Leitz Valoy question

[tickhiller]

Hi there, my first post so be gentle with me.
I have a Leitz Valoy enlarger and there does not appear to be a carrier for the negatives for sale anywhere. I read elsewhere on this forum that it doesnt need one. My negs are 35mm and 645 - how do I hold the in the enlarger?

 

[batterytypehah!]

Welcome! Wish I could answer your question but I can at least "bump" your post back up to page 1 for others to see.

 

[BobYIL]

Valoy enlarger and 6X6 format?? It is a 35mm-only enlarger like the Focomat 1- or V35 series (it has only 50mm lens!)

For the negative carrier email to this address, he knows all Leitz enlargers like his palm:

glenn@glennview.com

 

[mdarnton]

My recommendation is that the first thing you do is go to the hardware store and get a couple of small sheets of glass, and start putting negs between them, sliding them in place, and deciding on the location of where then neg belongs, and how big of a neg you can work with.

The Valoy is not a 645 enlarger, and if you can make it for 645, that will be beyond the borders of what it's made for. It will, at least, need a different lens than 35mm (you haven't said anything about what lens you have for it).

 

[kbg32]

There is no negative carrier on the old Valoy and they only are made for 35mm negatives. The Valoy has a negative stage that you put the negative on that you want to enlarge. There are negative cups on either side of the negative stage for those who don't cut their film into strips. There is a handle that you rotate and the bottom half of the condenser comes down and holds your negative flat against the negative stage. The handle I refer to is pointed to by the red arrow. See pic below.

 

[Fred R.]

Of course there's a negative carrier for the Valoy. Hard to find used, if yours is missing. Make one out of cardboard.

 

[tickhiller]

Thanks for your advice, I got the enlarger in a joblot of darkroom gear off ebay so it cost next to nothing. I will play around with the 35mm negs whilst I look around for a B&W enlarger which is more suitable for medium format.

 

[Peter de Waal]

Hi, this is also my first post!

I have both a Valoy I and a Valoy II. The Valoy I certainly does have a negative holder, Leitz called it the 'VDMOO'. The neg holder for the Valoy II is known as a 'VNEOO'. They look identical, except that the earlier Valoy I 'VDMOO' type has shorter twin black-painted locating pins at the back, because it has to fit into the slot in the front of the film stage. On the Valoy II you can tilt the condenser head back to allow the negative holder to locate.

Both negative holders go in with the two black-painted pins first, the chrome wedges at the back, and have a single short pin on the bottom that slides into a 'wedge' in the film stage and locks the carrier in it's correct position. The 'VNEOO' picture is on a plain white background. Hope that helps.

 

[Peter de Waal]

You can use the earlier carrier on the Valoy II, but not the other way around!

If you want to print 6x6 or even 6x9 with a Leitz enlarger you need a Focomat, the late models of which had a rotating lens head with 50mm/100mm lenses.

 

[tickhiller]

Thanks Peter, it sounds like I have a good starter enlarger to hone my skills but will need another to go larger.