Arthur
Hi,
Does anyone happen to know this enlarger (item no. 392 211 400 910)? How does it differ from the standard Opemus 6?
One more question: if you want to use both a 50mm and an 80mm lens on the Opemus 6, you just need to flip the lens plate over, nothing else, right?
I need a new enlarger, as my Axomat is only suitable for 35mm film, but I also want to enlarge medium format (6x6). What (affordable!) alternatives are there?
Thanks!
Arthur
rednaxelA
I’m not exactly an expert on the finer points of the various Opemus models either. In any case, you can use them for KB and MF.
But Arthur’s question has made me wonder whether I’ve fitted my Opemus correctly.
The board on which I’ve mounted the 80mm fan is just a flat disc with a 39mm thread.
The 50mm fan with a 23mm thread is mounted on a curved board, with the curve facing downwards.
Wouldn’t that mean the 80mm fan isn’t in the correct position?
I’m a bit confused now.
By the way, the unit is an Opemus 6.
Regards,
Alexander
Gast
Hi Alexander,
An 80mm lens works quite well on a thin board; you just turn the bellows out a bit further when focusing (without probably having noticed it so far).
With the 50mm, the bulge needs to be ‘pushed in’ towards the enlarger, otherwise you won’t achieve the maximum possible format. If you want to mount an 80mm lens on this board (perhaps you have one with an M23.5 mount), then the bulge needs to be ‘out’ of the enlarger.
Why? Because there is a full 3cm difference in focal length between the 50mm and 80mm lenses, and the 50mm therefore needs to be closer to the film plane.
Best regards,
Franz
rednaxelA
Hi Franz,
Thanks very much for the explanation. Well then, next time I unpack it, I’ll fit the 50mm lens the other way round.
Both lenses are Anaret. I’ll have a look at the 80mm one to see if someone hasn’t simply screwed a threaded ring onto it to go from 23mm to 39mm.
Best regards,
Alexander
Arthur
Thanks for your replies!
I think I’ll have a look around for an Opemus 6. I’m actually quite happy with my Axomat 5; I had a browse on eBay and found a few Kaiser VP6000s as well – does anyone have any experience with those? Are they better or worse than the Meopta? Unfortunately, Durst, Dunco and the like are beyond my budget.
I’d also be interested to know whether the negative stage in the Opemus 6 allows you to expose the negative edge when enlarging a 6x6 negative. For 35mm negatives, I specially ordered the plastic negative stage from FOTOIMPEX for my Axomat and filed it down. That probably won’t fit in the Opemus, will it?
Gast
Well... I know it doesn't work with the standard KB mask in the metal Opemus, because I've got that one, along with the Opemus 6 (which I'm actually looking to sell, but that's beside the point for this forum). If you have a 6x6 stage with glass, it works, of course; that actually seems like a pretty good solution to me, even if some people swear by glassless enlargement. Whether the Axomat stage fits in the Opemus? No idea...
MirkoBoeddecker
The Axomat stage doesn’t fit in the Opemus.
If you’ve got enough space, why not keep both units?
The Axomat has the small condenser and focuses the light for KB.
The stage setup is also perfected.
That way, you’ll save yourself the hassle of constantly having to reconfigure things.
Otherwise: file down the KB masks or buy two sets and use only the larger insert (the lower one) in each case.
Mirko
MirkoBoeddecker
Wait a minute – I didn’t realise you actually wanted to do 6x6 VF.
Of course, that’s only possible with glass.
Arthur
I might keep the Axomat anyway, but I don’t have enough space to work on two enlargers at the same time. However, I’d like to be able to enlarge both 35mm and 6x6 formats in future. From that point of view, it would of course be easier to buy just one Opemus and swap the lens depending on the negative size.
My main concern was actually whether the 6x6 stages in the Opemus are large enough to expose the wheels of a 6x6 negative.
MirkoBoeddecker
The Opemus has the same issue as the Axomat.
The lower stage with the mask sliders is designed for the standard size of 54x54 mm (= cuts off a bit of the image).
The same applies here as with the Axomat: buy a plastic stage from us and file down the excess plastic at the bottom.
This works up to 60x60 without filing the top as well, and up to 2 mm more (= 1 mm all round) with filing on both the top and bottom.
Sorry, I’d overlooked that this morning.
Incidentally, that’s the main reason why we laboriously smuggle the plastic stages out of the factory by hand.
Actually, they aren’t standard spare parts at all...
Mirko
