NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Other => Topic started by: Ian Watson on October 07, 2022, 05:01:54
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The time has come to clear some space in my garage. Most of my old darkroom gear can go. However, I feel a pang of regret at the thought of disposing of my enlarger. It is a Leitz Focomat Ic. It seems a shame to dispose of such a lovely example of mechanical engineering. Yet what else can I do with it? Who would both want it and be willing to arrange to obtain it? I will keep the lens, of course.
Suggestions or moral support would both be welcome.
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Keep the lens and let go - Without the lens it's more or less useless anyway,,,
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At least in Denmark it is possible to sell such this even at a reasonable price.
I have sold 2 Durst enlargers recently, off course with an enlarger lens ;) (Rodenstock)
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Could it be adapted to become a copy/repro stand - I guess you have considered that if you need one :)
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My attic contains an Omega, a Fujimoto and a Leitz Valoy right now. I finally found someone a couple of years ago who would take the LPL, Schneider and Rodenstock lenses and the other darkroom gear. For free, of course.
It's hard to part with the Valoy. I bought it at a garage sale in pieces--lens, negative carrier, enlarger, copy arm, base...all scattered around the room. In total, I think I spent $7.50 for all the parts. Went right home, plugged it in and sparks flew as breakers were thrown in the house. I had to rewire it, not a hard job. Bought a piece of anti-Newton ring glass and rigged it up in the negative carrier. A simple piece of gear but totally reliable and perfect for 35mm negatives. Got many years service out of it.
Ain't it a bitch when you finally manage to accrue the material and gear to put together a really nice darkroom and the whole thing becomes useless. I barely had time to get the LPL (my newest enlarger) aligned perfectly before I went to digital.
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Thank you all for the thoughts.
Bent, there is not much of a market here. You did trigger the memory of a place in Toronto that keeps film supplies and has quite the assortment of odds-and-ends. I will call them when they open and see if they will give the enlarger a home.
Otherwise I will bite the bullet, take the lens and dispose of the rest.
Dogman, I quite agree! Now we spend our money on computers and printers instead ;)
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Back in the 80s I'd have bitten your arm off for this Ian.
I did all my best printing with an old condenser enlarger.
When I briefly flirted with 6x7 & colour, I sold this and got a diffuser design.
It took me a while to work out why I couldn't achieve the same bite & contrast as before :(
Mind you, if your Letiz is diffuser, maybe it wouldn't have helped....
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Happy news! Downtown Camera in Toronto will take it off my hands. They have a few enlargers that are not selling but they will take a Leitz.
Colin, the Leitz Focomat is a condenser. Mine cost me $50 fifteen years ago.
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Sounds like an ideal result Ian.
Ironically it seems to often be people in their 20s using film & doing their own printing now.
I guess for some of us who've done it once before the novelty has gone.
I do miss what Selenium toner used to be able to do & the slight peril of using it in a spare bedroom/darkroom!
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I had a big old Omega enlarger, gotten from some junk pile, with only half its condensers, and for a lark I took the top off, and left the one condenser lens in place, and fitted the lens board with a Nikon mount made from an old T adapter. The result was a surprisingly amusing monster lens. A rough estimate was that it was about a 200 mm F 2+ singlet capable of macro focusing. The chromatic aberration was surreal, but it actually became tolerably sharp when stopped down (with construction paper waterhouse stops). I gave it to one of my kids to mess with, and haven't used it since I started doing digital photos, so I haven't got much to show, but if you are stuck with an old condenser enlarger, and can't get rid of it, there are ways to have some fun anyway.