Getting ready to enlarge c prints again

[Heath Moore]

Finally got a DII V enlarger exactly like the one I had in the 70s, but no darkroom, just a closet. Luckily I did still have my Unicolor drum so I'm in business. But processing B&W is such a chore in my Unicolor drum it occured to me I might as well be doing color. I checked and I still have the filters, Besselar analyzer is gone as are the viewing filters, but the Kodak data guide is there, minus Shirley. But what's changed since Ektacolor? Used to keep 3 bottles in a styrofoam cooler warmed with consistent temp hot water. Prewash to bring the drum and paper to temp, developer and blix. Wash and dry with hair dryer for inspection. Evaluate and adjust exposure and filter pack very slightly. I'm sure I'll struggle to find the initial filter pack. Besselar had a block with all the different filter packs that you exposed through a diffusion filter with a neg in the enlarger with a new paper/film emulsion to check balance. Looked for the patch that looked neutral gray and you had a Great start. Still exist? But once the emulsions were dialed in you could tell from the contact sheet what needed adjustment.
Is this just a pipe dream or am I ready to take up where I left off in the mid 70s? Just don't want to kick myself for not getting an inkjet printer instead.

 

[koraks]

What worked back then would work quite fine today as well. The old-fashioned slide-in filters are a chore though; I'd much rather look out for a head with dichroic filters. Depending on what film formats you want to enlarge this can be fairly easy or difficult. It's difficult if you want to work with 8x10 film, but color enlargers for e.g. 35mm and 6x6cm are pretty common/plentiful.

I never saw the need for viewing filters etc. Just judge the print/test strip as it is and take it from there. I personally also don't use a color analyzer.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Development protocol hasn't changed for RA4. But papers have changed quite a bit, for the better. Only certain Fuji papers are still routinely available in cut sheet sizes; but they're quite good. There is a huge selection of roll products. Used darkroom gear is so cheap these days that you might want to acquire a real colorhead if you don't already have one. I can't imagine doing it with slip-in filters, especially if they're old and potentially faded; but some people still do it that way. Freestyle in LA has everything you need, paper and chem. With a bit of practice, you'd kick yourself if you did waste money on an inkjet printer. Chromogenic papers have dramatically improved since the 70's; so have color neg films themselves.

 

[Heath Moore]

Thanks both of you for the advice and encouragement! Freestyle has 4 liter kit on backorder until the 16th so I have time to collect my thoughts. Planning to standardize on Portra 160 rolls. Will shoot my "Shirley" with gray card, son, and RGB props. Sun vs Open Sky. Yashicamats for now.
Didn't look like any great deals for a dichroic enlarger on ebay. Got two 6x9 shooters so 6x7 format would be a reasonable fit. What's a reasonable price? I did buy used one for a 23c in the 90s but the power supply didn't work. Thought them too complicated for me at the time.

 

[MattKing]

Pay attention to local Craigslist and Facebook marketplace if you are looking for colour enlargers. Otherwise, shipping is a killer.

 

[Wayne]

The big change is that lots of people are doing it at room temperature (gasp!) in trays.

 

[Adrian Bacon]

Pay attention to local Craigslist and Facebook marketplace if you are looking for colour enlargers. Otherwise, shipping is a killer.

That's the truth, assuming you can even get the seller to ship it. I've been on the hunt for an 8x10 or 10x10 (or larger) enlarger for a while, and they can be found if you look hard enough, but nobody wants to ship them. I'm fine with that, but I've not yet seen any in the general SF Bay Area that I'd be willing to part money with, and the others are far enough away that I can't realistically make the trek without some serious planning. It's at the point were I'm half considering just making one.

 

[Vonder]

Well... I've done color printing. It's a bit of a PITA. Ok a huge one. Still, I have two prints that are passable, that I printed myself, that are hung in my house. It's an amazing process and given the astronomical price the inkjet thieves charge for ink, it's possibly even cheaper, if you know what you're doing.

Good luck!

 

[nickandre]

I am also re-equipping the enlarger -- local photo store had a 23C with a literally unused Dual Dichro head.

For papers you have Fuji CA or Kodak Endura and then third party brands which are all Fuji. Some bloke was cutting down a 20 inch roll of Endura so I bought two boxes of that off eBay and I still have about 6 boxes of Endura from the last run of cut sheets they made back in 2010 or whenever. I assume it's junk but I may be pleasantly surprised -- hasn't seen cold storage over most of the past 8 years.

You can do room temp although since I'm not abjectly poor now (like I was when I was doing this in high school) I'm going to get a 16x20 drum and a roller processor to try higher temp and see if the results are better. It has the advantage of using less chemistry especially if you're trying to fill a 16x20 tray.

I will say the results in room temp for Kodak RA4 were amazing. I had less great results with the particular Fuji CA I was using at the time exhibiting pretty bad crossover and poor blacks. I'm not entirely sure whether it was due to reciprocity issues with digital optimized paper or incompatibility with room temp. Some others have reported great results with Fuji CA in room temp, I will double check. PE had insinuated that only Kodak worked well with room temp. The bummer of course is that you have to buy a whole roll of Kodak. I had tossed around the idea of getting a roll and offering to split it with folks but that raises all sorts of issues getting packaging and whatnot. 16x20 seems good for large prints plus easy to cleave into 8x10 should you need it.

Currently my problem is the chemistry is backordered for eons due to supply chain problems and I haven't had luck sourcing an EJL bulb for my dichro head due to B&H being closed. I'll be out of town for two weeks but hoping I can give it a shot when I return after all my stuff arrives.

Honestly I never was too bothered stacking filters in a regular head. If you've got a consistent process you can set the color balance and I was able to run off 15 prints one after another with same filter settings. Dichro can be nicer though, especially if you also do black and white and get do split filter grades and whatnot.

Re: inkjet I've been trying the scanning life and the scanners are garbage compared to printing. A good Endura RA4 print would knock the pants of anything but a drum scan -- the amount of detail you can focus with a good lens is just a lot higher than you can get off of your regular flatbed. Plus focusing those seems to be a bit of a nightmare I spent about an hour trying all the different parameters and after inserting the film upside down and almost being able to see the grain I decided I would buy an enlarger. Negatives are also just "designed" to be printed, the scanning is somewhat of an afterthought. Would be really great to whip off a 16x20 print and then futz in photoshop/negative lab pro to get the scan match if I liked it.

 

[MattKing]

I haven't had luck sourcing an EJL bulb for my dichro head due to B&H being closed.

Believe it or not, Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/EJL-bulb-OSRAM-200W-24V-MR16-Projector-16mm-Color-printer-lamp/37682006
Or one of the internet bulb suppliers like bulbamerica.com.

 

[nickandre]

Believe it or not, Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/EJL-bulb-OSRAM-200W-24V-MR16-Projector-16mm-Color-printer-lamp/37682006
Or one of the internet bulb suppliers like bulbamerica.com.

God bless. Half the sites claim a Dual Dichro takes an 87V 250W bulb but my manual specifies an EJL at 24V and I did just double check the power supply out of concern and it specifies a 24V output 250W max.

I acquired a "new old stock" bulb they happened to have at the photo store but it too was dead. If math serves me right it should test at 24V/200W or .12 ohms or thereabouts. I was temporarily concerned someone had stuck a 24V bulb on an 87V supply and there had been sparks (hopefully there's a fuse that gives up the ghost first?). I'm not usually a fan of acquiring and resoldering ancient transistors.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'm awaiting a quote on the newest Fuji product sold in rolls only. Meanwhile, I'm using up the last of my 20X24 sheets. All my remaining 40 inch-wide material has finally gone bad, especially since I didn't print color at all last year, not wanting any additional respiratory irritation during a pandemic. Four months of forest fire smoke was bad enough.

Regarding bulbs. There are all kinds of them out there. If you're wise, you'll only buy ones actually made in the US, Japan, or the EU. The cheapo made in China ones not only have very short life, but can potentially damage sockets and filters when they go. I'd use a specialty bulb supplier. I wouldn't trust Wal Mart to sell me fishing worms.