Ilford C700 enlarger

[Carzee]

Anyone on RFF have one?

I have a pre-loved (almost NIB condition) Ilford C-700 enlarger. Its big. It has a 50mm Omegatron lens. No manual or instructions.

Is it a Omega C-700? I searched the classic-enlarger.com forum and found a similar question to mine and Harry didn't know about this enlarger at all. He'd probably need close-up photos.

I'd like a manual to get me started on b/w 8x10 printing.

 

[Carzee]

UPdate.

I went printing last night. I had to wait a while to find a Ilford 902 safelight -hard to find nowadays.

I also ditched the Omega lens when I saw a mint EL Nikkor 50mm f4. It fits fine.

I set up in the bathroom and used Kentmere VC resin coated 8x10 and Ilford chems (Multigrade Dev, IlfoStop etc) to make contacts. Tried 7 secs at f8. Too much, 2.5 to 3 secs was about right.

This enlarger doesn't use a glass neg carrier (Dante Stellar blog says this is the proper way to design a enlarger). Before I had to stop the session and get to bed I looked over the wet contacts, selected a frame and printed a 8x 10 photo (TA DAA!) and the result was a knock out. 3 secs at f8. Tad dark in the shadows, maybe 2 secs at f8 next time. no contrast filters used.

I floated out of the dark room in a very happy mood. That single frame in 8x10 was worth all the hassle. A fantastic result in b/w for my first roll with the Zeiss 25zm. I love it, I stare at it with a magnifier. Its beautiful.

If my reaction seems over the top --- too bad! I don't care and I wear my Rookie Darkroom Cook Badge with pride.