Thanks Ron and All for your responses,
I know nothing about enlargers other than general principles, and Ron
you bring up something I was going to bring up anyway. What kind of a
light source is typically used for big enlargers? I have heard that
condenser lamps are preferable, but for a 4x5 wouldn't the condenser
lenses have to be pretty big? I've seen some 4 3/8" dia pcx lenses for
reasonable prices, but would that be big enough? What about fresnel
type lenses? What about the bulbs themselves, would a halogen be good?
I have some halogen bulb fixtures with small condensers in them from
some old lab instrubent. Uses a 100w 12v lamp whivh I have also. Do
you think that would work? I have been looking on eBay at enlarger
lenses, and I notice prices vary hugely. I'm going to assume that the
Nikkor lenses must be pretty darn good because they seem to fetch some
pretty handsome prices. Obviously I would want the sharpest lens
possible, but price is an issue. Anyone care to offer some
recommendations? I will primarily be doing 6x6, 6x9, and 4x5 (inch)
negatives. Basically, any information anyone wants to offer would be
appreciated.
Gene Johnson
Ron Baker wrote:
>
> Hi Gene
> My opinion is that you need a good even light source whether defused or
> condenser next it is very important to keep everything parallel, lens, film
> plane, and paper. Third but not least is the enlarging lens which is the
> most important. Without a good lens you don't get good sharp prints.The
> shorter the focal length the more critical the quality lens is. There are a
> lot of good quality enlarging lens on ebay at a very reasonable price.
> Ron
> www.ronbakerphotography.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "kelvin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2001 9:32 AM
> Subject: Re: [Cameramakers] enlarger lenses
>
> >
> >
> > This is my guess.
> >
> > Regular lenses are not flat-field lenses, and at close-focus ... would
> > probably produce distortion , or edge softness.
> >
> > You could probably, however, use macro lenses , or bellows lenses by
> > the various manufacturers (plenty in M42) , but at that cost, you're
> > better off with an enlarger lens.
> >
> > Off ebay, I got an isco-gottingen enlarger lens for US$5.
> >
> >
> > At 07:29 5/14/01 -0700, you wrote:
> > >Richard and Cameramakers,
> > >
> > >I'm thinking of making an enlarger. What are the optical implications
> > >of using a camera lens as an enlarging lens? My suspicion is that the
> > >typical lens has had it's optical properties optimised for objects far
> > >away, and that projecting an image from a negative might be less than
> > >ideal. I have several good quality lenses in various focal lengths so
> > >the idea is tempting. I want to build an enlarger to handle everything
> > >up to 4x5.
> > >
> > >Gene Johnson
> > >_______________________________________________
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> > >
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