8x10 enlarger alternatives

[John Kasaian]

I know there is/was an 8x10 head for Beseler 45s and I recollect Zone VI once offered an 8x10 head for thier 5x7 enlarger.
I'm curious, who uses these? How much larger are they than a conventional 4x5 enlarger? How big can you enlarge? Do the 8x10 heads ever show up for sale? Will these 8x10 heads fit on Omega Ds?

My Elwood seems to have grown. Or maybe I'm shrinking. Or a little bit of both

[Brian C. Miller]

1. Yes, there is a conversion for 4x5 Beselers to 8x10. I have seen the conversions come up for sale on eBay, but they are expensive.
2. I have seen an Omega 8x10 enlarger. It stood as tall as an Omega D5XL, and it looked similar to the big 4x5 Beseler enlargers, and nothing at all like the D series. You'd have to use two D series columns, or else substantial bracing to make the conversion. Building your own lightbox would also be a good idea, and there are 110V 1-W LED assemlies for $10.
3. Your Elwood is small compared to my Fotar, which with its 9-foot column, I can't even set it up in my apartment.
4. The Graflex Graflarger was a functional enlarger, and I was planning on making something like that for my Cambo C3. I might still do that.

[jeroldharter]

I have a Beseler 8x10 conversion. They do come for sale used, but uncommonly. The ones I have noticed cost ~$1000. Installing it is somewhat of a nuisance but I managed. It includes spacer blocks that move the carriage farther away from the axis of the enlarger so the 8x10 light source has adequate clearance. A consequence of this is that the easel protrudes from the front edge of the baseboard.

The size is basically the same as the 45MXT on which it resides, but with a big head. It is stable. The light source is the standard Aristo cold light or an Aristo VCL 8100, neither of which is manufactured anymore. The negative carrier is a big 8x10 Negaflat which I don't care for, or a simple glass carrier which is a piece of white Plexi taped on the top of a piece of clear glass. Either negative carrier slides into a slot under the light source. It is not so easy to use VC filters above the lens.

Also, the Beseler conversion was designed to take a Rodenstock Apo-Gerogon process lens adapted to the enlarger because of its small size. I bought one but it was defective. It is best to go with a proper 240 mm Rodagon but that lens does not fit because it is too big. So add ~$250 and 8 weeks of time for an adapter from SK Grimes.

Overall, I am satisfied with it. I am using with with the Aristo VCL 8100 and 240mm Rodagon lens. My main problem now is figuring out how to adapt it to a masking easel/film holder. The Radeka 8x10 masking kit is too large and won't fit. I have ordered some registration pins and will try to figure out something.

Also, I don't like changing lenses on it because I don't want to mess up the alignment and I don't want to use those VCL bulbs for 4x5 when I have alternative. So if you go this route, just get a 45MXT chassis which is almost free nowadays and use it as a dedicated 8x10 enlarger.

[neil poulsen]

I have a Type II Zone VI with the 8x10 VC head. I haven't really used it that much. After I convert my garage to a studio, I'll use it more. But within my limited experience using this enlarger, I would offer the following observations.

It doesn't seem that large, not like a Durst or other huge enlargers.

I'm not sure that I like it's negative carrier that much. It grips the negative at each end and stretches. I was thinking of trying to retrofit a glass carrier for it. If one's not careful, this carrier could scratch the image on the edge.

I did some testing, and it seems pretty fast. I could easily print at f16 or maybe even f22. So, process lenses might be an option as an enlarging lens.

Not being as large as a Durst, the chassis can't go as high, either. I would think the best lens for this enlarger would be a 240mm, depending on the degree of enlargement one would want. I have the longer 64" column for this enlarger. I think that's important.

The Zone VI 8x10 component comes in two parts: the head and an adapter. The "adapter" fits easily on the chassis and houses the negative carrier.

Calumet made both a VC and a non-VC version of this head.

The 8x10 Type II VC head uses the same controller as the 5x7 head. Calumet optimizes the controller to the particular head. So, there could be inefficiencies that might result, if one uses the controller for two different heads.

With a couple of screws, this head will easily attach to the Type I head. But for a couple of reasons, the Type I chassis and column is not really suitable for an 8x10 head, even though one was made for it. For one thing, the range of enlarging lenses is substantially reduced. The lens carriers are too small for anything but a 240mm Schneider Componon or maybe a process lens.

Replacement bulbs for this enlarger are no longer sold. I bought two of the remaining three from Calumet several months ago.

[John Kasaian]

Thanks for the info! You've helped make up my mind to stick with Elwood

[rjmeyer314]

It also appears possible to mount a Chromega F 8x10 color head on an Elwood chasis. I have brought one of these heads, but haven't mounted it. Most of my 8x10 work is in B&W, and I like the prints that the Elwood diffusion head makes too much to change yet.

[banjo]

hey all
some one made a wooden box to make a 8x10 out of the Beseler 45
I seen it some where on the internet I thank that the top of his box
that he had just a pace of glass on it the negative & on top of that
was Aristo VCL 8100, it did not look to hard to make

Banjo

[jeroldharter]

You could make a dilating flange out of black foam core and tape with "concentric" rectangles too. Someone did that for an LED light source when coverting a 23C enlarger to 4x5.

The problem with the 8x10 conversion is that after making the dilating flange to accept the light source (and negative carrier) you still need spacer blocks and appropriately sized bolts to push the carriage assembly farther away from the column so that the bigger light source will fit on top.

[Drew Wiley]

The Beseler conversion looked hokey to me. Right now it's a lot easier to find a decent Durst chassis. Even the 138 5X7 chassis is fairly easy to mount an 8x10 cold
light to, due to the vertical profile of the column. Of course, finding a cold light is
tricky nowadays; and the enlarged carrier box would have to be built from scratch.
Just depends on how much you enjoy shop projects. I don't know how well an Omega D column would support an enlarged head. You could wall brace it, but there isn't
a lot of surplus clearance between the angled column, and the gears don't seem all
that strong. I've got one Omega D, two Dursts, and a monster home-built 8x10 color
enlarger for serious stuff, about 12 ft tall, with the column built of an epoxy and
phenolic impregnated and laminated beam for extreme dimensional stability. Wish
I had more time to use it!