Omega C700 and MF negative: possible to print 16x20?

[malinmalin]

Hello,

A long story short: a friend of mine just dropped an Omega C700 enlarger on my lap
and I wonder if I should bother at all trying to print 6x6 negatives on 16x20 paper?
I have the possibility of acquiring a 80mm Rogagon enlarging lens. Is it worth
it with this enlarger, and, more to the point, would I be able to fit the lens in the
lens board? The enlarger came with a 75mm El-Nikkor lens in a bad shape and
googling a bit I see that the Rodagon lens is a leica mount type with 39mm thread diameter.
I'm willing to entertain any other suggestions

Have a great Sunday!
jf

 

[Nick Zentena]

The Nikon unless really old or wierd should be a 39mm mount to. So that's not an issue.

I don't know how high the 700 will go. But with 6x6 negatives you're really enlarging to 20x20 and cropping. I think that is pushing it with most MF enlargers. OTOH if you want to do it try it. At worse you waste some paper. Check if the enlarger can be mounted to focus on the floor.

 

[Jim Jones]

A quick test with a 75mm lens and an improvised 6x6 negative carrier on my Omega C700 indicates a maximum image size of about 16x16 inches on the baseboard. Some easels will contact the column and prevent using that degree of enlargement. Although inconvenient, the column can be reversed on the baseboard for projection of larger images on the floor.

Nikkor, Schneider, and Rodenstock all made good enlarging lenses. They also made decent, but less expensive lenses. A patient ebay shopper can now get fine enlarging lenses at ridiculously low prices. While many enlarging lenses used other than 39mm threads several decades ago, they are now fairly scarce.

 

[dynachrome]

Omega C700 Enlarger

Several companies made wide angle enlarging lenses. The ones I have are made with the Bogen name. There was a 40mm f/3.5 for 35mm negatives abd a 60mm f/4 for medium format negatives. I have two of each. Bogen enlargers were often sold with inexpensive Voss enlarging lenses so when prople see the 40 and 60 Bogen Wide Angle models they donlt give them much respect. The 60 should be able to give you a 16X20 on the baseboard. If I knew the exact height of the column I could be sure.

 

[CraigH]

You might want to check http://www.classic-enlargers.com. Harry Taylor is the Omega expert.

Craig

 

[Lee Shively]

I used a C700 for medium format for several years and it would not allow a great degree of enlargement so I concur with Jim on this. I started a project to increase enlargement capability of the enlarger by attaching a large wooden block between the column and the base. Before I completed the project, I ended up buying an LPL enlarger so I don't know if it would have been acceptable or not. I had a large cypress block which I sanded and planed to flat surfaces to use as a spacer. It seemed like a relatively cheap and logical way to extend the column height but it may have suffered from some instability in use.

The Rodagon will fit and it's definitely worth it to use as good a quality lens as possible with this enlarger. I used an 80/4 Schneider Componon S with mine and got excellent quality prints with the combination. If the 75mm Nikkor is not in good shape, it's a good idea to replace it.

 

[Jim Jones]

If I wasn't using an old DeJur enlarger for most printing, I'd do as Lee suggests and make a spacer for the bottom of the column. However, the distance between the optical center and the column will still limit the size of enlargements on the baseboard unless the spacer is slanted like the column, and a larger baseboard is used.

 

[malinmalin]

Thanks folks for the recommendations and ideas.
This is actually as I thougt it would be: the column
is not high enough and somehow I would have to
extend it. Hummm. Nice project for the freezing
winter we have here!

regards, jf