Negative carriers

[BUSYBOBBY]

Where might I find negative carriers for a Vivitar v1? they seem to be as scarce as hens teeth. Im beginning to think I didnt get such a good deal on my color enlarger after all.

[David A. Goldfarb]

That's one that hasn't been manufactured for a long time, so it's going to be hard to find parts for it. If you post some pictures of the enlarger, maybe it will turn out that it is a rebranded enlarger made by another manufacturer, and might accept more common negative carriers, or at least give you something else to search for.

Before investing in any expensive custom solution, realize that enlargers are cheap and often free these days, and you might just do better to find a more common Omega or Beseler enlarger, for which carriers and parts are easily obtained.

[BUSYBOBBY]

Thanks for the feed back. I think I might be able to make some carriers if I am carefull. Does that sound feasable to anyone?

[Nick Zentena]

I don't know what those ones are like. I've made them out of black matt board in the past. It works. They won't last forever like the metal ones but matt board I can cut.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yes you can make them out of matte board, but depending on the enlarger, that may produce light leaks. Try it and see how it goes.

[BUSYBOBBY]

Thanks guys its off to the darkroom I go to see how light proof I can make it.

[srs5694]

I've only used two enlargers, but based on their negative carriers I'd expect that you could make negative carriers out of wood, too. That'd take longer than making something out of matt board, but they'd last longer.

[Akki14]

I've made a neg carrier out of cardboard - bit thicker, added some electrical tape and black card to keep lightleaks out and such... now it leaks less light than the two bought carriers.

[Jim Jones]

My ancient DeJur enlarger accepts thick negative carriers. The one I made from Masonite 20 years ago is still working perfectly.

[George Collier]

I've seen carriers made with eighth inch masonite stand up pretty well in a student darkroom. Use a duct tape hinge instead of pins. Use masonite with a hard finish on both sides and coat with something (shellack?) to keep them from fraying.