Rodenstock Rodagon 360mm

[kfed1984]

There is no Apo version of the 360 ; it will be fine for colour, they are semi-Apo anyway.
Optimum enlargement for 8x10" is the paper size that doesn't bankrupt you !

For paper size I'm thinking 16x20" max. size. I experimented with developing a very cheap, ultra-high resolution/contrast lithography film with a low contrast developer. I like the results. The sharpness is a bit crazy, so I'm thinking it's a bit of a waste just for an 8x10 contact print. Also an 8x10 camera seems like a waste when only used for small contact prints, and scanning is not my thing.

I wonder how accurate you have to be in aligning the lens plane and film plane in a DIY 8x10 enlarger. I can rig up my camera as an enlarger with some LED illumination, make an adaptor to attach the Rodenstock lens to the lens board, and the easel should be easy to adjust in a horizontal arrangement.

The studio camera on heady tripod should be rigid enough, as it's used to take the original picture, which in itself requires good alignment tolerances.

[Greg]

The studio camera on heady tripod should be rigid enough, as it's used to take the original picture, which in itself requires good alignment tolerances.

A lot depends on what 8x10 camera you start with. In the late 1970s, I tried it with a wooden Burke & James Commercial view camera and maintaining alignment was a huge ever present problem which derailed the whole project. In the 1980s I tried the same with an 8x10 Sinar Norma mounted on a Linhof Heavy Duty copy stand. It actually worked, but back then LED panels were unheard of and fabricating an evenly lit and bright 8x10 light source proved to be the Achilles Heel of that project. If I were to attempt that project again, I think I would try to find an 8x10 Sinar that was made for copying artwork and didn't have any movements (heard that they indeed existed but I have never seen one FS). An 8x10 LED light panel would seem to be easy enough to acquire, but I wonder if it would be bright enough for enlarging?

[kfed1984]

...A lot depends on what 8x10 camera you start with..... An 8x10 LED light panel would seem to be easy enough to acquire, but I wonder if it would be bright enough for enlarging?

I have an 8x10 Cambo view camera with lots of movements, so not too rigid.

When I get home tonight I will attempt to rig up my 8x10 camera with an LED light tablet, a negative, and a 300mm lens, to test if light intensity is good enough. I will have to use some hockey tape and a dark cloth. Maybe a two-by-four as well.