Fujimoto G70 and general questions

[Trasselblad]

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday was my lucky day. Having just relocated to Sweden, I have been on the lookout for a complete wet darkroom since I now have space to set one up in my house. Put in an ad and got a few answers, but mostly from south of Sweden (this is a looong country and shipping is expensive) and not really what I was looking for. So, one chap from my home town called and wanted to sell me a Fujimoto G70 w. colour head, complete with timer, two lenses (2.8/50mm Schneider-Kreuznach Componon S and Nikkor EL 4/75mm), two easels, negative holders for 24x36 and 6x6, trays, maybe 500 sheets of B&W paper mostly unopened, D-76 and Agfa chems, rotary tube for Ilfochrome, safelights, this that, the other and the kitchen sink! All for 500 Swedish Kronor, about 75 US dollars...

I have a few questions about the G70:
- Experiences using this machine?
- The 35mm negative holder is glass-less. That's nice I think. The 6x6 is with glass both sides. This means 6 surfaces to keep dust-free. Would I be better off removing the glass?
- I like printing "sloppy frames" including the holes and neg "data" both in 35mm and expecially 6x6. Is it safe to modify the holders for this? Experiences?

That's enough questions for now. I have lot's and lots on the chems and papers but will ost them later in the correct sections.

 

[BradS]

there was a thread on sloppy borders just a while ago. I will repeat what I said there...I suggest that you think long and hard before you destroy an otherwise perfectly good neg carrier. Perhaps, you can make a suitable neg carrier out of matt board or something? We all need to be careful about "modifying" gear that is (generally speaking) not being made anymore.

You could also use the 6x6 with glass to print 35mm and get everything you want and more!

Do not remove the glass. Usually this leaves the neg unsupported.

 

[ath]

Get it. When I was looking for an enlarger I stumbled over the Fujimoto in an auction or two. They looked very interesting from what I could see but were too expensive.

 

[Kevin Kehler]

I use a Fujimoto G70 and think it is a great enlarger - very easy to use and sturdy, just not a lot of information available on them and heaven help you if you need parts, there is none at any price. However, for 35mm and MF enlarging, it works well - I do 6x7 film up to 11x14 prints all the time. The price is great as well. I also agree with Brad about destroying negative carriers, given that you simply cannot buy replacements; if your style changes in 10 years, there is no parts to be had. I do not have any glass in my negative carriers and wish I did: while I know it is more dust surfaces, after the enlarger is on for an hour or two, the heat from the lamp causes a slight sag in the negative and makes trying to get the entire image in focus really difficult. This is not an issue in 35mm but in MF, I had too much sag so I bought some glass, a glass cutter and some matte board to make my own and found an increase in sharpness on the edges of the prints.

 

[johnielvis]

hey--catch the pun?

fujimoto....lucky day!!!!

fujimoto's enlargers were branded "Lucky" I believe...right...hey!!!

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

As BradS posted, you can use the 6x6 glass carrier to print 35mm with as much of the sprocket holes and film data showing as you want. Mask off the non-printing part of the carrier with black paper or you will get a lot of fogging from flare and stray light - resulting in muddy murky prints. The black masking paper can be attached to the outside of the carrier - tape it in place to the metal part of the carrier.

 

[Kevin Kehler]

There is NO heat from the lamp. The condenser/diffuser block effectively eliminates this.

I have heat problems once the enlarger has been on for more than an hour - the 6x7 negative develops a curve downward which throws off the focus. For me, while the block does absorb most of the heat, it eventually works it way into the negative.

 

[Kevin Kehler]

I guess I am referring to a longer print session, where there is limited enlarger time per print but longer time for focusing and changing of negatives. It is the combined heat of everything that makes it difficult, not the 30-40 seconds of each print.

 

[hoffy]

Just quickly. As I mentioned in the other thread, I found my manual for the G70, including the colour analyzer and have scanned it in. If anyone wants a copy, PM me and I will make it available online

Cheers

 

[nicointheclouds]

Hi Hoffy, great to hear someone has a manual for the G70! I bought one but no manual, would it be okay to make it available ao i could download it? Very excited to read all about this enlarger! Cant wait to atart printing

 

[nicointheclouds]

My apologies, i have a fujimoto V70 which i cant find the manual or much info anywhere on. Is it the japanese market equivilent of the g70?