• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Want to make an Enlarger.

Seems to me if there's nothing local then ebay is the answer .
Normal type enlargers are bulky and awkward to pack for shipping in a way that's economical and safe .
Look out for one of the old portable enlargers from the old USSR .
Tends to be cheap , made to pack in it's own box/base , so shipping should be cheap .
As an example , see here ; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-...624650?hash=item362e46c80a:g:12EAAOSw5E5asV5u
I've seen them for less than half that price though .
A lot of this sort of stuff tends to be readily available from the Ukraine , and I would imaging shipping to India wouldn't be a problem .

It's worth you looking into .
 
the big question is WHY;used high-quality enlargers are so inexpensive these days that your approach is not making much sense. You can't possibly match the developing and manufacturing expertise of Durst,Meopta,Leitz, etc.Just get a used model and save yourself the headaches.
 
What seems easily available and cheap for you in Germany need not be so in Kolkata.

(But I already hinted at an indian source.)
 
As India is huge, the possibility exists that there are no enlargers near enough to him/her to be practical.
 
MattKing said:
As India is huge, the possibility exists that there are no enlargers near enough to him/her to be practical.
Click to expand...

I'm in the U.K and have bought things from several parts of India , both Eastern and Western Europe , North and South America , Canada , the far East and an assortment of other places across the world that I have never been and never likely to .

Distance isn't a problem .
Someone will always supply you with what you want at a fair price if you shop around and don't mind waiting for the delivery .

As long as you have access to the internet finding good's is easy .
All you have to do is pay up . I realise not everyone in the world has a bank account , which might be an issue , but I would think a solution could be worked out .
 
MattKing said:
As India is huge, the possibility exists that there are no enlargers near enough to him/her to be practical.
Click to expand...

I know, I’ve been there, many times.
Shipping from one side of the country to the other is rather cheap, a lot cheaper than buying from other places in the world.
Regards,
Frank
 
AgX said:
I would never cosider buying an enlarger from overseas.
Click to expand...

Nor would I .
There's no shortage over here for good as new enlargers , costing little to nothing . I imagine it's the same where you are .
I've bought a few enlargers and have been given some as well , such as my LPL 7700 colour enlarger , for free .
People are just happy to see someone making use of their things again , rather than being thrown away .
I've just picked a 6 feet high wall mounted 5"x4" enlarger up and another Combiplan 5x4 developing tank , all for £50 . The tank's alone tend to sell for more than that .
I realised why it was buyer to collect when I got there and saw it , the photo made it look like a bench mounted unit !

My reply was to post #30 , where it was said India is a big place , so buying one might present a problem .
O.K if you have to pick it up .

It sounds like finding one is the problem the O.P is having , though I'm sure there are plenty for sale still within India .
The link you provided shows they are available .

If they really were that hard to find , for 10x8 print's , the one like that I linked to would solve the problem for very little money .
It's such a basic piece of kit that as long as it is complete there is little to go wrong .
 
I have a Sinar P2 4x5 showing up Thursday that I am turning into a custom mural enlarger / DSLR scanning rig, should be fun fabricating this. Perfect alignments every printing and scanning session here I come!
 
I've made my own enlarger, and while I didn't do a very good job, it was more a woodworking problem and a photography problem. An enlarger is kind of the inverse of the camera. Light shines through the film, through a lens onto paper. Here's a few basics to keep in mind. You'll need a box to hold everything, and keep the light from hitting your negative, except through the enlarger lens. You can use a typical room bulb as your light source. You'll need a diffusion material to spread out the light and make it even. I've used a piece of opal glass, but a piece of plate glass sanded until it is frosted, or even waxed paper is ok (as long as you keep it far from the bulb so it doesn't burn). Then you need a stage for the negative. I've taped it before to a board with a hole in it the same size as the negative. You'll need a lens and a focusing system. I suppose in a pinch, you could open the back door of your camera, find a way to hold the negative in place behind the lens, and use the bulb mode on the camera to hold the shutter open, using the lens to focus. It's also easier to make an enlarger which projects on the wall. That way you don't have to worry about holding it up, having a way to raise and lower it to change the negative size, and keeping it stable. Instead just move it further or closer to the wall, change the focus on the lens accordingly, or look up "sliding box camera" to get an idea of a simple focusing mechanism for lenses. I think the key point is to simplify as much as possible.

Most of the enlarger's complexity comes from versatility. A comparison between the box camera and the SLR is apt here. The box camera has one shutter speed, one aperture, and a fixed focus distance. If you keep within the parameters of what the camera is capable of, you can make some fine images. So instead of trying to build the multi-speed, multi-focus SLR, start with the enlarger equivalent of a box camera. With skill and discipline your results can be quite good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register