Where to find Lens cone holders for Durst Laborator 138 ?

[Fulvio]

Hi,

I've recently bought a Durst Laborator 138... Really a nice enlarger. I started using it with a 80mm Componon lens. This lens requires just a normal M39 plate which I have. The problem comes with longer lenses such a Rodenstock 150mm I have here too. It's rear element is too long and the enlarger has a lens turret (one can mount up to three lenses at the time and rotate the turret to select which lens to use). Since the lens turret is rotating, the rear element of longer lenses inhibits the turret to move. As long as I know such lenses require a special "cone" holder that moves the lens rear element a little away from the turret... But I have no idea where to find one. For this Rodenstock I need one probably with M49 mount. The cone base diameter should be around 72mm. I tried on ebay but there are none in this moment... I also don't know how are they called. The standard plate holder for smaller lenses is called Lapla 39...

Can anybody help?

thank you

 

[Ole]

Ask Durst? They do speak Italian in Brixen/Bressanone, I believe - if they feel like it...

 

[Tony Egan]

You could try Barry Neuhard at barry@neuhardassociates.com. I bought this from him on ebay a few months ago.(see picture) Not sure if 10mm extension is enough for the lens you have but I have a 150mm Nikon attached to mine which allows the turret to turn.

 

[Fulvio]

Ask Durst? They do speak Italian in Brixen/Bressanone, I believe - if they feel like it...

I phoned an official Durst reseller and they told me that the Laborator is discontinued and so its accessories... Maybe I should try some other office, like a service, etc... It has been discontinued only a few years ago, so there must be some sort of service for old owners.

 

[Fulvio]

You could try Barry Neuhard at barry@neuhardassociates.com. I bought this from him on ebay a few months ago.(see picture) Not sure if 10mm extension is enough for the lens you have but I have a 150mm Nikon attached to mine which allows the turret to turn.

no 10mm is not enough. I think it should be at least 30mm

thanks anyway

 

[Ole]

Now that you mention it, I've got one of those turrets too. My Rodagons (150, 180 and 210) are all too "deep" to rotate. That doesn't really matter that much to me, since I only have one LAPLA39 to share between the 150 and the 180.

Today I'm enlarging 6x9 negatives, so I'm using an ancient Dallmeyer 11cm lens - which will rotate. I bought it cheap for the LAPLA, only to discover it's got 1 3/4" threads!

 

[Donald Miller]

Hi,

I've recently bought a Durst Laborator 138... Really a nice enlarger. I started using it with a 80mm Componon lens. This lens requires just a normal M39 plate which I have. The problem comes with longer lenses such a Rodenstock 150mm I have here too. It's rear element is too long and the enlarger has a lens turret (one can mount up to three lenses at the time and rotate the turret to select which lens to use). Since the lens turret is rotating, the rear element of longer lenses inhibits the turret to move. As long as I know such lenses require a special "cone" holder that moves the lens rear element a little away from the turret... But I have no idea where to find one. For this Rodenstock I need one probably with M49 mount. The cone base diameter should be around 72mm. I tried on ebay but there are none in this moment... I also don't know how are they called. The standard plate holder for smaller lenses is called Lapla 39...

Can anybody help?

thank you

I assume that when you say rotate that you have the Tripla lens turret that allows the installation of three lenses of differing focal lengths. According to the manual for the Durst 138 the proper lens panel for a Rodagon 150 is identified as a Roding 5071. It can be used with both the Unipla or the Tripla. You may see thus lens panel come up on Ebay or in lieu of that you could check with Stonemills in Canada or Neuhard here in the states.

For your further information the Lapla 39 is designated for the lenses of 105 mm focal length. Whereas the Latub is designated as the panel for lenses in the 50 mm range.

There is a lot of misinformation floating around about these enlargers...the proper condenser combinations etc. These are very fine pieces of equipment and very precisely designed. In other words one condenser configuration does not fit all applications.

 

[Fulvio]

Now that you mention it, I've got one of those turrets too. My Rodagons (150, 180 and 210) are all too "deep" to rotate. That doesn't really matter that much to me, since I only have one LAPLA39 to share between the 150 and the 180.

Today I'm enlarging 6x9 negatives, so I'm using an ancient Dallmeyer 11cm lens - which will rotate. I bought it cheap for the LAPLA, only to discover it's got 1 3/4" threads!

yeah, I could bare with a fixed plate and instead of moving the turret I could move the lens like everybody else in the world... The fact is that I have only M39 plates. I need an M49 that fits this enlarger anyway. I didn't find those either on ebay.

thanks for help anyway

 

[Clueless]

A great source would be Glenn Evans' site. He also sells and makes "skirts", (cones). My longer lenses had skirts, but the short lens set in a recessed "tube" -these prevented the Tripla from rotating. Info about Gelnn Evens can be found in another thread in APUG.

 

[Tony Egan]

Another short term alternative would be to look for a 39 to 50 step-up ring per the picture below. This is a Lapla 39 with a plastic 39-50 step-up ring in which I mount a 150mm Rodenstock. No noticeable loss of negative coverage in my usage of this setup. At a pinch you may be able to get away with a series of camera lens stepup up rings to get you from 39 to 50.
Otherwise be patient or persistent. I have managed to find 4 different lens boards in the last 4 months since I purchased my 138. They came from Canada, US, Germany and a local Sydney camera store. All different shapes and colours. The Durst way. Why have one part number when you can dream up 14 different ones. As for neg carriers - yikes - be prepared to pay more than the enlarger for a decent 5x7 carrier with good glass...... Happy hunting