enlargers a question

Tballphoto · Mar 11, 2021

Saw on emulsive website an article by a man who built his own enlarger system. The only thing that wasnt built into it was a spot for a grain focuser or filter set.

He used a regular camera lens to do it. That makes me ask a simple question.

What genuinely would be hindrances in making basic prints of bw negatives if i simply took an ugly functional 20$ 35mm camera off of fleabuy and tossed it on a tripod, flipped it to point down, popped the back open, and threw my scanners film holder on it with a light source in a box on top?

Versus spending 400$ plus shipping on a beselar cadet II and trying to modify a lens board to use a longer lens when i want to try 120 film in it?

Ysarex · Mar 11, 2021

Tballphoto said:
Saw on emulsive website an article by a man who built his own enlarger system. The only thing that wasnt built into it was a spot for a grain focuser or filter set.

He used a regular camera lens to do it. That makes me ask a simple question.

What genuinely would be hindrances in making basic prints of bw negatives if i simply took an ugly functional 20$ 35mm camera off of fleabuy and tossed it on a tripod, flipped it to point down, popped the back open, and threw my scanners film holder on it with a light source in a box on top?

Versus spending 400$ plus shipping on a beselar cadet II and trying to modify a lens board to use a longer lens when i want to try 120 film in it?

Back in the good old days cameras often served double duty as enlargers. Think about old bellows style cameras. When I was a starving artist I built my first view camera from old enlarger parts. When my finances allowed me to move on I gave the "joedorf" to a friend who turned it into an enlarger.