omega enlarger negative carriers

[caml]

I just purchased a new color enlarger and am a bit confused by the negative carriers. its an omega super chromega D dichroic ii

i dont know what the speed carrier is for... Can i just put plain old negative carriers in it or do I need a speed carrier? only 1 negative carrier works.

does anyone have or know of somehwere I can get carriers for this? i need 6x4.5 6x7 and 6x9

any help and advice is very much appreciated!

 

[Adrian Bacon]

I just purchased a new color enlarger and am a bit confused by the negative carriers. its an omega super chromega D dichroic ii

i dont know what the speed carrier is for... Can i just put plain old negative carriers in it or do I need a speed carrier? only 1 negative carrier works.

does anyone have or know of somehwere I can get carriers for this? i need 6x4.5 6x7 and 6x9

any help and advice is very much appreciated!

I have a Chromega D5. Image 1272.jpg is the standard carrier for that line of enlargers. You can get other carrier format sizes for it on eBay. They typically go for $20-30 each. Key is the two notches in the carrier for registration in the enlarger.

 

[Neal]

Nice!

 

[MattKing]

Speed Carriers tend to be designed to expedite feeding an entire roll of film through the enlarger, with an opportunity to print each negative, one after another.
You might use one if you were making individual proofs of each negative.

 

[Jim Blodgett]

I have two Chromega D5 Supers in my darkroom that I print with, another in the shop I use for parts. It's the enlarger I learned on so when I retired and built my darkroom that's what I used. But as I accumulated equipment over the years people gave me lots of things, an Omega D2 for example.

As I gradually collected equipment negative carriers was one of the most interesting areas to deal with.

Here's something that might help you save some money. Omega D2 enlargers are older and more readily available/cheaper. And many parts are interchangeable with D5 parts. The negative carriers for D2's are the same size and shape as the negative carriers for the D5 with a slight difference.

There is a plate that fastensns the top of your bellows to your enlarger. This plate is also the surface your negative carrier rests on. The plate on a D2 has pins that engage with the negative carrier to keep the negative centered above the lens. The D5 plate does not have these pins, but instead relies on a piece of metal screwed to each negative carrier to keep the negative centered. Other than that, and position of some mounting holes, the plates are the same on each enlarger. They are interchangeable if you can drill holes/tap threads.

Retrofit your D5 with a plate from a D2. This will allow you to use D2 negative carriers, which are more readily available, OR D5 negative carriers for more modern sized negatives - like 645. .

But I will also say that you can print 645 negatives with 6x6 negative carriers no problem.

I have no idea what a speed carrier is.

If you get stuck, pm me and maybe we can talk on the phone. I'd be glad to help anyway I can.

 

[caml]

great thanks so much for the help Jim! as well as the other 3!

 

[Brae]

I know this is an old thread but it's kinda of relevant to what I'm dealing with. I just won an auction on an Omega D5 with Superchromega D Dichroic II color head. It's a local pickup situation so I won't be picking it up until the weekend but in reviewing the pictures of all the extras it comes with I noticed there are a bunch of negative carriers but they aren't the standard D series negatives carriers with the circular edges on the long sides, they don't look like picture file name IMG_1272.jpg from the original post above, they look like the carriers in image IMG_1274.jpg. Seems like there is one speed carrier frame and the rest of them look like what is on the right of the speed carrier...

Anybody know which enlarger these are supposed to work with? Do they work with a D5? I got a great deal on the enlarger so I wouldn't be too disappointed if I had to buy new carriers but it would be great if anyone has any info. My best guess is that the speed carrier and the holders somehow work together? is that right? Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[MattKing]

The correct to D5 carriers will position themselves correctly without your intervention, whereas other carriers may require you to take more care with centering their placement.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I know this is an old thread but it's kinda of relevant to what I'm dealing with. I just won an auction on an Omega D5 with Superchromega D Dichroic II color head. It's a local pickup situation so I won't be picking it up until the weekend but in reviewing the pictures of all the extras it comes with I noticed there are a bunch of negative carriers but they aren't the standard D series negatives carriers with the circular edges on the long sides, they don't look like picture file name IMG_1272.jpg from the original post above, they look like the carriers in image IMG_1274.jpg. Seems like there is one speed carrier frame and the rest of them look like what is on the right of the speed carrier...

Anybody know which enlarger these are supposed to work with? Do they work with a D5? I got a great deal on the enlarger so I wouldn't be too disappointed if I had to buy new carriers but it would be great if anyone has any info. My best guess is that the speed carrier and the holders somehow work together? is that right? Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Photrio!

What @MattKing said is correct. The D negative holders self position well; the other require operator intervention.

 

[Focomatter]

The only actual Omega D carrier shown in the original post is the one for 35mm negatives. The other pix show a third party carrier that one should use at ones own risk! The carriers are effectively a metal sandwich with the film in the middle. The later versions have one side (metal plate) finished in the white and the other finished in black. I can only see the black half in the pic so there may be only 1/2 of a carrier in the above example. Much more common are the clear anodized versions of the carriers - i.e., have an aluminum color. The late model Ds have an extra long bellows so no problem using lenses from 50 to 150mm. The earlier models such as the D2 used separate tube like lens boards (lens may have been on a separate disk that usually stays with the tube) for the various focal lengths and the earliest ones needed different condensers as well (non V models). I have used (mostly owned) all these variants over the last half century plus.

 

[ic-racer]

Anybody know which enlarger these are supposed to work with? Do they work with a D5?

Thanks in advance!

Omega D5500 carriers look like this. They are not interchangeable with the D5 unless the D5 is retrofitted with the special cassette. If you got some of these, probably best to resell on ebay.

 

[Matthew Tapson]

Apologies, this is a total thread hijack. I also have a D5Xl with a Chromega head. Mine came with several negative carriers including a 4x5 Spring Hinged, Rapid Shift Glass carrier as per the pic below. Unfortunately it came without glass. KHB sells an Anti Newton top glass replacement, but does the carrier need top and bottom glass? Sorry, I have no idea how these are meant to be set up. Thank you.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have the D3 version it takes two sheets.

 

[Matthew Tapson]

I have the D3 version it takes two sheets.

Thanks Paul

 

[MattKing]

It will probably work well with just one half of the carrier "glassed". It will just give you results that are around half way between the results you will get from a glassless carrier and a full glass carrier.
Some prefer that approach, because it reduces by two the number of surfaces available to gather dust.

 

[Matthew Tapson]

It will probably work well with just one half of the carrier "glassed". It will just give you results that are around half way between the results you will get from a glassless carrier and a full glass carrier.
Some prefer that approach, because it reduces by two the number of surfaces available to gather dust.

Thanks a lot for the response Matt. I actually also mailed KBH to ask about their parts and got this response from Kevin which adds some extra info:

Hello Matthew,

The Omega #423-327 negative carrier uses different glass for the top and bottom, they mount differently and are not the same size. The lower glass is Omega part number 473-420 and is only available as a clear glass. The upper glass as provided by Omega was also a clear glass. It is part number 473-459 an the anti-newton upper glass (#473-427) was an optional purchase. All 3 glasses are linked below.

http://store.khbphotografix.com/Rep...for-Omega-D-R.S.-Glass-Negative-Carriers.html

http://store.khbphotografix.com/Replacement-Clear-Glass-for-Omega-4x5-Glass-Negative-Carriers.html

http://store.khbphotografix.com/Anti-Newton-Glass-for-Omega-4x5-Glass-Negative-Carriers.html

General recommendation is to not use anti-newton glass unless newton rings are a problem. Anti-newton glass has a texture which can show up in the final print especially when using a condenser light source.

I would recommend you should have both options available and you should have at least 1 each of the above glasses.

Regards
Kevin Brown

 

[mgb74]

I know this is an old thread but it's kinda of relevant to what I'm dealing with. I just won an auction on an Omega D5 with Superchromega D Dichroic II color head. It's a local pickup situation so I won't be picking it up until the weekend but in reviewing the pictures of all the extras it comes with I noticed there are a bunch of negative carriers but they aren't the standard D series negatives carriers with the circular edges on the long sides, they don't look like picture file name IMG_1272.jpg from the original post above, they look like the carriers in image IMG_1274.jpg. Seems like there is one speed carrier frame and the rest of them look like what is on the right of the speed carrier...

Anybody know which enlarger these are supposed to work with? Do they work with a D5? I got a great deal on the enlarger so I wouldn't be too disappointed if I had to buy new carriers but it would be great if anyone has any info. My best guess is that the speed carrier and the holders somehow work together? is that right? Any insight would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Make sure your D5 Dichroic comes with the matching power supply. There were, as I recall, two versions. One has an integrated timer and the other does not.

 

[Brae]

Make sure your D5 Dichroic comes with the matching power supply. There were, as I recall, two versions. One has an integrated timer and the other does not.

It has the timer power supply and it works like a charm. The whole kit is in good shape but the speed carrier system was not usable as there were light leaks. I replaced that with omega late model D series carriers with the rectangle bevel on the base and those work without leaks. Everything is in great shape aside from some scuffs and scrapes on the base board surface... definitely worth the money I spent on it.

 

[Brae]

Thanks for all the replies everyone Appreciate it considering I resurrected/hijacked an old thread. although the speed carrier covered all frame sizes you could need there were serious light leaks using the system because they had been banged around and the insert frame was not square anymore. I ended up getting Omega branded carriers ... my negative stage is set up for the later model beveled base carriers and I got a whole set covering 35mm to 4x5 from eBay for a combined deal. Appreciate the feedback!

 

[Mikey Antonakakis]

Omega D5500 carriers look like this. They are not interchangeable with the D5 unless the D5 is retrofitted with the special cassette. If you got some of these, probably best to resell on ebay.

View attachment 393693

I'm trying to clear up a couple details on D5500 negative holders/carriers. In the Omega parts/accessories list, there are 4 negative carrier holders listed, C-size (423-950), D-size (423-951), Film Strip (423-952), and Rapid Shift (423-953). The C- and D-size carrier holders I understand: simply insert mask sets into them for various formats (within the C or D size ranges), then insert carrier holder/mask set assembly into the negative carrier casette; I have a few of these two carrier holders and mask sets.

Film Strip Carrier Holder and Film Strip Masks:
I believe I understand what the film strip carrier holder is as well; there are a few sizes of film strip masks that can be inserted into this carrier holder. I'm 99% sure I have one of these without any masks, however I have found it nearly impossible to find a photo of one of these carrier holders anywhere online other than the first image below (from a sale listing here on Photrio from a few years ago). The next few photos are of the carrier holder I have (including in a disassembled state to show the internals). It seems like I might be missing the piece circled in red, what is it's function and how important is it? (the fifth photo below shows the mounting screw holes and indentation where I believe it is supposed to sit).

Rapid Shift Negative Carrier Holder:
What is this? I can't seem to find a photo of a D5500 version anywhere. I do have another style of carrier holder, but I believe it's the Universal 5"x5" Glass Carrier (423-920, shown in the last photo in comparison to a C-size carrier holder with 35mm mask set).
So presumably the Rapid Shift holder is something else? Is it just one of the holders where the edges curve down to accommodate a full roll of film?