Latub for laborator 138

[Roger Vadim]

Hello everybody1

for enlarging 35 mm negs on my Durst 138 I am looking for one of the dreaded LATUB lens mounts.
I use the older 138 modell with the fixed TRIPLA.
Ha anybody, preverably over here in Europe, a spare LATUB that will work with my Minolta 2.8/50 (a stunning lens btw) and who wants to sell it to me?

The other bit is that the head I am using is a Super Chromega E Dichroic 2 with a 250 w Halogen Lamp. Exposures can get a bit long using the not so good 80/5.6 at 11. Its great for 4x5 but is not that bright using a 80mm for the 35 mm negs.

Is it a good idea to use the laborator with the dichroic head for 35mm as well? I have two other enlargerds for "miniature format" as it once was called, but I would like to reduce the gear and just keep one (of my now 4) enlargers. And the 138 is just a great piece of gear!

Any comments welcome,
Cheers, Michael

PS: ah: and i am also on the hunt for a LATUB 58...

[Emil Schildt]

does it say "latub" on it?

I have a fair amount of Durst 138's.. (at least 3), and I have never used 35mm on it so I could take a look...

But I heed to know what I am looking for (image?)

[Roger Vadim]

Hi Gandolfi that is graet! Three 138's is quite something...

Sorry, I don't have a photo of the LATUB and the information about it is quite sparce on the net... it should look like a recesssed lensboard (LAPLA), has to be at least 50 mm recessed with a sort of tube coming out of the back and a 39mm thread in this "tube". There are also lensboards which are tubes to make the distance of the lens to the negative longer, they seem to get mixed up quite often.

Thanks for looking! Cheers Michael

[Don Wilkes]

For pictures of a LATUB, go here: http://www.durst-pro-usa.com/prola.htm

Note: Old Durst lensboards come in two flavours: 39mm and 25mm. Determine the thread size on your enlarging lens before you buy a lensboard sight-unseen. I had a heck of a time finding a lens to fit the board on my old M600; I'd transferred the 50mm over to my 138S, which had the same thread for its lensboards.

Cheers,
\donw

[Emil Schildt]

Don: thanks for that link.

I found a tube, called LATUB - I can't find other writings on it.
the thread is 39mm (roghly mesured) and it is about 60mm deep.

Looking at the images at the link, it seems I also have a LATUB 15, 20, 25, 30, 40...

which one it doesn't say.
what does the numbers refer to?

[Roger Vadim]

Thanks Don for the link! That clears the fog... finally a source for the description of all those funny Ikea-like names Durst liked to give.
Although - this vendor has got some ridicolous prices on his site, in my opinion.

Gandolfi, thanks for looking, that seems like the right one - the 60mm. As far as I understnd it these LATUBs came in all sort of heights - as far as my research goes I need a fairly deep recessed one for a 50mm lens on the old TRIPLA.
Now the obvious qusetion: do you want to get rid of that little tube? If you want to send me a PM: m(at)michaelschultze.de - we can use Paypal if you like. Would be really super if we could work out something...

I really like this forum, a source of all kind of help. Accesorising is quite a hunt nowadays... I am still looking for a LAPLA lensboard with a 58mm thread for my lovely new Rodagon R :rolleyes: (see my other thread)
Cheers

[ic-racer]

The shorter lens will bring your enlarger head down closer but the exposure times won't come down unless you are going to use f4 or greater on the Rokkor. At f4 it should be reasonably sharp at the edges (assuming not a huge magnification) but there will be a hot spot in the middle. If you burn the edges it should be ok. In the long run, you may prefer the prints made with the 80.

In fact, being able to use an 80mm for 35mm enlargement is one of the advantages of the big floor-standing enlargers.

What you really need is not a shorter lens but a smaller mixing (light amplification) box for the Chromega E. (EB Light Multiplier)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/39425-REG/Omega_429156_EB_Light_Multiplier_for.html

[ic-racer]

In terms of using the 'big enlarger' for 35mm, last week I did some tests comparing my 8x10 Durst to an Omega D series 4x5 to enlarge a 35mm negative up to 16x20.

OMEGA 4x5 D5500 (250w), 35mm mixing box, glass carrier, 45mm High Mag APO Componon at f8

vs

DURST 8x10 CLS2000 (2000W), 6x9cm mixing box, glass carrier, 80mm Componon-S at f8 in HOTUB (8x10 version of the LATUB)


The Durst was over one stop faster (measured with a darkroom baseboard exposure meter)

HOWEVER, I still found it much easer to use the smaller 4x5 enlarger for 35mm. The ease of use makes up for the extra time needed for the exposure.

[quine]

The SEIMAR also works for 50mm lenses on the 138. These seem to be slightly more common than the LATUB.

Another alternative is to use an 80mm lens (along with the associated condensers). For this, you only need a SEIPLA lens board, which is easier to find (a SETOPLA also might work for some lenses).

I can get enlargements up to 16" x 20" using the 80mm lens for 35mm. I also find this configuration more comfortable to work with anyway because it gives more clearance between the head and the baseboard.

Cheers,

-andrew

[Roger Vadim]

You are maybe right, maybe it is better to look out for a good 2.8 80mm lens which performs well at 5.6 (thats where the Rokkor is mighty fine for 35mm work). Any suggestions on this topic? - Although that would ad another lens to my parade..:p

I have that Chromega D Dichroic head attached to the Durst, so no kondensor swapping works here. I really like the Dichroic head for 4x5 negatives, even illumination and comfortable to use with Multigrade papers. But with my old Metall barrel 5.6/80 Rodagon I need to close down to 11 to get it sharp, yesterday I had 90 sec. exposures for a 24 x 30 cm print (closed down to 11)... which is far too long for my nervous character:cool: that would be 22sec. at 5.6 - good enough then.

Tricky decissions. Well, still in for that mighty Latub I guess. Or a new lens?

mhmm..

[ic-racer]

Most 6 element 80mm lenses should be OK at 5.6 or 8 since you will be only using the center for a 35mm enlargement.

I'm confused, do you have both the Chromega E and D heads? Either way, by going with the smaller mixing box (D-B or E-B) you will get a shorter exposure time.

[Roger Vadim]

IC - sorry, I had a wrong memory here - it is a E Dichroic II - and its mounted on the Durst directly above the neg. carrier, so no changing of the mixing box is possibel - or is there. They are relatively rare in Germany anyway, so I bet finding one over here is rather tricky.

[Roger Vadim]

Wow, get to know your enlarger: IC's coment about different mixing boxes still in my backhead I opened the flap on the front -which was a bit stuck- and voilá: a E-E mixing box appeared. So a smaller mixing box would be apropriate I guess.... ideally the one for 6X7. Is that E-B ?

Ok. that Durst is a hell of a diva! She needs a new pair of erhh accessorys every now and then to keep her happy... Lets do some shopping then: she needs either, to become a queen of 35mm:

The LAPLA 58 (which maybe Gandolfi wants to part with?) and
a smaller mixing box (to work conviently on 6/7 and 35mm)
or a decent 80mm (mine is soso)
with a mixing box...

Anybody wants to sell me Durst parts? I think I want to dress this old lady beautifull.

thanks for all your help!

[gary mulder]

Are you aware that the Tripla will not turn when the Latub is placed ?
Here a picture of 2 different Latub's
The Latub K, the larger one, is a PITA to use. For adjusting the diaphragm you need long slender fingers.
If you had a cls1000 head I would be able to provide the mixing boxes.

[Emil Schildt]

Are you aware that the Tripla will not turn when the Latub is placed ?
Here a picture of 2 different Latub's
The Latub K, the larger one, is a PITA to use. For adjusting the diaphragm you need long slender fingers.
If you had a cls1000 head I would be able to provide the mixing boxes.

right - mine looks like the one on the right...

[quine]

The TRIPLA won't turn with any of the recessed lens boards we've been discussing.
The SEIMAR is also too deep to let you change the aperture with the lens mounted. Another reason to use an 80mm lens...

[Allen in Montreal]

Roger,

Truth be told, I would think a V35 will be cheaper than assembling all the missing parts to bring the Durst on line for 35mm.

The Durst is such a wonderful piece of engineering, but.....
The price of a Leica V35 is so low these days, the performance so high, the speed of use is wonderful.

If you can afford the space,


The V35 with a color head is great addition to the darkroom if you shoot 35mm.

Just a thought.

[ic-racer]

LENON and LEROD to turn the aperture ring.

[ic-racer]

E-B amplification box on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/E-B-6x7-Mixing-Chamber-Omega-E-Dichroic-Enlarger-/380175142461?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item5884344e3d#ht_792wt_1141

[gary mulder]

300$ + 30% shipping & customs is a lot off cash. Here in Europe that is enough to buy a leitz V35 ore a durst 138 with cls1000. Six months ago I got a 138 just for spare parts fore less. Some extensions from this machine are now happy hanging in the US ;)

[Bert Hillebrand]

Roger,
When using such a long (60mm) recessed lensboard I suspect that you could encounter some cut off from the projected image. Have you checked this out?
In case you are interested, I'm considering selling my Durst DA-900, autofocus up to 50x60 on baseboard with its original twin lens 50 and 80 Rodagons, plus Durst 200 colorhead, Beseler PMA color analyser and more.
Cheers
Bert Hillebrand

[Graybeard]

Some additional comments to add to an old thread-

I fitted an 80mm enlarging lens to my 138s using the Durst "IXOTUB" recessed lensboard.

The IXOTUB was originally for fitting a 50mm lens to a Durst 606. I machined out the 25mm hole to 39mm to accomodate the 80mm El Nikkor that I had. Happily, with that El Nikkor, it isn't necessary to grasp the sides of the lens to move the iris ring, the El Nikkor adjusts readily from the front. There isn't much clearance between the lens barrel and the inner wall of the IXOTUB.

The IXOTUB fits nicely into one of the positions on the lens turret (the turrent can't rotate with the IXOTUB in place, I install the lens as I need it).

The IXOTUBs seem to be more plentiful than the lensboards listed in the 138s manual.