Durst Laraneg

[Juergen Sattler]

I am getting close to finishing my darkroom - yeah! For the first time I will be able to use my Durst 184 with the 1840 Color Head. I still keep scratching my head about this monster enlarger.

I have a Laraneg negative carrier - I cannot find any information about it on the internet. How do you use this with different format films? Are there inserts for it? I looked everywhere and there is just nothing out there? Do you cut your own masks for it?

I come from a 4x5 enlarger, where I had a dedicated neg carrier for each format!

[resummerfield]

I have a later model Laraneg for my L1840. The Durst system for small format negatives is to replace the standard 10x10-inch glass with the Laradap adapter, which reduces the opening to roughly 5.5x7-inches. Then you insert metal masks (I think they were called “Trineg”) for the appropriate film size, for "glass-less" printing.

In practice, I use the standard 10x10-inch glass and mask the negatives with black paper.

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

The Laraneg used to have a 5x7" and a 4x5" reduction frames in metal but those were very expensive and most people work with the glass sheets. A normal one on the bottom and an anti newton on top. The metal frames were fixed to the negative carrier much the same way as the glass plates are fixed. Send an email to; jungkunz@used-minilab.net if you are trying to find a negative carrier like that. in german if you want a quick answer.

[Allen in Montreal]

Juergen,

The pictures are of a different Durst 10x10 carrier, but the concept is the same. I would think if you download the manual from Durst Pro there will be drawings and names of the plates for your carrier.

These show the Nega and the Grane with the Mavet to 5x7 format with glass and also with the Lapfe to go down to 4x5.

I hope this helps a little.

[Juergen Sattler]

Thanks everyone. The Durst naming is so confusing - none of the names make any intuitive sense - not even for me who speaks German fluently:-) I think I will go with resummerfield's suggestion - just mask the various formats using black paper.

[Brian K]

I am getting close to finishing my darkroom - yeah! For the first time I will be able to use my Durst 184 with the 1840 Color Head. I still keep scratching my head about this monster enlarger.

I have a Laraneg negative carrier - I cannot find any information about it on the internet. How do you use this with different format films? Are there inserts for it? I looked everywhere and there is just nothing out there? Do you cut your own masks for it?

I come from a 4x5 enlarger, where I had a dedicated neg carrier for each format!

It's most commonly used with 10x10 glass, top and bottom. However there are masks, or you can have masks made by SK Grimes. You can also buy parts from Durst Pro and glass from Focal point. Just specify that it's for a laraneg.

[Drew Wiley]

Format masks can simply be cut from a bit of opaque mylar using a trimmer and
Xacto knife. I use voided Cibachrome base. Just cut marginally outside the perimeter of each format you plan to use. Why spend hundreds when you can
spend pennies to do the same thing? If you're missing glass, that will cost, of course. Real Durst glass is the best, but Focal Point is OK.

[gary mulder]

Have you seen the long thread on the durst 1840 ?

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=32852

There are 4 options AFAIK for the Laraneg
-Laradap + Trinomasks or glass 5' x 7'
-Lagrafi with registration pins and glass 5' x 7' or 18 x 24 cm
-Homaskset masks
-A glassless negative carrier that clamp and tighten the negative with spring tension. In 8x10,4x5 and 120 roll film.

[ic-racer]

I am getting close to finishing my darkroom - yeah! For the first time I will be able to use my Durst 184 with the 1840 Color Head. I still keep scratching my head about this monster enlarger.

I have a Laraneg negative carrier - I cannot find any information about it on the internet. How do you use this with different format films? Are there inserts for it? I looked everywhere and there is just nothing out there? Do you cut your own masks for it?

I come from a 4x5 enlarger, where I had a dedicated neg carrier for each format!

If I were you I'd look at those pictures of the Gary's Homaskset and make some like that out of plastic or garolite board or even cardboard (though it needs to be quite thin to fit under the negative carrier.

I did a bunch of tests for flare and just using a small mixing box still allows too much stray light in to decrease your contrast, so masking is a good idea.

One of my Durst 10x10 glass negative carriers came from a commercial lab. They used a piece of film with a 6x6cm hole in it as a mask; putting it between the glass plates with the negative. I guess I wouldn't do it that way because it would be too hard to keep clean, but it looks like it worked fine for them for many years.

Personally I use a Negateil carrier, and it has a masking slot under the negative carrier into which I slide masks made of thin black posterboard. If I ever put my Laraneg back on, I'm going to make my own Homaskset. Probably from product number 85315K111 on this page (black garolite): http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/3584/=ac1m5l

[Juergen Sattler]

Thanks again, everyone. I will try to make my own masks - I will report back how it went:-)