Found an Automega E-5 Autofocus enlarger body

[Daniel Unkefer]

Here is the E3 lens cone I have with the original 190mm Wollensak, which matches the big cam on my enlarger.


190mm Wollensack E3 Cone 3 Adjustable Lens Planes by Nokton48, on Flickr

This E3 lens cone and the 190mm Wollensak lens all serial number match, so I have a complete functioning unit. Notice the allen headed machine screws which I adjust with Allen wrench. Every time I run the enlarger up or down, I use the Laser-Align (lens must have a glass filter attached to reflect the laser) to adjust all three lens planes to the easel. Grain is then fully sharp across the field, with some modest stopping down.

With the Wolly running up and down, autofocus is good from largest size (over 16x20) to very small constantly in focus. But with the mousepad-modded lensboard/tilt adjustments, I am really used the enlarger is a totally manual way.

[Seadiver5]

The E-5 came with 2 rails, one with annotations that matched it to the specific lens that also accompanied the enlarger. The lens board had the matching annotation. The other rail didn't even have the same blanks to fill in the matching lens data (and no second lens was with the enlarger). So maybe I have both rail scenarios that you outline. By comparing rails on the KHB site, I deduce that the unmatched rail I have is for a 161mm to 180mm lens.[/QUOTE]

It's not simply the size of the lens but also the manufacturer. The rails were designed to work for specific models like the "Ilex Anistigmat" or "Omega Omicron"... and they wont interchange because of the physical aspects to the lenses.

[tomwilliams]

Most people never pay attention to the fact that for one of these machines to work its best you need to use Glass negative carriers.

Kevin, I am one of those folks. Why use a glass negative carrier? For negative flatness?

[Seadiver5]

Kevin, I am one of those folks. Why use a glass negative carrier? For negative flatness?

Consistency is the key. These machines are designed to move the bellows/focus mechanism automatically based on a setpoint. The setpoint is where you leave the focus after inserting the negative. If the film moves up or down (and it will without the glass holding it in place) the focus will change. It isn't unusual for the film to move up or down/warp especially with long exposures with warmer light sources. On the other end of the equation is how flat the photo paper is and was the thickness of the paper taken into account when focusing the enlarger. A vacuum easel is the way to go to insure the flattest possible paper...

[tomwilliams]

I have one. The "autofocus" function is done by the large disc riding on one or the other of the long aluminum blades down the center. Each blade is specific to a different focal length lens

Chauncey - or anyone else who has an enlarger using autofocus rails compatible with an E-5 - I have one rail unmarked for focal length, and unmatched to a lens. If you have one of a 161mm, 180mm, or 190mm lens/rail pair, I would be eternally grateful if you could give me a measurement of the skinny part of the rail. By 'the skinny part' I mean the section that doesn't have a graduated contour - from the very bottom of the rail to the point at which the rail begins to curve into a wider profile.
cheers
Tom

[phdgent]

This is how I 'solved' the problem of not having, and finding, the right lensplate for my Omega D3.
For the 50mm lens, I had to add some deepness as the protrusive back of the lens blocked the sliding in of the lensplate.

All I needed was some black 3mm thick acryl glass, 4mm threaded rod, Gaffer tape doubled with black paper and a pice of a black PVC tube.
And ofcourse some tools and above all a caliper.
By using a threaded rod, I could easily tune the right distance.

And for checking the parallelism I used the Hasselblad parellel mirrors I have for reproduction work, this system is accurate for 0.2°, as I don't have the Laser-Align.
As a matter of fact, the whole Omega D3 is checked this way...

[tomwilliams]

Consistency is the key. These machines are designed to move the bellows/focus mechanism automatically based on a setpoint. The setpoint is where you leave the focus after inserting the negative. If the film moves up or down (and it will without the glass holding it in place) the focus will change. It isn't unusual for the film to move up or down/warp especially with long exposures with warmer light sources. On the other end of the equation is how flat the photo paper is and was the thickness of the paper taken into account when focusing the enlarger. A vacuum easel is the way to go to insure the flattest possible paper...

I've seen 'jimmied' glass carriers: two plates of glass masked with tape to make the non-negative area opaque. The user who mentioned them (over on the former APUG forum) claimed long and untroubled use of them. That solution seemed pretty good to me, considering the high cost of the actual glass carriers.

[tomwilliams]

Kevin, the photos of the E-5 gears. Gear OD 1.149", hub OD 0.739", shaft OD 0.311". 12 teeth.

[Chauncey Walden]

Tom, frankly, I find the rails more of a hindrance than a help. I'm always switching lenses around and I just raise or lower the carriage while changing focus until I get what I want. I usually do 11x14 and 16x20 so I just put a piece of tape on the rail that says 4x5/11x14 135 or 5x7/16x20 150 or 5x7/16x20 180 or whatever and preset the height. Sometimes I have to take the follower disk off the rail and just use a piece of wood to prop the follower up to get the focus I want for a certain size print for a certain size negative for a certain lens. No big deal.

[tomwilliams]

Tom, frankly, I find the rails more of a hindrance than a help. I'm always switching lenses around and I just raise or lower the carriage while changing focus until I get what I want. I usually do 11x14 and 16x20 so I just put a piece of tape on the rail that says 4x5/11x14 135 or 5x7/16x20 150 or 5x7/16x20 180 or whatever and preset the height. Sometimes I have to take the follower disk off the rail and just use a piece of wood to prop the follower up to get the focus I want for a certain size print for a certain size negative for a certain lens. No big deal.

Chauncey, I had an inkling that some others who have chimed in on this thread concur with you. I took away from seadiver5's comment on the autofocus' utility in a production environment, that it might not be the killer feature for all. I'm not sure seadiver5 intended his comments to be so construed.