I’m also considering purchasing another v35 which is in better overall condition and notch still intact, and see if that keeps focus better.

Ronald Moravec · Mar 1, 2018

Drifting between prints could mean negative popping which the standard one side glass on top carrier is made to stop.

It should track well if you followed procedure, set column height, focus at 16 x , lower to 5 x, check, I forget the rest. There is a thumb screw you can loosen to get the lighted lens aperture to face forward. It has no effect on focus.

BMbikerider · Mar 1, 2018

John Koehrer said:
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.

I don't get your reasoning. No matter how thick the baseboard is be it 1" or 3" the top surface doesn't change which is where you focus the image. What there is under the top surface, or how thick it is doen't matter one jot!

Rc101 said:
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.

I had no problem with the focusing on the V35 I owned about 18 years ago. It was absolutely spot on - every time. I had to adjust the column using the scale at the base to set the focus when I used the masking frame. After working out how deep the frame was, it was quite easy to adjust the height by the scale etched in white on the base.

I have heard some darkroom printers did have a problem. The 40mm Focotar lens for some reason was prone to fungus. When they were taken apart for cleaning, this tended to upset the collomation of the elements and the focusing cams were not correctly calibrated for a lens that had been disturbed.

.

Rc101 · Mar 1, 2018

Thanks Ronald. Good thinking on negative popping, but I do use the carrier with newton glass on top. I did follow the procedure and focus does seem to track well, the issue is that it does not seem to maintain it very well. The arm height is secured, I have also tried taping the focus ring per Malcolm’s suggestion, it still drifted..

I’m pretty sure this isn’t how it’s supposed to work and it’s probably an abused version that no longer works to spec. I’m also not convinced that it isn’t due to the missing focus notch, so there’s that. Overall, still perfectly usable though.

John Koehrer · Mar 1, 2018

BMbikerider said:
I don't get your reasoning. No matter how thick the baseboard is be it 1" or 3" the top surface doesn't change which is where you focus the image. What there is under the top surface, or how thick it is doen't matter one jot!
.

I agree, the baseboard doesn't change position but different easels may.
IE: there were different Saunders easels with different thicknesses. Whether or not ather makers
had that option I don't know but I'd suspect that makers of pro equipment offered that option.

BMbikerider · Mar 2, 2018

You did not mention the use of easels! This may not be obvious to anyone who has even limited experience in a darkroom. Your statement was that the enlarger baseboard was to be 1" thick
If you read the 2nd part of my post later in the same reply, I comment about adjusting the column height when using a V35 enlarger. The V35 enlarger which this thread is concerning and has very little to do with a Focomat 1c which only serves to confuse matters......

As it is, the increased depth of field when a lens is stopped down will largely eliminate small focusing errors.

Rc101 · Mar 3, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
I've not managed to replace the steel ball on my V35 (i.e. the first one where I investigated too much...). The ball-bearing is essentially a mechanical aide-memoire and helpful when deliberately changing the AF settings for extra large prints etc. I wonder if you could use strong adhesive tape to secure the movable ring against the fixed ring? There's a photographer near me in the UK who's offered to sort mine out, but that's a long way from VA!

Hi Malcolm, been meaning to ask since your enlarger is also missing the click stop - what are the issues you are experiencing as a result of this, prompting you to want it repaired? Any auto focus issues or focus drifts?

I did pick up a copy of the Leica Darkroom Practice, and my conclusion based on references found in the book is that the click stop is indeed needed for auto focus. My assumption is that the focus drifts I’m seeing could also potentially be related to it (though no references found to suggest this) so I am now considering either repairing the click stop or replacing the unit with another v35.

I have also acquired a 1c in the mean time, so just sticking with that is also a possibility!

Malcolm Stewart · Mar 3, 2018

Rc101 said:
Hi Malcolm, been meaning to ask since your enlarger is also missing the click stop - what are the issues you are experiencing as a result of this, prompting you to want it repaired? Any auto focus issues or focus drifts? ...

Hi RC101,
My #1 V35 is the one without a working steel-ball detent. (I delved too far in my early investigations when the actual problem was the mis-assembled WA Focotar.)
Some time ago I swapped out the current lamp-holder from my #1 V35 into the #3 which I essentially bought as a "spares" package - knowing that it had the original lamp holder, but discovering the owner had ensured that the AF (with detent) worked properly. For a few months I've been working on modifying the original lamp-holder so as to take a current 13139 lamp, and two days ago I got #1 V35 working with a 13139 lamp, so this evening, I'll be able to check whether the AF drifts etc. (I won't be making any prints, but I have a number of grain focus finders, including a Peak and the larger Paterson.) I'll set it at max height, and check at various points, and return to max.

I'll put some effort now into getting its base level, and clearing a little space in my kitchen.

Some years ago there was a Leitz Valoy offered via eBay, and I was the only bidder! I got it for the eBay minimum bid of £0.99p! It was even delivered to me in Milton Keynes when the owner drove here for a job interview. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I gave him £20 for his trouble. (I've never seen a 1c.)

John Koehrer · Mar 3, 2018

BMbikerider said:
You did not mention the use of easels! This may not be obvious to anyone who has even limited experience in a darkroom. Your statement was that the enlarger baseboard was to be 1" thick
If you read the 2nd part of my post later in the same reply, I comment about adjusting the column height when using a V35 enlarger. The V35 enlarger which this thread is concerning and has very little to do with a Focomat 1c which only serves to confuse matters......

Lighten up.
You're right, I didn't mention easels but meant to say easel. Mea Culpa.
In post #25, you're saying the same thing I was attempting to get to. The machine has to be set with the easel thickness in
mind and this is true of both models. To continue quibbling though, I don't think the DOF is deep enough to solve the
problem of focus drift.

Rc101 · Mar 4, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
Hi RC101,
My #1 V35 is the one without a working steel-ball detent. (I delved too far in my early investigations when the actual problem was the mis-assembled WA Focotar.)
Some time ago I swapped out the current lamp-holder from my #1 V35 into the #3 which I essentially bought as a "spares" package - knowing that it had the original lamp holder, but discovering the owner had ensured that the AF (with detent) worked properly. For a few months I've been working on modifying the original lamp-holder so as to take a current 13139 lamp, and two days ago I got #1 V35 working with a 13139 lamp, so this evening, I'll be able to check whether the AF drifts etc. (I won't be making any prints, but I have a number of grain focus finders, including a Peak and the larger Paterson.) I'll set it at max height, and check at various points, and return to max.

I'll put some effort now into getting its base level, and clearing a little space in my kitchen.

Some years ago there was a Leitz Valoy offered via eBay, and I was the only bidder! I got it for the eBay minimum bid of £0.99p! It was even delivered to me in Milton Keynes when the owner drove here for a job interview. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I gave him £20 for his trouble. (I've never seen a 1c.)

That’s quite amazing on the Valoy! I haven’t seen those pop up on eBay, guessing they’re pretty rare. The 1c is equally as solid as the V35, possibly even more so, and significantly smaller/lighter. I compared the same print output between the two, with the contrast filters off on the V35, and the print from the 1c has quite a bit more contrast and apparent sharpness. This is of course well known being a condenser design, but was interesting to see in real life.

Thanks so much for taking the time testing your v35 for focus issues, will be interesting to hear the results.

Malcolm Stewart · Mar 4, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
Hi RC101,...I'll put some effort now into getting its base level, and clearing a little space in my kitchen....

I've now done my first checks on #1 enlarger (detent not working), and using my WA Focotar #2 (i.e. the one I bought from a well known UK seller), after optimising the lens focus setting, I get excellent grain sharp tracking at f/2.8 from around 10x - 12x up to 16x, but significant correction is needed at the minimum magnification setting. Checks on #2 enlarger were similar - I now need to do a similar check on enlarger #3. (But that's difficult in its present location.)
#2 with a working detent was some way off focus with the detent engaged, but with "temporary" correction applied, it clearly didn't track the magnification changes. I did take care to have the column height set correctly.

More investigation necessary...

Rc101 · Mar 6, 2018

Malcolm Stewart said:
I've now done my first checks on #1 enlarger (detent not working), and using my WA Focotar #2 (i.e. the one I bought from a well known UK seller), after optimising the lens focus setting, I get excellent grain sharp tracking at f/2.8 from around 10x - 12x up to 16x, but significant correction is needed at the minimum magnification setting. Checks on #2 enlarger were similar - I now need to do a similar check on enlarger #3. (But that's difficult in its present location.)
#2 with a working detent was some way off focus with the detent engaged, but with "temporary" correction applied, it clearly didn't track the magnification changes. I did take care to have the column height set correctly.

More investigation necessary...

Thank you Malcolm, never ends, does it . Interesting to hear that you get excellent sharpness at 2.8, mine looks quite a bit smeared at 2.8, but sharpens up nicely by 5.6, then degrades again slightly at smaller apertures. I have read a post someplace where the enlarger height had to be set to some arbitrary height (e.g. the height markings on the column didn’t do the trick) to get it to auto focus correctly, wondering if yours may be similar.

Rc101 · Apr 10, 2018

Hello,

I am back at this after a short break, and wondered if anyone can offer guidance on replacing the focus notch ball & spring on the V35. I have purchased replacement steel balls & springs (have spares if someone needs them), and was going to unscrew the tiny screw on the large focus dial and insert the spring then ball and secure it with the screw.

On closer inspection I see two tiny screws on the focus ring, which is supposed to be for the focus notch? Unfortunately one of the screws has been butchered and is useless. The other screw I can turn one rotation or so both ways, but it does not appear to be removable, unless it's damaged as well. Perhaps its purpose is to secure the ring onto the helicoid? As it appears to do that when I tighten it.

So then which would be screw that hides the focus notch ball and spring?

Focomat v35 misc help

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