PDA

View Full Version : 8x10 Enlarger?



jonesp
29-Jun-2014, 11:08
Hello all, I just found this Century Studio Stand and need your advice on whether it could be turned into an 8x10 enlarger. Haven't seen personally yet, will give the guy a call later. The price is right, providing it is in decent shape, and best of all it's right here in my hometown. I've attached some pics, so please let me know your thoughts, good or bad. Thanks in advance.

117514

117515

117516

117517

Jon Shiu
29-Jun-2014, 11:17
Nice find. I'd say go for it. Nice sturdy Master Studio Camera and stand. You can buy a led light panel for a light source.

Jon

jonesp
29-Jun-2014, 11:22
Nice find. I'd say go for it. Nice sturdy Master Studio Camera and stand. You can buy a led light panel for a light source.

Jon

Thanks Jon, will let you know how it turns out. I have a couple of Kodak wood holders I'm hoping I can make negative carriers out of.

jbenedict
29-Jun-2014, 11:41
I've been drawing one of these out, too. I was planning on making a carrier like a picture frame. I am going to make them out ao 1/4-2/8 oak stock. I am going to put small hinges (the size like on a jewelry box) to hinge them together and sandwich the negative between them. I'm going to use tape to hold the edges to the frame. I think this would be much easier than modifying a holder. I do 5x7 also so am going to make a carrier for 5x7 also.

Jon Shiu
29-Jun-2014, 12:34
Thanks Jon, will let you know how it turns out. I have a couple of Kodak wood holders I'm hoping I can make negative carriers out of.
I would just tape the neg to a sheet of glass, which is the easiest way to keep the film flat.

Jon

lenser
29-Jun-2014, 12:58
From the few images I've seen, it seems like Ansel did much the same thing for his enlarger. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it does have that appearance from his photos of it in his books. You might take a look at those and see how to apply

ic-racer
29-Jun-2014, 13:13
From the picture it is hard to tell if it has enough bellows extension for smaller (8x10 to 11x14) prints from 8x10 negatives. If you are going to do very big enlargements, it should be OK. What is the maximum extension? What format is the camera (11x14? 8x10?)
I'm sure you have seen the Ansel Adams enlarger. I don't think many people make enlargers that way these days, because 'real' 8x10 enlargers can be easier to obtain.

jonesp
29-Jun-2014, 14:31
From the picture it is hard to tell if it has enough bellows extension for smaller (8x10 to 11x14) prints from 8x10 negatives. If you are going to do very big enlargements, it should be OK. What is the maximum extension? What format is the camera (11x14? 8x10?)
I'm sure you have seen the Ansel Adams enlarger. I don't think many people make enlargers that way these days, because 'real' 8x10 enlargers can be easier to obtain.

Thanks for the input everyone, the price was right so I bit. Came with 8x10 and 5x7 backs, lensboards, and a few other accessories I'll have to figure out. Ic-racer the max extension is around 36 inches, maybe a little less. Want to use this with studio lights and my 14 inch Kodak Ektar, and also have it rigged to do enlargements with a 19 inch APO Goertz (if I can have the best of both worlds). I plan on doing 16x20 and 30x40 prints mainly, so I think this would work for enlarging. Thoughts?

jbenedict
29-Jun-2014, 20:14
From the few images I've seen, it seems like Ansel did much the same thing for his enlarger. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it does have that appearance from his photos of it in his books. You might take a look at those and see how to apply

AA's enlarger was a Deardorff 11x14 studio camera, first with a multi bulb incandescent head where switches were connected to each bulb and the light could be controlled by turning bulbs on and off. This eventually was replaced by a cold light head/

ic-racer
29-Jun-2014, 20:26
19" lens is a little long for the format, but your bellows should work and as a horizontal enlarger, the extra distance between the lens and paper should not be an issue.

Dan Dozer
30-Jun-2014, 09:24
117536117537117538Absolutely, you can make an 8 x 10 enlarger out of this but you don't need to use the stand. It might not be steady enough anyway for fine focusing. I converted my Kodak 2D 8 x 10 into a horizontal enlarger and it works great. I made a little table base that projects out from my darkroom counter with a drop down front. Get a cold light head (push it up against the ground glass, cut the septum out of an old wooden film holder to use as your negative holder, and you're good to go. I primiarly use a 300 MM Rodenstock lens for most of my work but also have a 240 MM Nikor when I need to blow things up and regularily enlarge up to 16 x 20. Note that too large of a lens will put the enlarger too far away from your focusing board/easel and make sharp focusing real difficult. You won't be able to look through your focusing scope and reach the enlarger to adjust it at the same time.

jonesp
30-Jun-2014, 09:37
117536117537117538Absolutely, you can make an 8 x 10 enlarger out of this but you don't need to use the stand. It might not be steady enough anyway for fine focusing. I converted my Kodak 2D 8 x 10 into a horizontal enlarger and it works great. I made a little table base that projects out from my darkroom counter with a drop down front. Get a cold light head (push it up against the ground glass, cut the septum out of an old wooden film holder to use as your negative holder, and you're good to go. I primiarly use a 300 MM Rodenstock lens for most of my work but also have a 240 MM Nikor when I need to blow things up and regularily enlarge up to 16 x 20. Note that too large of a lens will put the enlarger too far away from your focusing board/easel and make sharp focusing real difficult. You won't be able to look through your focusing scope and reach the enlarger to adjust it at the same time.

Appreciate the info Dan.

old time photo
30-Jun-2014, 11:28
Any things possible. But do you want to go through the expense.
You need negative carriers a light source. All you have are the bellows.
You should find and old elwood or something and build your light box and
filter drawers.

Drew Wiley
30-Jun-2014, 12:17
Sure you could do it. But it would be more odd and cute than functional. And by the time you did make it functional, it wouldn't be cute anymore.

ic-racer
30-Jun-2014, 15:21
Cute probably doesn't matter in Palmer Alaska :)

Dan Dozer
30-Jun-2014, 15:47
For what it's worth, my "Kodak 2D enlarger" is very functional. It has all the movements that any enlarger has and the camera has no modifictions to it that prevent it from being also used as a camera. The only thing I did was remove the ground glass back on the camera. Once I found the cold light head, it was very simple to construct the rest out of supplies I had laying around in the garage, so the price was "very right". It also has the added benefit of folding up and storing in the closet so it doesn't take up permanent space in the darkroom.

blueribbontea
30-Jun-2014, 18:26
[QUOTE=Dan Dozer; It also has the added benefit of folding up and storing in the closet so it doesn't take up permanent space in the darkroom.[/QUOTE]

That last line makes it most appealing as I have no place in my darkroom for a big 8X10 "Crane". And recent threads discuss the use of led light boxes rather than an expensive cold light head.

old time photo
2-Jul-2014, 11:13
I was recently informed about Ansel Adams enlarger.
I took an old 8X10 elwood enlarger built a metal head
and filter drawer consisting of eight 250 watt enlarger
bulbs incandescent type. I placed four in the center and
four around the corners. the ones around the corners were
placed closer to the 1 inch heat absorbing glass. I was making
11X14 oversized contact sheets from 35mm. film. 7X5 frames
35 expourses fit 8X10 carrier. All images were from movie scenes.
This allowed even exposure no burning in the corners. 240 mm.
lens stopped down 2 to 3 stops @ 5 to 7 sec. CP filters in the drawer
and cc filter under lens. It worked very well since they were ordering
5 contacts each. I gave them the idea instead of regular contact sheets.