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  #11  
Old 23rd December 2018, 02:42 AM
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Bob Bob is offline
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Some enlargers need separate condensers for 35mm and 6x6/6x7 or different diffuser/mixer housings depending on type. Likewise, negative carriers may be either universal (to fit all negative sizes) or individual ones needed for the different formats. All this being dependent on the individual enlarger, so do a search for a copy of the manual for any enlarger you like the look of before buying to see what may be needed.

You will need different lenses for the different formats too - typically 50mm for 35mm film and 80 - 105 mm for medium format film. Lenses can be had separately easily enough so are not important to be included - but buying a complete setup is always going to be quite a bit cheaper than buying individual bits.

Good luck!
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  #12  
Old 23rd December 2018, 01:51 PM
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cwiuliano cwiuliano is offline
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Thank you all for your suggestions.

I may have found a pretty complete LPL C7700 enlarger, it has everything except for timer and baseboard. Price seems very reasonable compared to what I have seen online.

I imagine a baseboard can be crafted reasonably easily and am I correct in thinking that most timers, regardless of brand, can be hooked up to the transformer?

Also since the C7700 is a colour enlarger I have been reading that although the magenta filter can be used to mimic multi grade filters, it will not give me all grades from 0 to 5?

Thanks
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  #13  
Old 23rd December 2018, 01:57 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cwiuliano View Post
Also since the C7700 is a colour enlarger I have been reading that although the magenta filter can be used to mimic multi grade filters, it will not give me all grades from 0 to 5?

Thanks
There is a lot of debate on this. Some will argue that only Ilford under or over the lens filters will give grade 5 and others that max magenta is equally good. Certainly in terms of grades 00 to 4.5 there seem little in the way of argument that both kinds of filters will deliver

Mike
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  #14  
Old 23rd December 2018, 03:39 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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A baseboard can be made from MDF, but you will need the bracket which bolts on to the baseboard and supports the column. If that’s not included, it could be a problem.
Alex


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  #15  
Old 23rd December 2018, 04:48 PM
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PanFrank PanFrank is offline
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I would recommend to get a complete set, which works. I had a quick look on ebay.com for my model, Durst M605 color. Even regarding prices, I would prefer a real shop like our trusted sponsor Second-hand Darkroom Supplies.
Best, Frank
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  #16  
Old 23rd December 2018, 05:18 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Seeing PanFrank's post reminds me of a point I should have made. I,too, have a M605 and it is a great enlarger - very robust and well constructed but I would not like to dismantle it each time after a printing session. It would be a lot of work.

Mike
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  #17  
Old 24th December 2018, 12:57 PM
Quendil Quendil is offline
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I got a Vivitar on ebay for £51 whith holders, lenses and condensers to do up to 6x7. It also came with loads of other darkroom stuff. There are quite alot of bargains out there but they are generally collection only
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  #18  
Old 29th December 2018, 07:33 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Baseboard

Quote:
Originally Posted by cwiuliano View Post
Thank you all for your suggestions.

I may have found a pretty complete LPL C7700 enlarger, it has everything except for timer and baseboard. Price seems very reasonable compared to what I have seen online.

I imagine a baseboard can be crafted reasonably easily and am I correct in thinking that most timers, regardless of brand, can be hooked up to the transformer?

Also since the C7700 is a colour enlarger I have been reading that although the magenta filter can be used to mimic multi grade filters, it will not give me all grades from 0 to 5?

Thanks
My LPL7700mx came to me without a baseboard and what I did initially I made a wall mounting bracket and a top support which worked perfectly. However I was finding it difficult to focus when the head was in a position to make a big enlargement over 12x16. (Too much of an arm stretch to focus and look though a grain magnifyer and I am not a contortionist to boot!).

Now I have a baseboard made from a 40mm thick piece of kitchen work surface about 600mm x 750mm which was sourced from my local kichen istaller who have sections of off-cuts. The colour doesn't matter. As this is more or less guaranteeed to be flat and level, drilling though to fix the retaining bolts was a simple matter. It has been like this for 4-5 years now and is perfect for the job. The size and weight of the baseboard ensures that it remains a very stable platfor for big enlargements.

Yes most timers (but not transformers) will work mine is a German model made by Baurie or or a similar name. It has a digital readout in 1/10ths of a second as it counts down from a max of 99.99 seconds. The setting knobs are in 1/10sec, 1 sec and 10 sec increments. It is pretty damn accurate too. I think I paid around £70 for it.
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  #19  
Old 29th December 2018, 07:42 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default LPL Multigrade filtration

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
There is a lot of debate on this. Some will argue that only Ilford under or over the lens filters will give grade 5 and others that max magenta is equally good. Certainly in terms of grades 00 to 4.5 there seem little in the way of argument that both kinds of filters will deliver

Mike
My LPL7700mx WILL give me a full set of grades from 00 to 5 using the inbuilt colour filters. Some folk use double filtration which is designed like individual below lens filters to keep the same paper speed from grade 0 to 4 (The fitration figures are in each pack of multigrade paper.) I prefer to use single filtration simply because I do not really trust the different double filtration to be accurate speed wise thoughout the range. Also double filtration also means the enlarging/exposing times can be longer.

Nor do I really trust meters in a darkroom, I use test strips every time. The main reason being Ilford and Kentmere papers have different sensitivities and to keep track of them would for me spoil the charm of a darkroom and defeat the skill I have developering/printing (No pun intended) in nearly 50 years with the art.
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  #20  
Old 30th December 2018, 06:15 PM
JohnX JohnX is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
Seeing PanFrank's post reminds me of a point I should have made. I,too, have a M605 and it is a great enlarger - very robust and well constructed but I would not like to dismantle it each time after a printing session. It would be a lot of work.

Mike
That's what I was thinking as I scrolled down this thread and eventually saw your post.
Doesn't matter which way you cut it, if you want to print 6x7 negs the enlarger required is never gonna be "convenient" to disassemble, there's gonna be some faff.
35mm isn't so bad, they are more compact and some even fold up.
I'm only posting because I came across a Durst 609 the other day in a charity shop, if it had had a neg carrier with it I would have bought it.
Nice compact uncluttered box design with very few appendages to negotiate when packing it away, goes to 6x9 too.
There may be others, I dunno, old as the hills...but isn't everything.
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