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_Manolo_

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jan 4, 2025
Messages
7
Location
USA
Format
Large Format
Glad to be on board and chat with like minded individuals. I run a public photo studio and darkroom in Jacksonville, NC. I also teach all aspects of photography with a heavy emphasis on film photography (as film is my base). My introduction to the darkroom was in 1976 at the High School of Fashion Industries (shout out to my old H.S). I teach people how to use 100yr + large format cameras and provide a complete capable darkroom to process film manually up to 8x10. My largest enlarger covers 4x5 but I am in the planning stages of building an 8x10 enlarger using a large format 8x10 camera as the head unit of the enlarger. Crazy plan but I think it'll work. All comments are welcome.
 
Welcome aboard!
No plan is too crazy for this place. We've got people building enlergsrs that project digital images and/or that use UV instead of visible light. You'll fit right in.
 
Welcome to Photrio!
 
Welcome! You seem to be a perfect addition to the group!
 
_Manolo_ said:
building an 8x10 enlarger using a large format 8x10 camera as the head unit of the enlarger.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum!

In some very old books I saw a setup where a large format camera was placed against a masked window of a darkened room and the print paper was fixed on an easel. A bit awkward but fully functional.

There are a few enlarger designs of the same vintage that used gas (or electric) lamps behind the camera to project glass plate negatives (basically, a modification of a magic lantern). If you are interested I can dig out some pictures.

Good luck with your build!
 
koraks said:
Welcome aboard!
No plan is too crazy for this place. We've got people building enlergsrs that project digital images and/or that use UV instead of visible light. You'll fit right in.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'm always looking for ideas.
 

Thanks for the welcome. Also thanks for the lead. I'm already looking for it. I already set up a Rochester Optical Universal 8x10 field view camera with a loosely placed 8x10 negative floating on the inside of the camera against the ground glass. I used a flat LED lightbox as the light source and the image projected on the wall was bright and sharp. I plan to donate my Beseler 45 MXII chassis to the project as it has a motorized elevation mechanism (makes things easier). At some point, I'll post pics of the project. It would be easier to locate a Beseler 810 Adapter (cat # 8350) but at the moment, they are hard to find and I refuse to pay out online auction prices (if you know what I mean). At the moment, I'd rather work my way through the challenge.
 
You are probably aware of the Intrepid Enlarger:

Intrepid Compact Enlarger (35mm & 120)

Utilising new LED technology The Intrepid Enlarger is a total rethink of the traditional darkroom enlarger. A super compact, simple and fun to use kit for making prints from your colour or black & white film at home (from 35mm to 6x9), simply mount it on a tripod or copy stand!
intrepidcamera.co.uk
Building a 8x10 version using a quality camera and chassis should not be too hard.

Also, you might want to look at @koraks LED enlarger light source (if you choose to replace you lightbox at some stage):

enlarger light source – Koraks tinkers

tinker.koraks.nl

Will you be enlarging black-and-white or color (RA-4)?
 
Thank you for the leads. I will start with Black and white to fine tune procedures, once I decide on a final hardware solution. After, I will look to print both color and B&W.
 
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