A while back I was given a Kindermann 6x9 enlarger (see (there was a url link here which no longer exists) )
Was a few limitations I did not nessarily care for, but hey it was a nice gift and it worked.
Another enlarger came into the store which caught my eye and seemed to alleviate all of the problems or dislikes listed above. Ended up getting it and taking it home this evening. I unbolted the kindermann off the drop table and put the enlarger on top of the drop table. I'll eventually drill some new holes in the drop table and just mount the new enlarger right to the table. After all a drop table may still come in handy especially for some insane crops, or upto 16x20 prints which the drop table allows for, and the ability to more easily get new lens for it will make that purpose a bit more feasible.
Ended up getting this Beseler 23C with a universal colorhead ( which I'll just use to load in some 125x125 Kodak polycontrast filters, as filtering above the negatives doesnt affect the picture quality ). Also came with it was a 35mm, 6x6, and 6x9 negative carrier. Figured I can probally just put a 6x7 into the 6x9 til I get a 6x7 carrier. The lens that came with it was a 50mm f/4 of sort. I borrowed a wollensak 135mm f/4.5 to see how it would work, and I got the Unicolor (or was it beseler, I forget now ) Pro 50mm f/2.8 or as my co-worker calls it a rodenstock which he'll probally sell to me.
Putting the 50mm f/2.8 with a 35mm loaded in preview, looked gorgeous, and quite crisp looking. The only gripe was that with anything larger than 35mm, we're talking serious croppage. The 135mm wollensak seemed too wide (probally intended for a 4x5), so was kind of concerned. Then I remeberd I had this lens board that fits a beseler, that so happens to take the exact same lens board my Graflex Crown Graphic has. You basically snap the graflex lens on it's own metal lens board, into the beseler lens board, and snap the whole assembly into the enlarger. Which came in handy because putting my graflex optar 90mm f/6.3 lens on the besseler did the trick for 6x6-6x9 at a comfortable enlargement without going way in the air or too close to the board. So it looks like I'll likely be using the 50mm f/2.8, and the 90mm f/6.3 as my two primary lens.
Now just a matter of figuring out what to do with the kindermann. :rolleyes:
Was a few limitations I did not nessarily care for, but hey it was a nice gift and it worked.
- Did not have an adjustible condensor head. In otherwords The condensor was pretty much set to cover a 6x9 area all the time.
- The lens or lens board for that matter are not commonly found. It wasn't one of those things where I can just screw a new lens in, let alone if I even attempted to get a 50mm in there I would have to recess it quite a bit.
- Did not have a section for filters, had to use one of those old kodak polycontrast filter holders attached to the lens.
- printing 35mm almost always required the use of the drop table (probally why the original owner built the drop table in the first place)
- No possibility of using the enlarger for possible color work in the future.
- Spring loaded arm, not a big deal but kind of restricts exactly how far up I can life the enlarger, also not a big fan of the enlarger accidently "whiping" up into the air when the knob gets loose.
Another enlarger came into the store which caught my eye and seemed to alleviate all of the problems or dislikes listed above. Ended up getting it and taking it home this evening. I unbolted the kindermann off the drop table and put the enlarger on top of the drop table. I'll eventually drill some new holes in the drop table and just mount the new enlarger right to the table. After all a drop table may still come in handy especially for some insane crops, or upto 16x20 prints which the drop table allows for, and the ability to more easily get new lens for it will make that purpose a bit more feasible.
Ended up getting this Beseler 23C with a universal colorhead ( which I'll just use to load in some 125x125 Kodak polycontrast filters, as filtering above the negatives doesnt affect the picture quality ). Also came with it was a 35mm, 6x6, and 6x9 negative carrier. Figured I can probally just put a 6x7 into the 6x9 til I get a 6x7 carrier. The lens that came with it was a 50mm f/4 of sort. I borrowed a wollensak 135mm f/4.5 to see how it would work, and I got the Unicolor (or was it beseler, I forget now ) Pro 50mm f/2.8 or as my co-worker calls it a rodenstock which he'll probally sell to me.
Putting the 50mm f/2.8 with a 35mm loaded in preview, looked gorgeous, and quite crisp looking. The only gripe was that with anything larger than 35mm, we're talking serious croppage. The 135mm wollensak seemed too wide (probally intended for a 4x5), so was kind of concerned. Then I remeberd I had this lens board that fits a beseler, that so happens to take the exact same lens board my Graflex Crown Graphic has. You basically snap the graflex lens on it's own metal lens board, into the beseler lens board, and snap the whole assembly into the enlarger. Which came in handy because putting my graflex optar 90mm f/6.3 lens on the besseler did the trick for 6x6-6x9 at a comfortable enlargement without going way in the air or too close to the board. So it looks like I'll likely be using the 50mm f/2.8, and the 90mm f/6.3 as my two primary lens.
Now just a matter of figuring out what to do with the kindermann. :rolleyes:
