Durst M302 Enlarger - Help Finding The Last Few Pieces

Hello All,

I've had a very exciting summer trying to piece together a darkroom- basically by just reading a few bits around the internet.

I need some help sourcing the last few bits for my Durst M302 enlarger.

From having something that wouldn't turn on to getting it working; I'm in the last few bits.

What's missing:

- Lens plate for Durst NEOTAR 1:3.5/50 to fix into enlarger

- Negative holder for 35mm negatives (Does Durst Nevoneg mean anything?)

- Red filter for black & white film developing (can I add this)

Anyone have any advice on the bits I need?

What I have:

- Durst M302 enlarger

- Durst NEOTAR 1:3.5/50 Lens

- Durst TIM 305 Transformer

- Tobias Baeuerle Timer

- Philips 75w halogen tungsten bulb (replacement)

I'm really want to start using and I realise I'm new; so when I have got everything up and running I feel like posting a blog in what I learned!

Your help would be much appreciated.

Ben

- Red filter for black & white film developing (can I add this)

- Noooo! You can't develop any modern film under a red safelight. It has to be done in total darkness. No light whatsoever; a domestic room at night with the curtains drawn is not dark enough.

Unless you mean the useless swing filter that goes under the enlarger lens. Not needed and never used by any printer I ever knew or spoke to.

The lens-plate you need has the Durst code: NEPLA

It takes any common L39 thread enlarging lens. Speaking of which, you might want to replace that cheap f/3.5 Neotar with something better. I'd recommend a Schneider 50mm f/2.8 Componon-S, Rodenstock Rodagon or El-Nikkor N. They're all top quality 6 element designs and can be got used for a tiny fraction of what they cost new.

The manual - in French - for the 302 is viewable here.

'Noooo! You can't develop any modern film under a red safelight.'

Surely it is only loading the tank that has to be done in complete darkness - once this is done, the rest can be carried out under a safelight, domestic lighting or the glare of the noonday sun (assuming the tank is completely light-tight, of course !).

I agree about the red swing filter.

'Noooo! You can't develop any modern film under a red safelight.'

 

Surely it is only loading the tank that has to be done in complete darkness - once this is done, the rest can be carried out under a safelight, domestic lighting or the glare of the noonday sun (assuming the tank is completely light-tight, of course !).

 

I agree about the red swing filter.

- Getting a bit pedantic aren't we?

I'm sure you know exactly what I meant.

I remember the red swing filter on my first enlarger, when I was about 10 as a Christmas present.

I never used it.

Sometime later, I got below the lens VC filters, where the holder ran into the stalk holding the red filter,

so I took off the red filter that I never used.

I suppose it could be convenient, especially without an easel, to position the paper with the red image.

With easel, I compose, hope the easel doesn't move too much, add paper with the lamp off, then expose.

One could do borderless pictures with double-stick tape, and position the paper through the red filter.

I never tried that.

Pro quality enlargers have an amber filter, if one is fitted at all.

Red filters are generally too dense to be of much practical use once the lens is stopped down to its exposing aperture.

An amber filter is semi-useful with a cold cathode head, so that you can leave the lamp on continuously and control the exposure with the filter. But most pro printers never do that - too much chance of ruining the print definition by moving the enlarger head. You need to first double blind the lens with a piece of card, swing the filter away, leave a few seconds for any vibration to die away, and then take the card away to make the exposure. That's a time-wasting kerfuffle in a busy darkroom; so most printers just switch the lamp off briefly while placing the paper.

As for the OP, there used to be someone on eBay selling enlarger parts.

I got a free Omega enlarger, which I then found out didn't have any condenser lenses.

(The person I got it from also got it free, but never got around to using it.)

I think it cost about $10 from the person I got them from.

Then not long after I got the lenses, the bulb burned out.

Later on, the spring tape that helps lift the head broke, and I got that from

the same place.

Or you might find a whole enlarger to get parts from, until you have something that works.

(In the mean time, I got two other free enlargers that I haven't used yet, including one with

a color head. I am not sure all the parts are there for that one.)

There are a lot of people getting out of darkroom work, so a lot of enlargers

and parts around.

I've had a very exciting summer trying to piece together a darkroom

That's the spirit! In fact, it's the only way to approach "piecing together" incomplete old machinery.

eBay does make it easier, for sure, but there are so many different brands with so many almost compatible parts that only someone with a bold sense of adventure would take on the task.

For the rest of us, it's a really good idea to make sure old enlargers (or whatever) still have all the parts before you buy or even accept.

I have a lovely old microfilm reader, almost complete, somewhere in the attic.

For the rest of us, it's a really good idea to make sure old enlargers (or whatever) still have all the parts before you buy or even accept.

- Tell me about it!

I bought a very cheap Bowens Illumitran 3 on impulse about a year ago. It was only after I downloaded the manual that I realised it was missing the contrast-control glass, and had no negative-carrier stage. Another bl**dy project in the making!

It also has a flash trigger voltage too high to be safely used on a modern DSLR, and the fitted BPM bellows is pretty badly made. Perhaps that previous 'bargain buy' of an assortment of Novoflex bellows will come in handy? Aaaaargh! Maybe that Illumitran wasn't such a bargain after all?

I have seen a lot of enlargers in Goodwill stores without a negative carrier.

They seem to get lost easily.

The Goodwill store pricing system includes a day for each color tag where the items are $1,

and enlargers tend not to sell fast, even at already low prices.

But yes, even if it is free, you still have to store it. There is a tendency not to throw away something

that seems valuable, even if it isn't.

That is why there are so many old cameras around, that most have almost no value.

Old toys got thrown away, but not cameras, even if they were just as worn out.

In my case, the Omega B22 is pretty easy to find parts for.

Looking up the Omega B22, I found the service manual, which indicates that you are supposed

to grease the column (with black grease) and the spring (with Vaseline). Both of which

I never did.

I have the XL version, with a longer column, for larger prints.

- Noooo! You can't develop any modern film under a red safelight. It has to be done in total darkness. No light whatsoever; a domestic room at night with the curtains drawn is not dark enough.

 

Unless you mean the useless swing filter that goes under the enlarger lens. Not needed and never used by any printer I ever knew or spoke to.

 

The lens-plate you need has the Durst code: NEPLA

It takes any common L39 thread enlarging lens. Speaking of which, you might want to replace that cheap f/3.5 Neotar with something better. I'd recommend a Schneider 50mm f/2.8 Componon-S, Rodenstock Rodagon or El-Nikkor N. They're all top quality 6 element designs and can be got used for a tiny fraction of what they cost new.

 

The manual - in French - for the 302 is viewable here.

Thank you so much for your reply! It's been a busy few weeks getting back into the swing of things. I'm shooting and developing in black and white with a colour enlarger, I should be fine I think.

Yes it's a cheaper lens but will take the advice to get something bigger!

Thank you so much for your help. Will let you know how it goes post eBay trip :-)

I remember the red swing filter on my first enlarger, when I was about 10 as a Christmas present.

 

I never used it.

 

Sometime later, I got below the lens VC filters, where the holder ran into the stalk holding the red filter,

so I took off the red filter that I never used.

 

I suppose it could be convenient, especially without an easel, to position the paper with the red image.

 

With easel, I compose, hope the easel doesn't move too much, add paper with the lamp off, then expose.

 

One could do borderless pictures with double-stick tape, and position the paper through the red filter.

I never tried that.

Its not essential but I thought it might make it easier when burning or dodging an image :-)

Thank you for your reply.

'Noooo! You can't develop any modern film under a red safelight.'

 

Surely it is only loading the tank that has to be done in complete darkness - once this is done, the rest can be carried out under a safelight, domestic lighting or the glare of the noonday sun (assuming the tank is completely light-tight, of course !).

 

I agree about the red swing filter.

Tank? I'm in black and white now. Gotta keep that paper safe!!

There are M301 and M601 parts (or enlargers to use for parts) on eBay, but I don't see M302.

Is it similar (parts-wise) to one of those?