I've just got a good deal on a very nice Omega C-700 enlarger. I have both the condenser head, and a C-700 Dichoric head. I'd like to use the Dicro head to print B+W, and I know how to go about this. Me question centers around the interchangeable mixing chambers, and light attenuators that come with this Dichro head.

-- Jeff Sunzeri (Jeff@sunzeri.com), April 12, 2001

Answers

Sorry about the incomplete question.... hit the wrong button. Anyway, I'd like to print 35 mm negatives using the 6X7 mixing chamber and diffuser in the Dicro head. It came without the 35mm chamber. I suspect it will work ok, but what sort of problems might I expect? Will I have to stop down excessively? Will the light be too 'intense'? As for the attenuators, I get from the owner's manual that they are meant to reduce the light output so that I can use a larger f stop, without increasing filtration. Why would I want to do that? What other purpose do the attenuators serve?

-- Jeff Sunzeri (Jeff@sunzeri.com), April 12, 2001.

Actually, if you print 35mm negatives with a 6x7 mixing chamber, your required exposure time will increase, not decrease. A 35mm chamber has a smaller output window, so the light is more concentrated when it emerges than it is with a 6x7 chamber. This is necessary since the enlarger head has to be raised higher to produce a given print size with 35mm than it does for 6x7. You can certainly print 35mm negatives without a 35mm chamber, although you will have to compensate with longer exposure times.

I guess the attenuators would be useful for making small prints, where the enlarger head is close to the easel, resulting in very short exposure times. The attenuators would allow you to lengthen your exposures, making it easier to control dodging and burning.

-- Larry Rudy (ljrgcr@cetlink.net), April 14, 2001.