Zone VI 8x10 enlarger

[Ed Pierce]

I recently made the leap to 8x10, and am thinking about trying to convert my Zone VI 4x5 enlarger into an 8x10. I think that Zone VI used to make an 8x10 head. Does anyone know if they did, and if so, will it fit on my Type 1 enlarger?

[Ralph Barker]

Zone VI did make an 8x10 conversion kit, but it only fit the Type II enlargers. I'm not sure if Calumet still sells the kits.

[J. P. Mose]

Ed,

I don't know what the cost of the kit would be. I recently decided to jump to 8x10 for the fun of it. A Beseler conversion kit is a fortune and rarely seen on the used market. I bought a real nice Omega Super Chromega F for under a $1000 plus shipping (which was $800). If you have the room in your darkroom you may want to consider this as an option. I am happy with mine, but it is a beast, requiring 101" of headroom.

JP Mose

[Justus Schlichting]

If you have enough floor space (and sturdiness), you could try a used horizontal enlarger. I picked up a Devere with a nice 2000 watt dichroic head for $120 a year ago. For that price, you could junk the chassis (if you did not have the room), and just mount the head on your Zone VI. FWIW, I also have an early model Zone VI enlarger on which I mounted an Aristo VCL8100 head. I talked Aristo into putting an extra tube in the head so I could do color (additive) printing. Funky, with noticeable edge fall-off, but workable.

[neil poulsen]

I have a Type 1 Zone VI 4x5 (alias "5x7") enlarger, and I purchased a Type II non-vc 8x10 head off of EBay. If fits fine.

The only problem is that the Type 1 enlarger has a small lens stage, so it limits the size of your enlarging lens. The opening on the negative stage (of the enlarger) also limits the focal length of the enlarging lens, but so does the height of your ceiling!

In adapting the Type II head to the Type 1 enlarger, remove (unscrew) the two small round negative carrier guides at the back of the negative stage. (Don't lose them.) You will need to find three small screws (about 3/8ths of an inch) that screw into these two holes and into a third hole that's centered at the front of the negative stage. The 8x10 head comes in two pieces, the light source, and what I will call the adaptor. (I forget the correct name.) Place the adaptor on the negative stage, and you will find that the three holes mentioned above fit just inside the opening at the bottom of the adaptor. Once you've properly positioned the adaptor on the negative stage, screw in the three screws to hold the adaptor securely into place. That's it. I used three washers that have rubber on one side, so that the three screws wouldn't scratch the inside of the 8x10 adaptor. I also found that I had to adjust the angle of the single focusing centerpost so that the lens stage would be exactly centered with respect to the large 5x7 opening in the negative stage. This required a corresponding adjustment to the angle of the lens stage to keep it parallel with the negative stage. You may need some additional ballast for the counter-weight in the enlarger column.

Back to the enlarging lens, a 240mm lens works best. It minimizes the room you need between the top of the head and the ceiling, and it's also closer (when focused properly) to the opening in the lens stage. For example, a 300mm lens when properly focused would be further from this opening, possibly causing the opening to intrude on the light path between the negative above and the enlarging lens below. I think a 270mm will also work. A smaller focal length lens will also have less diameter, enabling it to fit in the small-sized lens stage. I found that an old Schneider 240mm f5.6 Componon works fine. There may be a more modern lens that will fit, but be sure to check the dimensions and the image circle of whatever you purchase. Another possibility is a G-Claron, that I've heard people say works fine.

Another comment. Since I purchased the non-vc head, I purchased a below the lens filter carrier for VC filters. I tried this, but I find that filters affect the image. I haven't used them yet, but I recently purchased several sheets of Rosco magenta and yellow filters. I will cut these down and place them between the head and the 8x10 negative.

This worked fine on my enlarger. But, I'm not sure what revisions have occurred with either the Type 1 enlarger for the Type II 8x10 head. For example, the screw-hole centered in the front of the negative stage on my enlarger appears to have no purpose, yet it works great for securing the 8x10 head onto my enlarger. I would order with the option of return.

If the above is hard to understand without drawings, send me an email. We can also discuss details by phone.

[Ralph Barker]

Excellent info, Neil. The folks at Calumet were very emphatic, when I called them some time back, that the 8x10 head wouldn't fit on the Type I, so it's good to know they were wrong. They may have been basing their advice on the lens-size limitation of the Type I lens board, but it would have been more helpful had they provided more detailed into. ("It fits, but . . .")

I, too, have a Type I that I bought with the idea of converting it, and was quite disappointed with Calumet's response. So, you just saved me a lot of trouble selling the Type I and looking for an affordable 8x10 alternative.