Sinar P used as enlarger? Specifics? Pictures?

[Fr. Mark]

I asked this over on APUG but thought the two groups of users aren't completely the same---

I couldn't decide if this belonged here or on doityourself. Hope this not a rule violation of some sort.

I have a Sinar P, with 5x7 back as well as 4x5.

I know some people have used view cameras as enlargers. I tried something cobbled together about six months ago just to see for myself.

I don't really have space for a 5x7 enlarger (financial or physical).

To some people using a Sinar P as an enlarger must sound like hauling mulch with a Ferrari, but I am looking for ideas on how to do it non destructively.

If I do this I figure to use an LED light box as a diffuse light source maybe with a sheet of tracing or wax paper or such to be sure it is diffused and I think I can figure out how to attach the light source/film carrier using the quick release mechanism for holding the ground glass in place---the one used to switch from portrait to landscape.

If anyone has done something like this, I'd love to see pictures and or otherwise learn about it. Thanks.

My wife would probably prefer I save some money up and buy one of those Epson scanners which will also do 8x10...

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

An easy route would be to look for a Graflarger, which was a cold light source and negative holder that fit on a Graflock back. This should also fit on the back of a Sinar.

[Tim Meisburger]

A Graflarger will not do 5x7, but I did build a 5x7 enlarger using that design. See the thread here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?103473-DIY-homemade-5x7-enlarger&highlight=homemade+enlarger

[Peter De Smidt]

Randy Moe posted about an inexpensive light box that he uses on an enlarger. A search should bring it up. Having Sinar Ps myself, I'd worry about bit about using them in a vertical alignment, with the weight of a light box and negative carrier on top of the standard. I'd consider making the system horizontal, although then you'll have more trouble keeping the printing paper and negative flat. If you do go vertical, you might have something else hold the weight of the light source.

[redshift]

I made an 8x10 enlarger out of a Sinar P. Lacking space, I made it horizontal using a heavy tripod. Also made a frame to hold an 11x14 easel on the wall.

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[redshift]

The light source is LED. Cemil from Modern Enlarger Lamps told me the parts I'd need and I fabricated the housing. The negative is held in an AN glass sandwich. One of the photos shows it partially removed.

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[Peter De Smidt]

Nice setup!

[Oren Grad]

Having Sinar Ps myself, I'd worry about bit about using them in a vertical alignment, with the weight of a light box and negative carrier on top of the standard.... If you do go vertical, you might have something else hold the weight of the light source.

+1. With apologies if I'm stating the obvious: remember that "real" enlargers have counterbalance systems to prevent the head from collapsing when it's unlocked intentionally or inadvertently.

[redshift]

+1. With apologies if I'm stating the obvious: remember that "real" enlargers have counterbalance systems to prevent the head from collapsing when it's unlocked intentionally or inadvertently.

Also have to provide room on the base for the image to expand in all four directions. Most enlargers compensate with a leaning column allowing the head to move away from the column as the image bets bigger. That's the main reason I went horizontal.

I'm not sure I'd build a 4x5 enlarger from a Sinar P. A lot of effort to solve all the problems.

[Drew Wiley]

Without repeating what I replied on APUG, there are a lot of issues. Yes, this makes a really good optical bench system with full correction. But the bellows is way too small for that much light inside - expect flare and excessive UV torture on the bellows (with some light sources). Any serious negative carrier would require quite a sub-base. Doubt you could make something which just slips in like a filmholder and still assure flatness, unless you're a helluva machinist. True enlargers
are dirt cheap at the moment. Gotta contradict redshift a bit - leaning columns are a compromise headache way of building an enlarger; the best models commercial models don't do it that way. But he does have a point. If you're building something vertical you'd need to space your rail well off the wall to allow any kind of big enlargement. If you go horizontal, you need to build a trolley cabinet and have a precise rail system. Been there, done that. A lot of extra work when you can just go out and grab an enlarger complete with colorhead blah blah. And I state that fact in relation to having my own cabinet shop. If you want a fun project and have some time to tinker, why not? But if your goal is to promptly get from Point A to Point B, there are a lot easier paths.

[Fr. Mark]

Thanks all!
For 4x5 probably best to find someone giving away an enlarger or almost so.
5x7's don't come up much and 8x10's even less so.
Some people have said that using the same lens to take then enlarge the picture helps somehow but I remain skeptical.
Space is an issue for me as is money.
Another approach is a scanner and printer...
May stick with contact prints for a while and keep sketching ideas. I'd rather not make my photography more computer dependent, but we shall see.