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Wall Mounting 8x10 Enlarger For Making 40x50 Prints
- Thread starter Ian-Barber
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…..and he woke up the next day to discover that his house had tilted to an angle of 45 degrees.
Alan
Alan
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8x10 enlarger.... and there is me shuffling round in a space of about 6x4 feet
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6 feet by 4 feet darkroom, Ian. Our friend in the video is planning on doing prints bigger than that!
Alan
Alan
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I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would want to enlarge 10x8 negs? Contact prints are beautiful!!- Joined
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Well, it is really annoying to have an 8x10 negative, and have a request for an 11"x14" or larger print
It is feasible to put/construct an 8x10 head on a Beseler MXT enlarger. Unless you have the head axis extenders the new light source will hit the cross-bar on the chassis with bigger enlargements, but putting the enlarger on a drop table (cut a hole in the bench) compensates for that.
I have actually done this, and it works. I still keep an eye out for an 8x10 enlarger, though.
It is feasible to put/construct an 8x10 head on a Beseler MXT enlarger. Unless you have the head axis extenders the new light source will hit the cross-bar on the chassis with bigger enlargements, but putting the enlarger on a drop table (cut a hole in the bench) compensates for that.
I have actually done this, and it works. I still keep an eye out for an 8x10 enlarger, though.
A De Vere 10x8 enlarger comes with a drop bed as standard, and is built like two tanks. They are quite large, of course. Once you've used the front controls, you won't want to go back.
It might be heresy in your eyes, but there is another way to make prints. I hope this doesn't look like inverted Luddism.
Although a digital print can rival a darkroom one today, I'm sure you already know that it's possible to make an 11x14" negative digitally and use that to make a darkroom contact print. There are said to be advantages in applying controls to the negative.
Would your requestor find that objectionable? Perhaps more importantly, would you?
It might be heresy in your eyes, but there is another way to make prints. I hope this doesn't look like inverted Luddism.
Although a digital print can rival a darkroom one today, I'm sure you already know that it's possible to make an 11x14" negative digitally and use that to make a darkroom contact print. There are said to be advantages in applying controls to the negative.
Would your requestor find that objectionable? Perhaps more importantly, would you?
10x8 enlargers are typically HUGE and expensive. Not that I make very many 10x8 enlargements--I have made a few 20x16" prints over the years--but what I did many years ago was buy an Aristo 1212 cold light head and use my existing camera as an enlarger. I custom built a platform that the camera and light head sits on and a glass negative holder that replaces the normal film holder back of the camera. I use a 300mm process-type lens for an "enlarging lens" and I bought a large(ish) metal wall mount thingy that Ron Wisner sold many, many years ago. The paper is held via small magnets on each corner of the paper. It certainly is not a convenient way to make enlargements from 10x8, but it, also, didn't cost me the price of a good used car!
Mine was huge and free. They even ordered the van to take it away. It has a cold light head which I've never got used to and I had to construct a smaller baseboard to get it into the available space. At the moment it's a very useful gatherer of clutter.
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Tim Layton
Photographing a flower with 8x10 & Developing In Pyrocat HD
Making The Print
The Final Print
Photographing a flower with 8x10 & Developing In Pyrocat HD
Making The Print
The Final Print
Interesting stuff, but I'd like to know more.
Did he use any movements? Did he do anything to keep the flower still during the exposure or was it simply a very quiet day? Very unusual in my small experience of making outdoor flower pictures.
I was interested to see him using a straightforward incident meter reading with no take-away-the-number-you-first-thought-of complications.
Was it a perfectly straight print? Does he have an almost infinite workbench to hold a row of those monstrous trays or does he fill and empty the same one?
Did he use any movements? Did he do anything to keep the flower still during the exposure or was it simply a very quiet day? Very unusual in my small experience of making outdoor flower pictures.
I was interested to see him using a straightforward incident meter reading with no take-away-the-number-you-first-thought-of complications.
Was it a perfectly straight print? Does he have an almost infinite workbench to hold a row of those monstrous trays or does he fill and empty the same one?
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I can't answer any of your questions David. But he does look to have a very strange growth on the end of his finger...
Alan
Alan
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Only the floor standing De Vere's have drop beds, their 10x8 enlargers were also made as bench enlargers. Actually the 5108's are the same size as the 504 as they use the same column & baseboard, there's probably a couple of inches in height due to the slightly larger heads/light source.
Before I moved to a floor standing De Vere 5108 10x8 enlarger I bench mounted my Johnsons V45 enlarger in a similar way except I made a drop table in front that could be slotted in at different heights, I also had a Durst M605 mounted alongside.
When I bought my first 10x8 camera I planned to make contact prints, but as soon as I held my first negatives I knew I had to make enlargements, I found a De Vere 5108 at a bargain price within days - there were plenty on Ebay 14 years ago
The reality is I make my exhibition prints from 5x4 and 6x6 etc on 16x12 paper, actual image size is a bit larger than 10x8 (off 5x4 negs) and I print a few larger as well, it would look odd restriction images shot on 10x8 film to a smaller size by contact printing. That's just my way of working.
Ian
I did hear a possibly apocryphal tale of a chap who belonged to a Leica postal group. He made reductions from his LF negatives and kept them guessing about how he had the sharpest lenses, the most miraculous film or the most magical developer of them all.
When I bought my first 10x8 camera I planned to make contact prints, but as soon as I held my first negatives I knew I had to make enlargements, I found a De Vere 5108 at a bargain price within days - there were plenty on Ebay 14 years ago
The reality is I make my exhibition prints from 5x4 and 6x6 etc on 16x12 paper, actual image size is a bit larger than 10x8 (off 5x4 negs) and I print a few larger as well, it would look odd restriction images shot on 10x8 film to a smaller size by contact printing. That's just my way of working.
My issue with enlarging 10x8 negs is that it's an order of magnitude more difficult, expensive, and cumbersome; kind of like moving from 5x4 up to 10x8, or into ULF territory.
As stated, I have made a few enlargements from 10x8 negs, but I much prefer contact prints. I even once did a small project making a series of 5x4 contact prints. To my eye, a finely crafted contact print just soars to another level!The other thing going on, for me, is that I rarely make a print larger than about 13x10"; even on the desktop!
Though other photographers like Clyde Butcher, for example, make HUGE lovely silver prints from 10x8 negs--and his images seem to demand printing BIG--it just never appealed to me. A close photo friend of mine always says, "Bigger doesn't make it better!" I'm sure your large prints a lovely, but...like you said...just my way of working.