Using an Elwood 8x10 Enlarger for Enlarging 35mm Negatives

[Pawlowski6132]

My Elwood 8x10 has a cold light head. I would like to enlarge my 35mm negatives using a cold light source. Rather than buy a new head for my normal 35mm enlarger, I am thinking about making adjustments to the Elwood to make this possible.

Initial thoughts are that I would need some type of mask for the 8x10 glass holder? I would need a new lensboard for the 35mm enlarging lens. Am I missing anything else? Would I need someway to condense the light source?

Thanx in advance.

[Blair Ware]

Joe, you may need a recessed lensboard if your bellows does not compress well.

Having used both a 5x7 and 8x10 enlarger for 35mm, I would much rather use a smaller enlarger, if only because it is easier to manage the negatives (e.g., clean and reposition), especially if you are enlarging from a strip. I find that 35mm negs get lost in the large carriers.

[William Whitaker]

My Elwood 8x10 has a cold light head. I would like to enlarge my 35mm negatives using a cold light source... Would I need someway to condense the light source?

By using an 8x10 cold light for 35mm, you're using only a very small fraction of the light available. If you add condensers of some sort to concentrate the light, it no longer remains a diffusion enlarger. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Something purpose-built for small negatives is probably going to be much more effective, at the same time less frustrating to work with.

[Len Middleton]

Joe,

Some enlargers have a mask, so not certain about the need to make one for the Elwood.
One of the critical things to get the most of the lens you are using, is to ensure the negative is centered under the lens. Otherwise you may find you are using the edge of the lens rather than the center.

I made a PDF document from a drawing program showing the different formats that I might use on my 8x10. I can place that under the bottom glass and align the negative using that to center it. I have attached the PDF to see if it might be of help.

But as noted, it might be easier using a smaller enlarger for that pupose.

Hope that helps,


Len

[ic-racer]

I'd just mask your 8x10 glass carrier for 35mm (that is what I do). In terms of lensboard, you can see below what was once available. Maybe try a 150mm or 210mm and see if that works on your existing flat lensboard. It kind of depends on how big you want to enlarge the 35mm and how high your column goes.

One advantage of the Elwood is that the stuff shown below is made of wood, and likely easy to reproduce. A far cry from the close tolerances needed for the machined metal cones used on a Durst!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/2012/elwoodcarriers.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/2012/Elwoodrescessedlensboard.jpg

[rjmeyer314]

On my 8x10 Elwood there are 4 thin slits in the frame just above the bellows. These extend the full width, 8" and 10" respectively. I just took the cardboards that sometimes come in a box of Kodak 8x10 film and slip them into the enlarger slits. That lets you mask the negative to the size you want. I typically use then to eliminate stray light from areas of an 8x10 negative that are outside the zone I want to print, but they would work for a negative of 35mm size too.

[ignatiusjk]

In the long run you probably would be better off trying to find a cold light head on Ebay or in the newspaper rather than doing all that work on your Elwood.I used an Elwood and from what I remember it was a HUGE enlarger.We did 8x10 negs.I couldn't imagine printing 35mm on an enlarger of that size.By the way cold lights are not IMO that different from regular light sources.I've used both and really didn't notice that much of a difference.

[John Kasaian]

In the long run you probably would be better off trying to find a cold light head on Ebay or in the newspaper rather than doing all that work on your Elwood.I used an Elwood and from what I remember it was a HUGE enlarger.We did 8x10 negs.I couldn't imagine printing 35mm on an enlarger of that size.By the way cold lights are not IMO that different from regular light sources.I've used both and really didn't notice that much of a difference.

35mm enlargers are practically give aways these days. It suspect it would probably be cheaper to buy one than hunt for, or make the parts for an Elwood to handle the smaller format. I find my smaller enlarger handy as a light source for making 8x10 contacts.

[ic-racer]

35mm enlargers are practically give aways these days. It suspect it would probably be cheaper to buy one than hunt for, or make the parts for an Elwood to handle the smaller format. I find my smaller enlarger handy as a light source for making 8x10 contacts.
Good point. In fact a nice little 35mm enlarger could sit right on the baseboard of the Elwood. However, I presumed the OP wanted to make big prints.

[Ironage]

Nice info from the manual with the pictures of the negative carriers. Looks like they actually made one for 35mm. I wouldn't hesitate using it, but I am sure you will need the recessed board or make only very small prints.