Omega D2 (with Variable Condenser) question

laverdure said:

I notice the illumination levels changing all over the place. Sometimes, also, a semi-circular wavy ring pattern appears, reminiscent of the corrugated metal spacer between the two condenser lenses. Any ideas?

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Turns out it was just wild misalignment. What a pain to realign these things are!

laverdure said:

Turns out it was just wild misalignment. What a pain to realign these things are!

Click to expand...

Harry sells a set of instructions and a tool over at classic-enlargers.com. It is exceedingly complicated to get it right if you don't know the order to go in and how each adjustment works. I normally just figure out stuff like this by trial and error, but D2V proved impossible for me to get right quickly, so I ordered the instructions. Very, very helpful.

Thanks,

Will

Will-

Thanks. Luckily, I had a couple days free and so managed to figure it out.

Kilgallb said:

I extended the lens board of my D2 using a 4" piece of ABS sewer pipe. Actually it was a fitting used to join two pices together. I use it for my 162 mm lens. I use it for 4x5 and 6x7 work.

You have to spend some time filing the piece so both ends makes two parallel surfaces. It was actually easy to do.

I drilled small holes in the edges of the pipe to hold #2 high low screws. I think #2 sheet metal screws will work too.

When I get home I will take a digi pix and post it.

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I know this is a long time since you posted on the lens cone.
Did you ever post a picture of the adapter you made with ABS?
Thanks

dswiger said:

I know this is a long time since you posted on the lens cone.
Did you ever post a picture of the adapter you made with ABS?
Thanks

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I did not. I will take a photo and post it.

mikebarger said:

Hi guys, is this auction for an adjustable cone???

http://cgi.ebay.com/Simmon-Omega-Au...1QQihZ010QQcategoryZ29987QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks

Mike

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The link is now gone but the auxiliary bellows on the D2 or the D3/D4 were actually intended for making reductions, which I have done many times. But if you do not have the correct cone for the AD track on a D3/D4 it can get you by until you find one. As to other posts, I like/use flat boards for lenses up to 90mm, a small cone for 105's (in my pajamas not in the darkroom), and 4 inch cone for 135's and a 6 inch cone for 150-162mm. (note that the 4 inch cone works for the 150mm but is inconvenient if you make a lot of wallet sized prints (which I did at one time)). I actually made a small extension tube to use on the 4 inch cone with my 150mm for wallets, else I would have to stretch the bellows too much. I have a set of aux/ bellows for both my D-2 and D-3 and as you know the lens boards are not interchangeable. All in all I prefer the double extension bellows on my D-5. As to condensers it's possible that the flaw you see when using the longer f.l. condensers is always there but much less noticeable at lower magnifications, try rotating the condenser top glass 90 degrees and observe if the issue moves, if not, it could be your lamp, are you using a real PH211 or an LED?

Kilgallb said:

I did not. I will take a photo and post it.

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Still have not found it in my pile of parts. It will turn up I hope.

Murray@uptowngallery said:

Excuse my ignorance, but it seems odd to need not only a different lens but a different condenser, from what I read.

If one has to change condensers to mate with the lens f.l. (or really, the negative size, I guess), then what function does the variable condenser serve...to properly position the matching condenser...then what did people do with the D2 with NO variable condenser?

This all seems odd, but I guess it'll become natural...

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Early D2's and DII's had three sets of condensers available for different formats. You just swapped out the entire condenser lens assembly and the supporting "coffee can". I have a set from my DII.

Those sets were not used with the variable condenser housing. The Variable condenser housing sits between the 6.5" condensers and the lamphouse and have slots for a supplementary third condenser.

bdial said:

The cones are really extended lensboards, they are used for lenses 135mm and longer. Shorter lenses need flat boards.
There is more detail available at Harry Taylor's omega enlarger site (http://www.classic-enlargers.com/).
I was recently considering how to go about doing a homebrew, but they show up fairly regularly on the auction thing, I don't think trying to replicate the cones would be too practical.

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I Harry is alright I'v been to his home and bought a len s and he fixed my D2 I tried the link and it did not work Thanks

Harry Taylor passed away a few years ago. While the Classic Enlargers website still exists, the Help forum suffered attacks from hackers and was taken down by Harry's daughter.

Kilgallb said:

I did not. I will take a photo and post it.

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Finally found it.