Interchangability of Negative Carriers??

[aynyc]

Hello all,

I've been taking both 35mm and medium-format 120 film photos from quite some time. Since I've gotten tired of having my film digitally processed and printed (on cheap-o digital paper) for a small fortune, I've decided to go old-school and do my own darkroom printing, and I'm a complete amateur when it comes to this.

From my research so far I have a pretty fair understanding of how the enlargers work (I'm gonna go with a color dichroic so I don't have to mess with color filters), that I need to have the appropriate carriers and lenses for each film format, and that the enlarger has to be able to handle at least medium-format (6x6) carriers if I want to print my 120's.

I've found both a Berkey Omega c760 and a Saunders LPL 67d. The Saunders comes with a 50mm lens and carrier for 35mm film and it practically unused, so it's my first choice. However, while the Berkey doesn't come with a lens, I'm planning on buying an 80mm lens anyway for larger formats.

So here's my question: Either way I'll need to purchase a 6x6 carrier. I'm finding a lot of carriers that are less expensive for "omegas" while the carriers for "lpl" are much more expensive. But I've seen that Saunders and Omega are both names of importers for the same enlargers. So would a 6x6 Omega negative carrier also fit the Saunders? Or would I be better off buying the omega since the parts available are cheaper? Or does it just come down to whether the carrier is for a "c-series" or "d-series" regardless of the make? Sorry if this is actually very simple but after hours of research I'm getting overwhelmed by models and numbers and parts etc..

 

[BobMarvin]

Negative carriers are pretty brand, and even model, specific. There may be some compatibility between different models of the same brand (i.e. Omega "D" carriers will fit any model from D-II through D-5) but often this isn't the case. For example the carriers for my Omega B-8 won't fit a B-22. If you're in the US, Omega and Beseler enlargers and parts are easiest to find.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I'm not familiar with the specific enlargers you're looking at; I'd been using a shared darkroom at a local university and don't have my own set up at home (yet). I'm more familiar with the Beselers which have negative carriers for various sizes of film in which just the opening for a frame of film is different. I've seen some for Omegas that fit their enlargers but look similar to the kind I'm familiar with (that hold a specific size film but otherwise are the same overall shape/size to fit in the enlarger.)

So I'm not much help! but I'd lean toward which one you might be able to find accessories for more readily.

Sharon

 

[bsinmich]

You can do what I have done. I got an Omega 67 on E-Bay for $25. The bulb blew out and I found a new bulb was more than the price I paid for the enlarger. I got a Beseler 67 with a good bulb for $40 and then I got 3 bulbs for $21. on E-Bay. I now leave one set up for 6X6 and one for 35. That eliminates need to change lens and negative carriers plus the Beseler has a different light box for the 2 sizes. They both take the same bulbs.