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Old 5th February 2017, 09:59 AM
jeztastic jeztastic is offline
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Default Leitz Focomat 1C and bulb

I am very lucky indeed to have been gifted a 1C by my father in law, who was in turn given it by a friend who used to be a pro photographer, among other things.

It has no bulb, and I have read conflicting accounts of what bulb it takes. It is a black model, with no filter drawer and a football shaped head.

I can easily pick up a 40 or 60 watt equivalent pearlescent, warm balanced LED bulb with the right fitting - will that do the job? They helpfully tend to have the writing on the side not the front...
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Old 5th February 2017, 05:18 PM
John King John King is offline
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The enlarger is not much good without the negative carrier and I am at a loss to suggest where you may pick one up. EBay or perhaps try Secondhanddarkroom for suggestions.

There will be or should be, 2 condenser lenses about 2.5 to 3" across located inside the lower part of the enlarger housing. If they are missing then you do have a problem

The bulb should be a screw fit and in all probability it would originally be a 75w tungsten. However LED bulbs have come on by leaps and bounds and I have just bought a 13w screw base (75w equivalent) LED bulb with a daylight colour temp of around 6500 degrees kelvin, but the real benefit is the bulb runs much cooler. I use the one I have for judging colour balance when printing colour. It may only use 13w when running and have the output rated at 75w but according to my exposure meter it is very much brighter than that.

Last edited by John King; 5th February 2017 at 05:23 PM.
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Old 5th February 2017, 05:24 PM
jeztastic jeztastic is offline
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I'll give it a try with LED before i splash out on an expensive one then.

And I said it is the version of the enlarger without a filter drawer, it does have the negative carrier.
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Old 5th February 2017, 06:08 PM
Jerry Bodine Jerry Bodine is offline
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The Focomat Ic I bought new many years ago was supplied with a 75W Opal bulb.

You may also find this Leitz manual helpful:
http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-c..._1C_manual.pdf

If you're working only with black/white, using Ilford filters under the lens, you should know (if not already) that Ilford suggest an incandescent bulb -which is around 2800K - for BEST performance with Ilford VC papers. Other color temps are still usable, though.

John, you have an exposure meter that reads in watts? (couldn't resist). I'm sure you're thinking equivalent lumens, like my Gossen meter.

Last edited by Jerry Bodine; 5th February 2017 at 06:29 PM.
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Old 5th February 2017, 06:51 PM
jeztastic jeztastic is offline
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Thanks. Very useful.

This LED bulb from screwfix is cheap, 2700K, and looks to be the right size. It also claims full instant light. I'll give this a try. They have them in the right fitting and wattage. Although I prefer slightly longer exposure times so I may try a 60 watt.

I've had a look at the manual before, and I confess I'm a bit confused about setting it up. I have a Jessops 6 element 50mm f2.8 which is a good bit bigger than the one it came with, which apparently makes a difference to the autofocus mechanism.

Last edited by jeztastic; 5th February 2017 at 06:55 PM.
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Old 5th February 2017, 08:53 PM
John King John King is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Bodine View Post
John, you have an exposure meter that reads in watts? (couldn't resist). I'm sure you're thinking equivalent lumens, like my Gossen meter.

No much simpler than that. A square piece of 18% grey card 18 ins square was placed directly 5 feet below the 'normal' 75w tungsten bulb and took a reading with a Minolta Spot meter.

The LED bulb which is approx the same size and shape as the tungsten bulb. It does not have any reflector and has is only one light diode. The glass globe appearance is very similar to an old photo-flood, almost opal. This was screwed into the holder, switched on and a similar reading taken with the spot meter. I cannot remember the actual read out from either bulb but I do remember at least a 2 stop difference.

The light was so intense I could hardly believe it. As for using it to judge colour balance on RA4 prints it beats a blue tungsten bulb hands down and is approx the same quality of light as noon day sun on a good day. After 10 minutes running it hardly warm whereas with a tungsten bulb you would be unable to touch it..


Update


The bulb I bought is on this link. https://www.bltdirect.com/kosnic-led...tt-alternative Ignore the main picture, the one I bought is the Crompton one on the bottom right side £7.43. I think the price has gone up a few pence since I bought mine a month or so ago but still worth their value.

Last edited by John King; 5th February 2017 at 09:21 PM.
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