Folks, I inherited a suitcase full of old 127 negatives from my family that I'd love to try printing. I have a pair of Omega B66 enlargers, but that model doesn't have a negative carrier available for 127 film. Can anyone suggest an enlarger that has (or had) 127 format negative carriers available?

Thanks!

-- Mike Bechtold (wmichaelb@aol.com), September 28, 2001

Answers

For a modern enlarger, the Saunders/LPL have universal glass carriers available. The smaller formats include masking blades. For the 4500's, the masking blades are a separate assembly that replaces the lower plate where negative carriers sit. Other manufacturers offer the universal carriers, but not too many offer the masking blades.

You should be able to find a used carrier for this format. Try: http://www.classic-enlargers.com/

You could also try EBay.

For the B22 carriers, though, the negative carriers were quite simple affairs. A good machinist could cut & form these out of aluminum or steel plate. I'd recommend anodizing or applying a good finish to avoid the aluminum from rubbing off onto the negatives.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), September 28, 2001.

For 127, you should be able to mask down a 6x6 carrier and use your Omega.

-- Ed Farmer (photography2k@hotmail.com), September 28, 2001.

A lot depends on the negative format size used on the 127 film; in much the same way you cannot really say that a certain enlarger can handle 120 negatives.

But then the original format for 127 is nominally 4cmX6.5cm so an enlarger which can handle 6cmX6cm might not get the whole negative area in. In the 1930s half-size "16-on-127" became popular: these 4cmX3cm negatives should be easier to handle but you still need to use either a glass carrier or improvise, unless you use a first-generation Meopta Opemus which came with negative carriers for both 24mmX36mm and 4cmX3cm.

-- Samuel Tang (samueltang@austarmetro.com.au), September 28, 2001.

You could buy a negative carrier with a smaller hole and have a machine shop enlarge the hole to match the negative size.

-- Michael Briggs (MichaelBriggs@earthlink.net), September 29, 2001.

Mike - for years I have been printing all my enlargements using a 'home made' negative carrier. I simply took two pieces of 4 ply mat board, and using a mat cutter, cut the appropriate opening in one board, then hinged the two boards. I also glued two little paper strips on the inside of the carrier, to hold the negatives in place. These carriers have worked better for me than the metal ones. Contact me off line if you would like more detail.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), September 29, 2001.

I would agree with Chris. My students make negative carriers all the time, especially when wishing to achieve a full frame effect with raw edges. No problems at all. just use firm board not something too thin. Of course machine made is great as well.

-- Ann C lancy (clancya@mediaone.net), September 29, 2001.

Folks, thanks for your responses. I've become convinced that the way to handle this problem is to build a custom holder, perhaps by modifying a 6X6 carrier. I'll repost when I get something working, just as an update.

-- Mike Bechtold (wmichaelb@aol.com), September 29, 2001.

The main issue is that the enlarger light source must be able to cover the entire negative area evenly. Making custom negative carriers is no big deal, I have made numerous ones for use in various Durst and my old faithful Wasp 4"X5".

-- Samuel Tang (samueltang@austarmetro.com.au), October 01, 2001.