New to Film. Just got a given a box full of dark room equipment

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Hi All. I've recently been given a box full of darkroom equipment from a friend. According to the previous owner, everything I need is there. With all the stuff I was also give a "Lucky p-66" enlarger. It came with two negative holders, one 35mm and another much larger one which I'm assuming is medium format. Now, I am really keen on purchasing a second hand medium format camera soon and I want to make sure that the camera I purchase is compatible with all my stuff. The dimensions of the hole in the negative carrier is about 57mm x 57mm (sorry American friends but I don't know what that is in inches). So is this standard 120/220 size ? I was looking at some Mamiya rz67's and m645's. They obviously have different negative size, so would both of them work in this negative holder ?

Apologies for my newbness!

Bill Burk · Jul 9, 2011

Hi Jonno888

Welcome and good luck.

This sounds like the enlarger was designed for 6x6 square ( 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches ). You could fit the 6 x 4.5 but it would cut off a part of 6 x 7 negatives.

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Hi Bill. Thanks for the quick reply. Do you think the lens on the enlarger would need to be changed to suit medium format ? I know my friend has been using this stuff with 35mm only.

MattKing · Jul 9, 2011

Jonno888 said:
Hi Bill. Thanks for the quick reply. Do you think the lens on the enlarger would need to be changed to suit medium format ? I know my friend has been using this stuff with 35mm only.

You will need something like a 75mm or 80mm lens for 6x4.5 or 6x6.

Have fun!

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Ok, just had a look, it only has a 50mm lens. Anybody got a lens they want to sell ?

perkeleellinen · Jul 9, 2011

Welcome to APUG, Jonno.

Those lenses come up all the time on ebay quite cheaply and there's often one in the classifieds here. Where do you live?

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Hi. I live in Melbourne, Australia. Just had a look at ebay and seen quite a few 75mm lenses. Do they use universal threads on the lens ? For example, is something like this (Ebay Item Number) 330584168301 likely to fit ?

perkeleellinen · Jul 9, 2011

Most lenses have a 39mm thread. Your best bet is to measure the thread on the 50mm you already own to make sure your enlarger hasn't got a different thread on its lens board.

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Right you are. It has the 39mm thread. Thanks for info everyone. Now I just need to find a camera. Back to ebay

perkeleellinen · Jul 9, 2011

Have you seen this?

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

polyglot · Jul 9, 2011

Just to perhaps be clearer, "medium format" generally means 120 or 220 film which is 60mm wide. On that film, people commonly shoot these sizes:
- 645 = 42x57mm (16-18 per 120)
- 6x6 = 57x57mm (12 per 120)
- 6x7 = 57x69mm (10 per 120)
- 6x9 = 57x88mm (8 per 120)
- 6x12 = 57x115mm (6 per 120)
- 6x17 = 57x170mm (4 per 120)
... and twice as much per 220 roll. The film is just an undifferentiated strip, the frame placement and size is up to the camera.

So with that enlarger, you can do 645 and 6x6 if you had the right lens (75-80mm); they're readily available. It might support 6x7 with a new neg carrier; I don't know but google will.

There are a billion "which MF camera to buy" threads to go read; it's an entirely personal choice and if you ask it here, you will receive every possible answer...

Jonno888 · Jul 9, 2011

Hi thank for that. Had a look there but can't see a 75/80mm lens in 39mm thread. I have a vivitar 50mm f/3.5 lens on my enlarger, looks to be a very common lens. If anyone wants to do a swap just yell out Regarding camera, I've pretty much settled on either Bronica ETRS/i or Mamiya m645. I want to do some portraits so I'm just hanging out on ebay waiting for the right kit to come along.

polyglot · Jul 9, 2011

Look for a "Rodagon or "Componon"; Componon-S is even better but Componar is to be avoided. EL-Nikkors are good if you get the right (6-element) ones. People generally won't advertise the thread on the enlarger lens because 95% of them are the same M39. Enlarger lenses are not the same as (most) camera objective lenses; they are designed for flat field and close focus, magnifications of typically 6:1, whereas an objective you might put on a camera will typically have its best performance nearer to infinity.

A quick look at eBay shows 9 Rodagons and 12 Componons available, all in 80mm, and they tend to pop up on APUG every couple of weeks. Get the f/4 if you possibly can; not because you want to use it at f/4 but because it's easier to compose and focus under the enlarger and it (depending on who you ask) might be sharper but generally you'll be diffraction-limited in enlargement anyway. Any of the undamaged ones I saw for sale would work well.

MattKing · Jul 9, 2011

FWIW, the Mamiya 645 cameras give you 15 exposures to a roll of 120.

And the Lucky enlargers are sometimes seen re-branded - I think that they are/were sold under the Bogen name in the USA.

New to Film. Just got a given a box full of dark room equipment

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