A Different Direction in Gear Acquisition

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Graybeard

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I've just had a Focmat Ic enlarger delivered to me. The unit is in mint condition and a worthy companion to my Barnack Leicas. Beautifully finished, everything metal except the electrical insulation and the glass in the Focotar lens. No question that this is a Leitz Wetzlar product.

B&W darkroom work is what I enjoy most about using me Leicas. I'll enjoy it all the more with this new addition.
 
Sounds great! I have my two enlargers, and like most of the gear I buy, the medium format Gnome one needs a hint of restoration after *I* managed to break it!!

Enlarger GAS would be bad, it needs a lot more room!
 
Yes, I've been buying as well. Bought an Omega B-22 earlier this year, recently bought a brand-new Componon 50/2.8 for it, then a couple of weeks ago I happened on a cheap Leitz V35 with 40mm Focotar lens! 😀 So I'm worrying about where to house this stuff too...
 
I have three enlargers but really want to dump one of them. I had a B-22, which I gave to my niece.

Over the summer, I accidentally bought a Vivitar enlarger (not the VI).

I also have an Omega D-3 that I bought in the 1980s.

About two years ago, I bought a very old 1930s Zeiss Ikon enlarger. It has a Spezial-Anastigmat 5cm lens with a fixed aperture of "I don't know" and a glass negative holder.

I really want to give this enlarger a try.
 
In my darkroom I've got a Beseler 4 by 5 with the cold head, and a 1971 Simmons/Omega B22 XL. I prefer the B22 XL as it's much easier to use and has excellent Rodenstok lenses. Having said that, anything larger than 6X6 and I shift to the Beseler.

I have always wanted a Leitz Focomat. Got to use one once years ago and thought the autofocus was magic. A buddy bought one last week for $35.00, and during that same week another "buddy" was trying to sell me one for $400.00.

There's a middle ground out there somewhere.

Ted
 
Yes, the Leica/Leitz enlargers are a sight to see and really nice to use too...

I once had a really old (Pre-Valoy, I think) one I bought for peanuts because there was crud on the condenser lens, the electrical cord was in tatters and it had no negative holder. The lens was fixed (uncoated, with "f/stops" from 1 to 10). I took it home, washed the condenser gently with hot water and soap, cleaned up the lens and asked my girlfriend to fix the wiring. After new wiring, I put in a frosted bulb, made a negative holder out of some heavy cardboard... And the thing worked!

Of course it wouldn't give any high contrast and the look of photos definitely, even on Ilford Multigrade, had a very "period" look. Unfortunately I don't have any longer... It would have worked great alongside my favourite Barnack Leica.
 
I have the Focomat up and running now.

There was an used threaded bolthole (6mm) below the lens that I used to secure a small shop-built shelf for Polycontrast filters.

Once set up, the automatic focus is dead on all across the range of 2.5x to 10x. I'll probably use a lamp dimmer on it because the exposures are short when making 4x5's and 5x7's.
 
Make 11X14's. That'll lengthen times for sure.

I got the cold head installed on the old Beseler 4X5, but I feel I too will be making period prints like Jerevan as the lenses are ancient Wollensaks an Kodaks. We have recent vintage Schneiders, but their diameters are such that they won't fit the Beseler negative carriers. So John, one of the co-op members, is scouting up some with the proper diameter holes.

Ted
 
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