4x5 enlarger

[Filip Staresinic]

Hi. I have one question. Are there enlargers without condenser lens. And if there are on which principle they work, just have a reflector in side that directs light or?

[Gem Singer]

Yes.

There are enlargers with diffusion lamp houses. They use an incandescent light bulb inside of a domed reflector with a diffusion glass between the light source and the negative.

There are enlargers with dichro lamp houses, that are designed for color printing, and utilize a halogen light bulb and a diffusion glass.

Then, there are enlargers that utilize florescent tubes as a light source. They usually don't need a large reflecting light dome, and their heads are more compact in size.

All three of these types of enlargers do not utilize condensers.

[Nick_3536]

Most of the colour enlargers are like this. A white box that bounces the light .

[Nathan Potter]

Filip, yes they are called diffusion enlargers or more generally an enlarger with an extended source. Also called cold light heads because they can have a fluorescent light source. Such extended sources illuminate the entire film isotropically without the aid of condenser lenses. They'll produce a somewhat softer print than a condenser equipped head for the same paper grade. They will be somewhat more forgiving of negative defects such as dust due to illumination rays originating from a wide angle rather than a narrow angle. Some more modern approaches to extended sources use an array of Light Emitting Diodes (LED) although in the past some workers use an array of tungsten bulbs. I once used 16 bulbs with a Ground Glass plate to cover 8X10 film.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Filip Staresinic]

Thank you all for this. The reason I am asking is, recently I got very good 4x5 enlarger lens schneider componar 1:4,5/135 and some film. The camera I already have. Contact prints are a little bit to small from 4x5, so I am going to make a 4x5 enlarger.
When you say without condenser lens it will produce softer print what do you mean, the picture won't be as sharp as it should be? Then what is the point of having large format, yes there are other qualities in large format other than sharpness but?

[Bob Salomon]

Yes.


There are enlargers with dichro lamp houses, that are designed for color printing, and utilize a halogen light bulb and a diffusion glass.

All three of these types of enlargers do not utilize condensers.

Actually some do. For instance, the Kaiser dichroic color and Multigrade head enlargers are condenser dichroic models where the light from the halogen lamp goes through the dichroic filters and then is scrambled in a mixing box and then goes through a set of condensers on its' way to the lens. There are some other European enlargers that also used this principle.

[Gem Singer]

Bob,

I didn't want to confuse the OP by including every possible option that's available.

Actually, my Beseler 45S Dichro head also has an optional condenser accessory.

BTW, doesn't HP marketing sell Kaiser products?

[Gem Singer]

Flip,

An enlarger with a diffusion head will print with a little less contrast than an enlarger with a condenser head. However, that can be compensated by developing negatives to a higher contrast level.

Both condenser and diffusion light sources are capable of producing brilliant, crisp, and contrasty prints.

[aduncanson]

When you say without condenser lens it will produce softer print what do you mean, the picture won't be as sharp as it should be? Then what is the point of having large format, yes there are other qualities in large format other than sharpness but?

"Softer" as in somewhat lower contrast, not less sharp. Users of diffusion enlargers frequently find they need a bit more development than users of condenser enlargers. On the other hand condenser enlargers, because they direct light from the head into the entrance pupil of the enlarging lens, are frequently said to lose shadow detail earlier because light scattered by thin parts of the negative can still end up in lens and thereby still contribute to the image. Diffusion enlargers, which don't direct the light in this way, do not exhibit the same extra darkening of low tones. There are adherents to both technologies and both can make excellent prints.

I stated that as carefully as I can. I have never seen a condenser/diffuser war on this forum and don't want to start one. I will happily accept corrections.

[Filip Staresinic]

[QUOTE=aduncanson;467968]"Softer" as in somewhat lower contrast, not less sharp.

That is fine. I was thinking that was probably the meaning but obviously I didn't think enough. But then you can alter contrast using filters. Thank you for your kind answers.

[Bob Salomon]

Bob,

I didn't want to confuse the OP by including every possible option that's available.

Actually, my Beseler 45S Dichro head also has an optional condenser accessory.

BTW, doesn't HP marketing sell Kaiser products?

Yes but enlargers are special order only and not made larger then 6x9cm.

[Gem Singer]

Wow Bob,

You don't miss an opportunity to get free advertising for HP Marketing's products on this forum.

That's high power salesmanship.

[John Kasaian]

Why build an enlarger when you can get them for less than the cost of materials and in some cases, for free? Aristo makes cold light heads that'll fit just about every 4x5 enlarger out there, and even they are available used.

[Filip Staresinic]

You are wright but when you are in Croatia like I am then you try to avoid international purchases as you can. I have a friend who has a color head and I saw it had a white diffusion, can this be used for black and white? But it will be big plus to my photography class if I make it.

[Gem Singer]

Yes, Filip, a color head will work just fine for B&W enlarging. In fact, dichroic color heads are excellent for printing with variable contrast papers. One only needs to use the blue and green light output.

Seems that Croatia has a very active large format community.