Using 8x10 camera as an enlarger

[Doug Webb]

I have a few 5x7 and 8x10 negatives, (or cropped 4x10 or 6x10 images from 8x10 negatives that I would like to try to enlarge, probably no more than in the 2x, or maybe in the 3x range. I have an 8x10 Agfa Ansco camera that I would like to try to use as an enlarger. I don't need infinitely variable equipment and would be able to live with a setup that only allowed, for example the 2x or 3x enlargements. I don't, at this time, want to modify the camera in such a way that I couldn't continue to take it out into the field to make photographs. Has anyone done this? Any suggestions about what does and does not work? Any suggestions for a lens? (I have a 305 Repro Claron, a 14 inch Kern Trigor, and a 240 Symmar that I have been using as taking lenses.
Thanks,
Doug Webb

 

[glbeas]

That repro would work fine. Hardest part will be getting a light source to fit. Where are you located, there may be someone nearby with an enlarger you can use.

 

[Curt]

Sure, why not, it was done for years by those without the means or room for an enlarger. There just isn't much information on the subject. You would need a negative carrier and a light source to evenly project onto the negative.