After a two-year darkroom drought, relief has come!
...In the form of:
- an LPL VCCE 7700 enlarger, with 35mm, 645, and 670 negative carriers
- the LPL Enlarging timer AE-100 with foot switch
- the LPL Universal Easel Mask DX1417
- a Lucky NOVA print processor (no clips though)
All this (and more!) was given to me by a Japanese woman who had given up darkroom printing years ago but had kept all her equipment. She seemed more excited than I was when I went to pick up the stuff (for free, I might add) and wanted to talk shop! It was so encouraging but unfortunately I had a cab waiting outside with the meter running so we didn't have much time.
A few comments first. I've always worked with condensor enlargers, this is my first time with a diffusion enlarger. I moved to Japan almost two years ago and brought most of my darkroom equipment with me from Canada (enlarger lenses, grain focuser, trays, tongs, graduates, contact printer, print easel, timers, etc.), minus my enlarger of course. Two years of searching for another enlarger in Japan has left me frustrated because people here seem to expect unreasonable prices for used enlargers ($500-$2000 anyone?), often without carriers. In any event, I've set up the enlarger, and everything seems to be working, but as I still need to make this place light-tight (my kitchen is also now my darkroom) I will have to wait before I can truly test it.
Questions:
1. I'm excited about the enlarger, I've set up it (it came in pieces) and the only problem seems to be the movement of the enlarger head. When I "unlock" it to change the height, I have to hold onto the head to make sure it doesn't slide completely down the column. This is contrary to every other experience I've had with other enlargers -- perhaps I set it up incorrectly? Or is this normal for this enlarger? Unfortunately I only have the Japanese manual and the pictures only tell so much. I am willing to buy the manual in English, but if anyone has it (scanned, pdf, whatever) and is willing to share, I'd really appreciate it.
2. I plan on buying a few more of the bulbs for the enlarger -- I'm assuming the 100W 12 V Quartz-Halogen lamp is the way to go? I also plan on getting the universal negative carrier with anti-newton glass as it seems the best fit for me -- especially as I like to do lith printing and the negatives can be exposed to a lot of heat and light due to long exposure times. Is there anything else I should consider?
3. The Nova print processor seems interesting to me, and undoubtably useful in a country like Japan where apartments are tiny and counter space is nearly non-existent. I've done some research on it (again, my manual is only in Japanese) but I doubt I would use it much as I plan to print mostly on fiber paper (and lith to boot), and doing things like the postcard exchange with small prints seems more efficient in trays where I can do many at a time. In any event, I was wondering if it could be adapted somehow, for use as a print washer, or something equally useful?
4. Finally, not that I've ever done much testing with my negative developing (perhaps I should...) -- I tend to use published times, give or take, for most of my developing and have been happy enough with it. However, I'm wondering if with this enlarger if I should start going for contrastier negs? I envy people who are settled in life (!) and can use the same enlarger year after year (and develop negs for that type of enlarger), but I move around a lot and have to deal with what's available.
Cheers.
Rachelle
My favorite thing is to go where I've never been. D. Arbus
Congratulations on setting up your darkroom, imagine you must be anxious to begin printing. Can't help with the enlarger other than it sounds like the spring in the column is not attached to the head assembly. Probably coiled up tight at the base of the column or the top.
btw, you're probably going to already, but I think a return visit would be a must as she's probably very interested to know more about you and your work. I wonder why she gave up printing and what kind of work she did.
Yippee!! I am happy for you. You might check the top of the enlarger column for some sort of ballast, or maybe the rear of the head. It may be a coiled flat strip of metal resembling a coiled spring, or cable(s) that connect to a torsion spring. The enlarger head shouldn't want to drop on its own when the lock is loosened.
Rick A
Argentum aevum
BTW: the big kid in my avatar is my hero, my son, who proudly serves us in the Navy. "SALUTE"
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
I think my 4x5 LPL is counterbalanced with a spring arrangement, and your 7700 is probably similar. I've never had a reason to explore its details though.
Do you know which Nova you have? There is one 4 slot model where the fourth slot has an outlet tube for use a washing slot. However, it can only really accomdate one large print at a time so it might not be the best as a washer, though you could probably do a workable arrangement if you were using RC.
As for my benefactor -- I don't even know her name as I was dealing with her (foreign) husband over an internet forum and in all the commotion of finding her place, explaining to the confused cab driver what was going on, her excitedly showing me everything she had painstakingly wrapped up -- we never got around to introductions. They have two young children so I imagine that was probably the reason, as they did indicate that the darkroom had been set up in their previous apartment (although now they live in a house). In any event, I will definitely send her some prints as a thank-you, and hopefully we'll be in touch sometime in the future.
As for the enlarger, I don't recall seeing anything like a coiled spring, but I'll check it tomorrow. At the moment I'm coming down with something that's been going around the university -- probably the flu -- and I don't want to deal with taking apart the enlarger while my mental and physical states are in such poor conditions.
The Nova is the 3-slot model.
Rachelle
My favorite thing is to go where I've never been. D. Arbus
If you don't find the manual, I can scan mine for you. Have to do it later tonight, though, gotta make some money first, and then buy another darkroom!
“Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time!”
Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative - The New Ansel Adams Photography Series / Book 2
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