Kayfro Black Prince Enlarger

[andamanaffair]

I had been hoping to resurrect and use my late father's old enlarger for B&W printing of 6x6 negatives; a Kayfro Black Prince bearing the number C314 upon the base. Although it will not have been in use for over thirty years, it appears to be in excellent condition. It has a Ross Resolux f4 9cm lens. It will have produced many exhibition prints in its day. I think it will have been purchased in 1949 or thereabouts and is very well built.

I had noticed a large degree of vignetting around the edge of the illuminated area and, with examination of the retained promotional leaflet, I get the impression that it should have three condensers in the stack. In actual fact, it only has two with room for the third. I cannot imagine what has happened to the third one, if indeed it should be there. The enlarger does differ from that in the available illustrations in that it has a large filter housing above the film carrier. I am wondering if this was added when my father adopted colour printing as, whilst being very well built, the carrier does hint at being added. Perhaps removal of it would, by bringing the lamp into closer proximity to the condensers, remove much of the vignetting.

Because I had 'grown up' with enlarger, I assumed that there would be plenty about: not likely! I cannot find mention of it on the Internet. Putting 'Black Prince Enlarger' into Google brought up some rather surprising unrelated results!! Does anybody out there have any knowledge of these enlargers? Do they all have three condensers? If so, I cannot for the life of me think where the missing one is as I am sure my father was using the enlarger right up to the point where he was taken ill. If I really do need a third condenser, I think my only hope would be to find somebody with a similar instrument who would be willing to sell.

Can anybody help or advise please? 🙂

 

[dasuess]

This goes way back into the depths of my memory, but it seems to me that back in the day there were some enlargers that you removed a condenser when going from 35mm to medium format. Again, this is only a distant memory and foggy at that.

 

[andamanaffair]

Thank you dassues. You could well be correct. Since posting, I have removed the extra filter tray and have fitted the hood direct to the condenser housing. There would hardly be room for a third condenser. That appears to solve the problem of vignetting! It was over thirty years ago but, somehow, I came to remember my father having the enlarger modified. It was a very professional job 😀

 

[Dwig]

The magic of getting a condensor enlarger to deliver uniform illumination is to have the condensors focus an image of the lamp at the rear nodal point of the enlarging lens (roughly the plane of the iris). Since ~50mm lenses for use with 35mm sit closer to the negative carrier than the 75-90mm lenses used for medium format many enlargers shipped with 3 condensors. The third removable lens was to shorten the focal length of the condensor system to adapt it to ~50mm lenses. Without the 3rd lens the system was setup for medium format. Some enlargers (e.g. Beseler's 4x5 series) moved the negative carrier to different positions relative to the condensors to accomplish the same adjustment.

If the filter drawer was an add-in I suspect it moves the lamp further from the condensors. If so it will disturb the illumination if some other compensating adjustment isn't made.

One old-style adjustment method involved setting up the enlarger and focusing an image of a negative at a common enlargement size, typically 8x10, then placing a black "X" on the lamp and placing a piece of typing paper across the lens mount after removing the lens without moving the focusing setting. The condensors should focus an image of the "X" on the typing paper. Moving the lamp, if position adjustment is available, to get the best focus and centering of the "X" will accomplish the most uniform illumination.

Another issue may be the lamp. Are you using the proper PH series (e.g. PH211, PH212, PH111a, ...) lamp? Using an ordinary household lamp will produce uneven illumination. If you can't get a proper lamp and/or can't adjust the position you might try placing a diffusing sheet (e.g. typing paper, ...) in the filter drawer.

 

[Trius]

I love the fact that I have been educated about the existence of an enlarger brand totally unknown to me before. Wow.

 

[andamanaffair]

Many thanks, gentlemen, for your replies. Dwig's explanation describes exactly what I have found and, now that I have removed the filter drawer, I think I have set up the enlarger as was originally intended for medium format work. As I will continue in that medium with B&W, I will leave it as it is. I have inserted a test negative in the carrier and the projected image is evenly illuminated and pin sharp.

I appreciate the importance of the relationship between the light and the condensers. The current light is a Phillips Photocrescenta PF603 75w with a bayonet fitting. I know this won't last forever (it will be, in itself, a museum piece at least 30 years old!) whilst all the current replacement enlarger lights appear to be screw fitting. Obviously, these are to be prefered and I will have to find a new fitting. I might have to modify the length of the tube that positions the bulb in order to maintain the distance between bulb and condenser but I do a bit of model engineering and have a lathe and should be able to work something out if I can't find a suitable commercial fitting. I would imagine that the enlarger will have imperial threads whilst all modern fittings over here will now be metric (sadly!).

Because I was brought up with the enlarger being 'part of the household' I have to been amazed to find it so comparatively rare -- even on this side of the Atlantic! I am aware that it is of particularly good quality and the workmanship is excellent. It now looks as if I have every reason to hope that it will be fully functional and I look forward to getting Dad's old enlarger working again. I thank you all who have answered my original query. Perhaps you could help further by suggesting what I should do with the two sets of dentures that my father had hidden away in the enlarger drawer! 🙂

 

[andamanaffair]

Further to my earlier comments, I have discovered that the enlarger lamp's column is fully adjustable for height and, consequently, its distance from the condenser, by way of a collet which, when loosened, allows the column to be moved up and down at will. There is therefore no need for any major engineering to accommodate a screw capped lamp. I can simply purchase a screw/bayonet adapter from my friendly local neighbourhood electrical shop and retract the column accordingly to maintain the lamp at an optimum distance from the condenser. The more I see of this enlarger, the more I like it!

I have found some corrrespondence between my father and the makers of the enlarger. In it is confirmation of the inclusion of the promo' leaflet which I have and also an instruction sheet. I have yet to find it! Perhaps it is hidden between the pages of one of his old photographic books. Prices are quoted for a number of items but not the enlarger itself. Purchase Tax on accessories appears to have been nearly 43%!

Can anybody express a preference amongst the current crop of 75W screw capped lamps, please? 🙂

 

[Dwig]

...
Can anybody express a preference amongst the current crop of 75W screw capped lamps, please? 🙂

In the States, the common 75w bayonet base enlarging lamp is the PH111a. These guys list it.

The smallest proper enlarging lamp with a screw base is the PH140.

I didn't get any decent hits with I added "Scotland" to my search though these guys in London list the PH111a (125v/75w)

 

[andamanaffair]

Thank you Dwig. It would appear that the Phillips range is as good as any but I suspect that those you quoted were for the US market, being 125v. We are 230/240v over here, consequently, I think I will go for the 230v equivalent which, I believe, is the P3/3. There also appears to be a 'Premium' version made in Germany that greatly reduces the risk of hot spots; premium price, of course! From a letter my father received from the enlarger manufacturers, it would seem that it will happily take bulbs of a higher wattage (thanks to the 'patented cooling system'). However, if my father used the 75w bulb, he will have done so for a good reason.

I think a bit of re-wiring is my next job. There is a cut-off switch that turns off the lamp should the drawer be opened so I will try to retain the original features.