Has anyone got a spare lanp (bulb) for a Minox enlarger. They are rated 6 volts, 6 amps (6v6a) and were originally manufactured by Dr Fischer in Germany.
Want to Buy Minox enlarger lamp
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I might have one of unknown heritage. Was given a Minox enlarger minus the negative stage, kinda just decoration without it. If none show up let me know and I'll see if it works. Whether it would survive a trip across the pond is a question.
Thanks for the reply - will let you know if I get a reply from anyone else.
Volt and Watts do not say much, they do not even indicate if a lamp is overrated or not.
Needed are also bulb shape and glass type and the socket type.
All of that can be looked up at lamp catalogs, even if the lamp in question itself is not listed there.
Needed are also bulb shape and glass type and the socket type.
All of that can be looked up at lamp catalogs, even if the lamp in question itself is not listed there.
Thanks for the questions about the Minox lamp. According to the Minox manual, the lamp operates at it's rated 6 volts and is therefore rated 36 watts. It is a bayonet type lamp with a single centre contact. The stange thing about the lamp is that the two filament supports are "L" shaped so that the filament is positioned off centre. This is apparently quite important as it is required for the optics of the condenser system. I have attached the page from the manual which shows the lamp.
Attachments
I come across some Minox camera or some accessory but have not come across an enlarger so far. I looked at that lamp and though knowing a bit about lamps and even ones with excentric filament position, still I am puzzled by yours.
In case you cannot find a spare, you could
-) use a standard 6 Volt lamp with Ba15S foot
-) use a halogen bulb (maybe with new power source) where you place the filament in the old position
-) modify a 35mm enlarger for 8x11
In case you cannot find a spare, you could
-) use a standard 6 Volt lamp with Ba15S foot
-) use a halogen bulb (maybe with new power source) where you place the filament in the old position
-) modify a 35mm enlarger for 8x11
AS it happens, I have one of those to spare -- this one is in a box that says it is 6v 3a, and says BA15s, which I suspect is the description of the base on it -- it is the proper type of bulb, with a bent-right angle filliment mount and would probably work fine, just not draw so much amperage so it might not be as bright (i am just guessing here -- ask someone who knows electricity).
In any event, if you think it will work, and are willing to pay the postage from Utah to wherever you are, it is yours. It was given to me and I'm happy to pass the savings along...
the design of the L filiment post is to make sure the light is positioned precisely where the optics of the condenser require it to be for maximum illumination...or so they claim.
I had an earlier minox enlarger that didn't use this bulb -- just a straight bulb with normal filiment, and it worked fine. The later enlargers are nicer, though, and use this bulb.
If a plain model would have been very popular, one could have had made a custom model so to compel users to buy that special spare, at a special price. But of course a custom lamp was much more expensive at bulk purchase already...
Could be -- Minox always was very specialized. These are just auto lamps, anyway, and last a very long time since auto lamps in general are designed to blink on and off a lot. The old one in my original enlarger never burned out -- good thing, I had no idea where to find a new one.
I know of people that tried to use a car headlamp bulb, but it left a shadow of the filament on the print. The Minox enlarger is a very specialised item, developed for the tiny 8x11 mm negative - approx. 1/10 th size of a 35 mm negative. It uses a special 15mm lens wheras 35mm enlargers tend to use a 50 mm lens. I think Leitz manufactured a 25mm enlarger lens but have not seen one. With the Minox negative you would need a long distance from the lens to the paper using a 50mm lens. Durst used to make a carrier for 8x11 film but I have not seen one. Minox reckon the lamp only has a life of 50 hours. It has been suggested to use a 12v LED lamp fitted into the housing but I do not know what wattage to try.
Regarding the lamp in Utah from summicron 1, I don't really know what to do as it may not be bright enough, but I thank you for the reply. From my past however, is not the brightness proportional to the square of the wattage?
What would be the postage from Utah to the UK?
Regarding the lamp in Utah from summicron 1, I don't really know what to do as it may not be bright enough, but I thank you for the reply. From my past however, is not the brightness proportional to the square of the wattage?
What would be the postage from Utah to the UK?
The nice folks at USPS.com say a small box weighing less than 16 ounces will cost $23.50 in US money to mail first class to the UK -- ain't cheap. Priority mail would be $35.
It is very possible to enlarge Minox in a 35mm enlarger -- I have done it with excellent results, although it is hard because you have to raise the enlarger so damn high if you are using a 50mm enlarging lens, and about the largest I could make without reversing the enlarger and projecting onto the floor was a 5 by 7 inch print. On the other hand, that's about as big as anyone wants to take a minox negative. The hardest part, to be honest, is focusing -- you have to get close to the base to see if it's sharp, but the enlarger head is so damn high you need to be an orangutan to reach that high.
Leica made a Minox negative carrier for its Focomat enlargers -- I have one -- but you can make a very serviceable carrier out of some mat board. All it needs to do is hold the film flat, after all.
As to brightness of the bulb -- as I said, I'm no expert, but I suspect this would not be as bright as the 6 v 6 a bulb, but that just means you would have to use longer exposures -- and remember the minox enlarger has two levels of brightness. I normally make prints with the dim setting and the normal bulb, so at worst you'd have to use the brighter setting, but even with the dim I doubt times would be horribly long. Gives you plenty of time to dodge and burn and so on.
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Enlarging Minox negatives in a standard enlarger is fine. I use an Omega 4x5 enlarger with a 30mm enlarging lens which gives a reasonable lens to print distance. You can use a 35mm neg. carrier with a black paper cutout for the smaller negs.
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Minox lamps are definitely not just auto-bulbs. Dr Fischer made a limited batch (labelled as Minox and with the offset filament) about ten years ago and they were seriously expensive, I bought one as a spare at the time (IIRC it was via the Minox website and was about $50 without postage 
).
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FWIW, just Googling around and found this adaptor on Ebay:-
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/DR-G-FISCHE...600101?hash=item239da39a25:g:iN0AAOSwB-1Yzis3
The guy also makes a slitter for Minox film.......feedback looks OK, but I have no other knowledge of the items or the supplier.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/DR-G-FISCHE...600101?hash=item239da39a25:g:iN0AAOSwB-1Yzis3
The guy also makes a slitter for Minox film.......feedback looks OK, but I have no other knowledge of the items or the supplier.
Thanks to railwayman 3. I have checked and the adapter and halogen laps are still available from China.
hi caspardog
i think i might have the lamp, 6v 6amp with angled filamennt.
i have the enlarger too ( i consider a sale ?) and will check the one in enlarger fist.
if it is of any intgerest, the lamps are marked as autolamp - they were actually used in a few old german cars .
caspar mail me.
klaus
denmark
i think i might have the lamp, 6v 6amp with angled filamennt.
i have the enlarger too ( i consider a sale ?) and will check the one in enlarger fist.
if it is of any intgerest, the lamps are marked as autolamp - they were actually used in a few old german cars .
caspar mail me.
klaus
denmark
You made me curious...
I do not know such lamps for automotive use (do not mix them up with Bilux lamps). If you can refer to their automotive use, it might make us wiser about the idea behind it in this photographic context too.
agx
when i got my enlarger some years ago, i needed the lamp too.
under my search for it, i came across the info on the use in automobiles.
after a short search this morning, i found it mentioned as a tail lamp, see the link:
https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/dr-fischer-bulb-for-minox-enlarger.36119/
a very educational link on the subject.
klaus
when i got my enlarger some years ago, i needed the lamp too.
under my search for it, i came across the info on the use in automobiles.
after a short search this morning, i found it mentioned as a tail lamp, see the link:
https://www.photo.net/discuss/threads/dr-fischer-bulb-for-minox-enlarger.36119/
a very educational link on the subject.
klaus
Thank you. But I am quite sure the lamp manufacturer just used a box they had at hand, seen their immense range of lamps that makes it uneconomical to have dedicated boxes. Those boxes shown present the old bilux and the meanwhile going obsolete H4 head lamps and a general use lamp.
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