Wallner color analyser manual?

I just acquired a Leitz Focomat V35 colour enlarger. It came with what I think is a colour analyser. The only marking it has says "Wallner SM Color", with no model number or other ID marking. Is anyone familiar with this piece of equipment and would you know where I could find a manual. I have tried unsuccessfully so far to scour the web for a manual, as I do not know how to use this equipment. Thanks. Luanda

The analysers from differnet vendors mostly all work similarly. The simple ones allow you to measure the brightness and colour of light from the enlarger though the filters, negative and lens with a probe that is placed on the baseboard. Some measure the brightness and colour simulaneously, while others require that you move a lever to place different filters over the analyser's sensor, and thus measure one colour at a time. Fancier ones have multiple channels (or replacable gangs of potentiomenters) to allow them to remember different channel settings. There will at a minimum be a trimmer pot to adjust yellow, magenta and density. Some analysers include cyan and then you can calibrate to print positive (cibachome etc) as well as negative. Some have a monochome mode, where they only measure denisty.

Some analysers have an integrated timer function to allow you to keep a constant aperture, and adjust exposure time to compensate for light brightmness changes that filtration changeds bring on.

To start, most of the time you print a print that looks good to you, without aid of the analyser, and then use the probe to measure an area that you want to reproduce again, without changing any exposure variables since you made the print that you liked.

I know I am being vague here, but let us know what you know about printing before we get more into using a colour analyser, if that is what you have bought.

Thanks Mike. Very helpful. I know how to develop and print B/W, so colour processing will be a new venture for me. I am just starting to read up on this. I use a Durst M601 with EL-Nikor 2.8 lens. I bought the Lietz as an incredibly cheap deal, coming with much other equipment (Rowid driver, plastic negative drying 'cabinet' and so on. But the analyser stumped me. It has separate dial settings for Y, M, C, Timer and AUS off. A timer dial. Separate dial with setting C, calibrated C1 to C5 and Y and M that are numerically calibrated. Has a gradation timer-Log D. Also paper sensitivity dial. A needle measurement calibrated from -1 to +1. And an exposure button. Do you think I would be able to find a manual for this? Thanks again for your help. Nicholas

This sounds similar to a Melico unit or two that I have that I still use from time to time (at least until one of the tubes in them burns out). So you have confirmed that it is an integrated timer that is calibrated in logarithmic units. The timer likely is not a timer like you are used to seeing, but it will likely still work.

This unit is basically a balance bridge measurement unit; The dial Y, M, C, Timer and Aus off: (I suspect that AUS is the german equivalent of "off" or "standby") Each one is used to compare the reading being made at the time against a previously stored value.

For Y setting of the Y/M/C/Timer/AUS/OFF switch you place the probe under the image under test and then set the Y filtration in the enlarger filter pack or dichroic head to cause the needle measurement to null mid way between -1 and +1 to balance the bridge circuit. The balance point is set by the setting of the calibrated Y dial, calibrated Y1-Y5.

Similarly you adjust the Magenta and Cyan filter packs or dichroic settings so that the filtration nulls the setting against the reference filter setting dial value.
(With RA-4 filtration Cyan is almost always set to zero- with RA-4 you can ignore it).

When the selector switch Y/M/C/Timer is on timer there are no filter packs to adjust; here you balance the time bridge integrator against the light coming in (as may have been varied by the negative density, and the density of the filters, as well as the sensitivity of the paper, which is adjusted for by the paper sensitivity dial, by moving the setting of the Log D graduated timer dial unit the meter balances between -1 and +1. The paper sensitivity dial is usually only varied when you change paper lots, or types of paper.

The power of this type of timer set up is that it maintains a constant birghtness X time of exposure light integration function. Changes in filter factor, aperture, head height or negative density will also be compensated for to try give the same image density in the print where the probe is positioned.

Some setting on the Y/M/C/Timer/AUS/off dial will cause the power to the enlarger outlet to go off. When the switch is set to Y,M,C, or timer I suspect the power to the enlarger socket will be on. When you find the setting that turns the enlarger off, you are in the ready to expose stage; press the exposure button, and the integrator timer will run and turn the enlarger socket on for the amount of time that the bridge setting previously has set up to time.

Some photo sensors can get saturated under normal room illumination and take a few minutes to start to work once in the dark; I get in the habit of flipping the sensor upside down when I take it off of the easel after measurement so I don't have to wait after I turn off the lights and start the next round of using the analyser.

You can likely start to use this unit on B&Wb efore you get into colour to get a better feel for it. Just use the paper density and timer function; ignore the Y.M and C settings for now.
Print a b&w image with a convetional timer controlling the enlarger light. Dry the image if using FB paper.
Then place the analyser sensor over the light toned part of the image where there is just the first step from all white. Set a mid range of sensitivity of the paper sensitivity dial. Now set the timer dial unit the indicator balances.

Set the unit to expose, and time how long the timer leaves the socket for the enlarger on after you press the expose button. Compare it to the time that you actually used to make the print. Adjust the paper sensitivity and timer dials unit the exposre duration matches the conventional timer time; it is an iterative process.
Then you are calibrated to the paper used to make the print. Make note of the sensitivity setting; write it on the paper envelope etc.

Then you can change the aperture or the enlarger head height, or filtration. Place the sensor in the projected image where you want the first non white tone of grey to appear in the print and rebalance the timer dial; don't change the paper sensitivity. Re-establish the filtration, and make the new print; the same tome of light grey will be re-produced in the area where the sensor was positioned to meter the negative.

Sometimes the sensitivity and timer dials can be used to figure out the density range of the negative too. I am running out of room in this post, and will post separately on this idea.

For neg density range measurement, meter the part of the negative being projected by the enlarger where there is the first amount of detail in the negative that you want to appear in the print as the area of shadow that is not all black. Set the log D time to 1, and this time move the paper sensitivity to null the meter.

Move the sensor to the area that you want the print to be not quite pure white. Then, without touching the sensitivity dial, see how much added log D time is needed on the tiemr dial to make the needle null. This usaully then measures te LogD denity range between the lightest and darkest print tones with detial. It can be used to compare against the ISO range rating of the paper to figure out what contrast range of the paper will be needed to suit the scale of the negative density, to reproduce the meters outcomes.

Change the sensitivity scale back to match that setting that matches the paper and then use the timer analyser as usual to establish the area with the first non white detial, with the right filtration in place, if using MG paper, and imake the print. It should be almost a perfect working print on the first exposure.

Areas where this method come undone are when using pyro negatives; the stain pyro gives does screw up the density range measurement.