'Russian' Enlarger design updated

The title of this Blog has caused some thought today as it is all too common to use the words 'Soviet' 'Russian' and various combinations of CCCP and USSR when making reference to the makers of these enlargers. It is difficult to be precise about the present subject as the literature originated from Ukraine and I have never seen the actual enlarger concerned.

It would appear that the history of amateur Enlargers, from what I will call Russia, is well known  following the immense popularity of  Zenith and similar products in the period roughly 1960-2000 when quality 35mm film  cameras were both sought after and expensive in UK.  A gap in the market was identified and filled with the arrival of a compact enlarger which packed into a suitcase and is well represented on Ebay to this day.  I shall not dwell on this particular machine except to say that it provided a very adequate introduction to enlarging for many.   It was followed by a streamlined version that should have been even more attractive but the days of the enlarger were numbered with the arrival of Digital cameras.

Never available in this country was an even later development which is  interesting in that it appears to draw on the design and appearance of the Leitz/Leica v35,   the last enlarger offered by Wetzlar.

I can only suggest that any reader who can correct what I write about the FOMO enlarger sends me either a email (see header page) or a message in the comment section and I shall do my best to correct things. The FOMO is an attractive machine in the same shape as the Leica v35 and working with a single spring arm and I suspect auto focusing cam. The precise lens employed is unclear but the light source is a small mains bulb of the type seen on earlier designs. The base board and column are much updated but lighting is by double condensers rather than the diffusion system.

I think it best that I show some illustrations from the handbook I have recently obtained, dated Feb. 1985,  leaflet printed in 1984.

Needless to say I should be interested to hear from anyone who uses one of these machines, in particular to learn what lens was used as I have a number of the later lenses which have become available on the market.

Sommor Sommor

An earlier Blog shows a negative holder with a Leitz-like name which emerged in the 1930's and 1940's. In the event this was a French product quite well made but probably introduced when the real thing was unavailable. Another product of those days has come to light in the Sommor loader for 10m of bulk film(say six loads) and a bakelite 'Bobineuse' which holds the cassette in a light tight trap for loading. This is a smaller proposition than any other device to load from bulk film and is is surprising that so few remain in existence.

The Way We Were- LPP in the 1960's

A member of long standing recently gave me the mark card shown below from some old papers being cleared out. This may stir a few memories among members.

Antique Grain Focussing Magnifier

No doubt this item is in common use in darkrooms across the country but I have never found found one myself.  Pre-War may be a better term than Antique but the magnifier is uncoated and the general build rather  heavier than one has come to expect.  I normally use a French Scoponet which I have shown for comparison.  As received the older item had a damaged mirror.  This raised the question of how to make a new mirror, preferably a surface mirror although I suspect that some on the market are not of that type.  I found a IKEA mirror for pocket use with the surface deposited on plastic sheet thin enough to cut with a craft knife.  I am unable to say how the mirror is coated but above all it works without a double image and gives accurate results.  I feel the oversize mirror helps in use and brightness is no problem. In case you wonder the cross hairs are located in the tube below the eyepiece.

New York filter holder for the Focomat

One small issue with the Focomat enlarger is the use of the ubiquitous Ilford  VC filters mounted on plastic holders. Use of below lens filters has led to several 'fixes' but Leitz N.Y. produced a fine holder that takes Ilford holders and , by the way,  also fitted a ready made Red filter with a small handle produced for the Graflex 66. This example arrived without the mounting screw which is longer than the short thread used to hold a Leitz red filter. The rather large head left on the fitting made an easy job of mounting by hand but it can be slimmed down to a screw head if wished.
Many thanks indeed to the doner in The Netherlands and to my good friend at Cheltenham for the mounting screw.

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