Newbie from Cleveland

[Vince]

Greetings, I have several 5 x 7 glass negatives that I would like to print using silver photo emulsion. From what i've read that would allow printing on a variety of materials other than paper. Would like to be able to enlarge these up to maybe 16 x 24 ? Is that possible?

Any info on what enlarger I might need, and supplies necessary would be helpful. I have an old enlarger, but it only accepts 35mm film, and i haven't done any printing in about 15 yrs, lol.

Thanx!

[ic-racer]

In terms of enlarging those, look for Durst 138 for your enlarger. If that is too much for you, there is a custom lab in Cleveland that might be able to do it.

http://labwork-bw.com/

However, doing contact prints of those glass negatives should be easy. I'd try making some prints on regular photo paper first to get the hand of it, then go with the photoemulsion.

Dodd in Cleveland should have all that you need:
Dektol
Stop bath
Fixer
Paper

Do you already have trays and a safelight?
You can use your enlarger and its timer as a lightsource for your contact prints.

[Vince]

Yep, still have trays, timer, safelight etc. Have to set up the old darkroom again, it's being used as a workshop for gun restoration. Guess i'll have to clean out the basement now (wife will love that, lol)

Thanx !

[ic-racer]

This Durst 138 5x7 enlarger was recently on E-bay. I don't know if you knew about it or bid on it but it is in Cleveland! You might want to contact the seller and check it out.

item #280463350124

http://cgi.ebay.com/Complete-Durst-138-enlarger-setup_W0QQitemZ280463350124QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414ceb196c#ht_500wt_1182

[Vince]

Checked that out, he wants a thousand for it, about twice my budget, lol.

Thanx !

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therepy, Vince. You might want to check on local camera clubs, processors, camera stores, pro photographers, etc., to see if you can get a line on someone in your area shooting black and white film in a 5x7 or 8x10 view camera...such a person is likely to have a darkroom set up to handle the largest film he uses. Most people playing with 5x7 and larger film would be interested in seeing those glass negatives and you might be able to work out a deal on some prints or on working in his darkroom with him sometime. In a city the size of Cleveland, there are definately some folks working in these film sizes.


Of course, another option would be to scan them and then have a printing shop print them for you.


Either of these options would cost a lot less than setting up a darkroom able to enlarge 5x7 negatives. If you decide you have to do it yourself, a reasonably priced enlarger would be an old Elwood 5x7 or 8x10 diffusion enlarger...you see them from time to time on eBay.

[Vince]

Hi, thanx for the info. According to the photo expert from Christies and Sothoby's it would be worth investing in a 5 x 7 darkroom setup to print the glass negs. The negs are worth a good bit, but a limited numbered run of prints would be a lot worth more, lol.
Thanx !