I just recently got into photography (and printing) and ran into a guy at the local camera shop who sold me his entire darkroom for a c-note! I bought an Omega B-22 with a Zone IV cold head, could somebody tell me if this is a good setup? At school we use Besseler 23cII (?), they're alright, but I'm pretty sure that the lenses suck. I have been told that I should upgrade my Omegar lens to something like a Nikkor F2.8; has anybody used such a setup? Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-- ryan bobel (hamfist@concentric.net), February 18, 2000

Answers

i'd be willing to bet that the omegar lens is pretty crappy. the schneider componon-s is what i use; it's fantastic. i got a used one from KEH (http://www.keh.com )for a reasonable price, which i can't specifically remember. also try www.bhphotovideo.com .

i'm afraid i don't know much about your enlarger, but from what little i know, it sounds like you have a good set-up. the lens is a lot more important than the hardware holding it up.

-- brad daly (bwdaly@hiwaay.net), February 18, 2000.

The enlarger and coldlight for that price is a great deal. Yes, probably look at some better lenses before too long. With that setup and some experimenting to find the best development times for your film, you can produce some beautiful prints from 35mm and 6x6 (120 size film). The advantages of the cold light are discussed by Ansel Adams, Picker and lots of other master printers and photographers.

Columbus Camera in Columbus Ohio markets its own line of neg carriers that are very well made, and lots less expensive, if you need some.

I have always used Schneiders on my enlarger (I forget the difference between the COmponon and Componar) but the other name brands like Nikor, Fujinon, Rodenstock all have good glass.

You should get good use out of the B-22.

-- Tony Brent (ajbrent@mich.com), February 18, 2000.