MF condenser for Gnome enlarger?

[Muggins]

I've just got myself a Gnome Universal Alpha II enlarger. Some may scoff but it was available, local, cheap, 1950s and built like a tank - so it matches most of my camera collection. Except that they are mostly German, and this is Welsh - making it a perfect match for my Purma Plus!

As it currently stands it works, comes with 50mm lens and what I presume must be a pair of condenser lenses and holder for 35mm - certainly I can't get much more than a 35mm frame projected with it, and the hole through the middle is similar in size to a 35mm negative.

It would be nice to lay my grubby hands on a set for 6x6 or 6x9 (plus, of course, I'll also need a 75mm or 105mm lens - not sure which I should look for first, lens or condenser!).

Apart from watching Evilbay does anyone have any suggestions as to where to look or, even better, have a set lying around that they don't use?

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[Al Kaplan]

It'll be a lot easier to find a lens. Are you sure that it was designed for 6x6 and 6x9? You could also get a piece of opal glass and use the enlarger as a diffusion enlarger.

 

[Chris101]

It'll be a lot easier to find a lens. Are you sure that it was designed for 6x6 and 6x9? You could also get a piece of opal glass and use the enlarger as a diffusion enlarger.

That's what I would recommend too, as the light source may not be far enough from the condenser to accommodate the size of a 2&1/4.

 

[Muggins]

I can't be 100%, as I haven't found a manual, but the negative holder is 6x9, and it's got a huge head (think 1950s hairdressers!) - so I think it will also take a 6x9 set up.

Al, can you explain, please? I'm an enlarger newbie, so any pointers would be appreciated. But if I can get it to work without needing to track down an an uncommon part I'm game to have a try.

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Muggins]

Good point - given Al's suggestion perhaps I should get a longer lens, and see what I get then? I'd like to do 6x9 as it spoils the fun of playing with Box Brownies if I have to keep paying to get the films d&p'ed...

You'll have to excuse me not answering anyone for a while - it's bedtime here in the UK!

Adrian

(OK - I'm confused - I posted that in answer to a post that has vanished while I typed the above. What went wrong?)

 

[mcgrattan]

I used to have one of these. You can definitely print 6x9 negatives with it.

I wasn't even aware there were different condenser sets. Mine came with two big glass condenser lenses and a metal clip that they fitted into. I bought mine 2nd hand and it came with some very scruffy holders for 35mm and 6x9 and a 6x6 holder that clearly came from a different enlarger.

I had to rack mine right up to the top of the column, I think, to print medium format. The lens I had on it was a Wray Supar [approx 50mm]. Despite it being a triplet lens not really designed to cover medium format, I was just about able to squeeze 8x10 sized prints from a 6x9 neg and they were pretty good.

 

[mcgrattan]

Oh yeah, and mine didn't have a standard thread. It was an imperial thread, I think, for the enlarger lenses. Not the usual 39mm(?).

 

[Muggins]

Thanks for the pointers, mcgrattan - when I saw your post I did think, just for a moment, that you might have one in the loft... no such luck!

Given their vintage, I suspect that the MF lens will not be too hard to find (I think I found one for sale last night, typically for more than I paid for the rest of the thing). Looks like I will have to keep my eyes out for the condensers (I can just see me ending up with two enlargers...), or try Al's suggestion, and experiment with the limits of diffusion enlargers.

Adrian