Omega D2 enlarger

[John Rhilinger]

I am setting up a darkroom and have an omega d2. It does not have a lens or lens board, and i have no negative carriers. I shoot both 35mm and 120 with a tlr. I also just picked up a 4x5 glass plate camera (resoting), which made me take this enlarger...well, that and the fact that i pretty much got it for free. I have been browsing e-bay for these components, but feel that piece-at-a-time will be more costly, esp. with shipping. Any suggestions for how to get this up and running cheaply? I live in the Atlanta area.

[Frank_E]

I recently picked up an Omega D5xL with turret 3 lenses and negative carriers (3 formats) for $150 Canadian. I had been monitoring Craigslist here in Toronto and the Omegas seem to come up about one a month. They were asking in the range of $120 to $250 with a variety of the "extras" depending on price. So for me the answer was being opportunistic and waiting for the right one to come along...

you have correctly identified the conundrum that trying to get the extra pieces on Ebay may end up costing more than a complete enlarger, so my advice is to continually monitor Craigslist in your area...

[Heroique]

Any suggestions for how to get this up and running cheaply?

As far as learning more about the D2 and compatible parts, be sure visit Harry Taylor’s forum at Classic-enlargers.com (http://www.classic-enlargers.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=general).

The forum is full of useful info, and you will always learn more than you think.

Pay close attention to Harry’s responses – for he is the Omega Man. If you feel adventurous, post some questions of your own, and you’ll get tips that are free, knowledgeable, and friendly. Good luck, the Omega D2 is a great enlarger.

[bob carnie]

Try focalpoint in florida, I thing he has parts.

I am setting up a darkroom and have an omega d2. It does not have a lens or lens board, and i have no negative carriers. I shoot both 35mm and 120 with a tlr. I also just picked up a 4x5 glass plate camera (resoting), which made me take this enlarger...well, that and the fact that i pretty much got it for free. I have been browsing e-bay for these components, but feel that piece-at-a-time will be more costly, esp. with shipping. Any suggestions for how to get this up and running cheaply? I live in the Atlanta area.

[lenser]

You might try searching for "omega negative carriers" and "D2 Lensboards" at KEH.com.

Many things that they have are not listed directly on the web site. I don't know if they still carry much darkroom stuff, but they are terrific to buy from and very conservative on their condition listings.

[Brian C. Miller]

Welcome to the forum, John!

The Omega D2 and D3 require what are called "cones." These cones position the lens an appropriate distance from the light source, and hold the lens. The lens mounts on a little circular lens board, which is attached to the cone with a couple of screws. The negative carriers and the cones should be cheap, just wait for something appropriate to come up.

[Bill Kelleher]

I got mine on craigs list

[Graybeard]

Which condensors do you have?


I am setting up a darkroom and have an omega d2. It does not have a lens or lens board, and i have no negative carriers. I shoot both 35mm and 120 with a tlr. I also just picked up a 4x5 glass plate camera (resoting), which made me take this enlarger...well, that and the fact that i pretty much got it for free. I have been browsing e-bay for these components, but feel that piece-at-a-time will be more costly, esp. with shipping. Any suggestions for how to get this up and running cheaply? I live in the Atlanta area.

[John Rhilinger]

Hi Graybeard. Your question made me realize how much i have to learn. I thought the "variable" part referred to the set positions, since there is only one condenser in the compartment. It will fit in the two lower slots (dropping down slightly to fit in lowest), but not in the top slot, for when using a 162mm enlarger lens.
Guess i have much to learn here. Hopefully I can find parts i need without buying another D2. I don't have anything to measure the condenser that came with the unit.
What other condenser might i need. Eventually I will have my 4x5 Black Beauty operable. For now, what lenses do you suggest for 35mm and 120 work?

[Michael Clark]

John, it sounds like you have the D2 V enlarger,in which case you have all the condensers you need.If it is a D2 V look in the compartment above the main condensers, open the hinged lid and there should be a diagram showing the different positions for the variable condenser to be positioned for the different size lens's. There should be three slots for this condenser to be put into. And for the 162 lens the variable condenser is removed completely.
Mike

[Michael Clark]

For 35mm film a 50mm lens is needed
For 120 6x6 a 80mm is needed
for 4x5 a 135 t0 160mm lens can be used, 150mm being the most popular lens.
You will only need a cone for the 4x5 lens, the other smaller lens only need a flat lens board, at least thats how it is with my D2 V, its about 40 years old and I use it the most.

[John Rhilinger]

Thanks Micheal. The diagram does indeed show the removal of condenser for largest lens. Though, there is still a diagram and corresponding slot into which this condenser does not fit, for the 135mm lens size. Any ideas there?

[John Rhilinger]

Thanks again Micheal (your second post was on next page and i didn't see before my response). Thank you for the word about the cone, and for the specific lens sizes for each format. This forum is fantastic. In one day I've learned a great deal about this equipment. Wish I wasn't missing so many pieces for this (though i know it could be worse), but what I've read here is making me feel I've got a solid foundation.

[Michael Clark]

John,try looking in the slots there could be the heat absorbing glass in one of them,it should just slid out and put back in any of the empty slots .
Mike

[John Rhilinger]

Yes, that was it. Feel a little bit stupid for not investigating more carefully, but this seems a safe place to risk stupidity for the sake of understanding. Say, if I have trouble tracking down negative carriers, have you heard of many having luck fabricating them? I am looking on craigslist, but know that could take a while.

[Brian C. Miller]

The Omega carriers are aluminum, but anything that is rigid will do. Using good stiff cardboard or foam core you could easily make your own carriers. Fact is, you can fabricate a decent lamp box from foam core, too.

[John Rhilinger]

Thanks for the tip Brian. That'll save me some $ for now to put toward lenses, which will have me operable sooner. (Plus, I enjoy oddball projects like that.)

[Graybeard]

Carriers are common on eBay.

Prices are all over the place, just be patient and you'll find what you need at a reasonable price. Din't worry about a carrier not being new.


The Omega carriers are aluminum, but anything that is rigid will do. Using good stiff cardboard or foam core you could easily make your own carriers. Fact is, you can fabricate a decent lamp box from foam core, too.

[John Jarosz]

I have a neg carrier for 6x7. You can have it for shipping. PM me.

John

[cyrus]

Just FYI you don't really need a 50mm lens for 35mm - the 80mm will do just fine for 35mm as well as 6x6 (according to Fred Picker you should actually use the lens for the next higher format.)

[Heroique]

Just FYI you don't really need a 50mm lens for 35mm - the 80mm will do just fine for 35mm as well as 6x6 (according to Fred Picker you should actually use the lens for the next higher format.)

An 80mm on the D2/D2v (for 35mm work) is my preference too. Especially if a print is on the small side, say less than 8x10. Due to the enlarger’s design, an 80mm can provide more head room in such situations, and make printing a little more easy and comfortable.

[rdenney]

The Omega carriers are aluminum, but anything that is rigid will do. Using good stiff cardboard or foam core you could easily make your own carriers. Fact is, you can fabricate a decent lamp box from foam core, too.

I'd be leery of foam-core in high-heat applications, though. My D3 lamp housing gets hot! Maybe for an LED-based cold-light head or some such.

Rick "who has at least one negative holder for the D3 that was made for some other enlarger" Denney

[neil poulsen]

As far as learning more about the D2 and compatible parts, be sure visit Harry Taylor’s forum at Classic-enlargers.com (http://www.classic-enlargers.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=general).

The forum is full of useful info, and you will always learn more than you think.

Pay close attention to Harry’s responses – for he is the Omega Man. If you feel adventurous, post some questions of your own, and you’ll get tips that are free, knowledgeable, and friendly. Good luck, the Omega D2 is a great enlarger.

Send him questions. I sent him an inquiry about a D6 that I have and received a very thorough response.

[John Rhilinger]

Thank you all! John Jarosz, I will message you tomorrow (midnight here). To Cyrus and Heroique, the tip on an 80mm lens is helpful since I'm scouting several of those on e-bay right now.

Which leads to my next naive question: I see a lens board on e-bay ($12) for the D2. It specifies a 30mm hole. Is there anything special about that diameter or is that the standard housing dia on enlarger lenses?

[John Rhilinger]

Oh boy . . . just answered my own question. I now see 5 lens boards for the D2 on e-bay, all with different openings.

Most lenses on e-bay don't list this dimension. Do I just buy one then look for the right board? Or buy a random round plate and cut a hole?

Since I see several 80mm listings, what specific ones do you use and what are their diameters?

[cyrus]

80mm f/5.6 EL-Nikkor, uses boards w/ 39mm holes -- pretty standard. You'll probably find a lens on a lensboard already if you wait instead of buying them separatey.

Have you downloaded the manual (http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/omega/D2%20Condenser%20and%20Dichro.pdf) for the enlarger yet? Aligning it is going to be ooooooohhhh so fun! Yes, quite.

[John Rhilinger]

You have all been a great help. I have secured a 4x5 neg carrier, and a thank you to John Jarosz who is sending me a 6x7. Have a 50mm lens for it but keep getting outbid on the 80's:eek: Oh well, in due time. I owe a huge thanks to Don Bryant as well who has provided me with an abundance of other darkroom equipment. Without your help, Don, this would still be a pipe dream.

I am a teacher with school starting up, so I fell from the forum during my pre-planning week. But I am grateful to have linked with so many helpful people with the expertise I lack. I look forward to posting my own work soon.

[rdenney]

You have all been a great help. I have secured a 4x5 neg carrier, and a thank you to John Jarosz who is sending me a 6x7. Have a 50mm lens for it but keep getting outbid on the 80's:eek: Oh well, in due time

You'll also need something in the 135-180 range for the 4x5. Neither the 80 nor the 50 will have sufficient coverage to see all of the 4x5 negative. I have a 139mm Bausch and Lomb Tessar that I used for 4x5, and as I recall it needed a 4-1/2" lens cone or something in that vicinity on my D3. It was a pretty good enlarging lens for a condenser enlarger (it wasn't that contrasty), but the last time I looked at it there was some separation happening.

KEH has several enlarging lenses in that range, including a $33 Komura 135mm and a $19 Vivitar 75mm that will be good enough to learn on, especially for black and white. They have good lenses like EL-Nikkors and the like as well for reasonable sums.

I made a cone for my 80mm enlarging lens, using a 3" PVC pipe fitting and a 4x4 lens board screwed to the end of it and made light tight with black tape. I picked out the fitting using the "this might work" criterion. It did.

If you have a permanent darkroom and can mount the enlarger base to a shallow shelf, then you can make an easel stand of adjustible height. I could drop the easel table down to just above the floor, which made it easier to use a 135 for medium-format as well as 4x5. I also braced the top of the enlarger column to the wall using a piece of light alumuminum angle, and that made an enormous difference in rigidity.

Rick "keeping his D3 in case the darkroom bug bites again someday" Denney

[John Rhilinger]

Yeah, I'm on hunt for the larger lens (150mm most likely) as well as tracking a couple of cones on e-bay. If I don't get one of those, I'll try the pvc idea. Thanks.

Funny, since I'm also trying to set up a permanent installation, I'm envisioning a lower-set easel table for the ease you mention. Thanks also for the angle-brace idea, also useful for a permanent set-up.

[Bill Burk]

Just aligned my D2 tonight. Plate of glass on the negative stage, loosened the 4 screws and tweaked until the tape measure scraped the glass on four corners.

The lens stage was a little harder to align. But a fish tank came in handy.

[cyrus]

Just aligned my D2 tonight. Plate of glass on the negative stage, loosened the 4 screws and tweaked until the tape measure scraped the glass on four corners.

The lens stage was a little harder to align. But a fish tank came in handy.

LOL> wait till tomorrow, when the alignment gremlins have had a chance to get their work done

[D. Bryant]

Yeah, I'm on hunt for the larger lens (150mm most likely) as well as tracking a couple of cones on e-bay. If I don't get one of those, I'll try the pvc idea. Thanks.

Funny, since I'm also trying to set up a permanent installation, I'm envisioning a lower-set easel table for the ease you mention. Thanks also for the angle-brace idea, also useful for a permanent set-up.

Strongly consider using turn buckle adjustment rods. I've used those and they are very effective at stabilizing the top of the enlarger and hence the entire rig.