Omega DII Lens/Condenser help

I am using a Compon-S 80mm on the flat lens board and the 3 1/2" condenser.
I have to raise the lens approx. 36'' above the base board to get nearly the
entire neg. in a 8x10 frame. As you can imagine the neg. suffers with that
much enlargement, etc. I have the manual and it says that the Upper and
Lower condensers should be 3 1/2". Is there another condenser other than the
round metal one, that contains a mounted glass, that mounts on the head? I
also have a 5'' and 6'' metal condensers with glass mounted in them, and a
piece of convex? glass approx. 1/2" thick that is the same diameter of all
of the above heads. It came to me already setting in the 6" condenser, held
above the lower element by an approx 2'' spacer. What do I need to do to get
the negative larger when closer to the base board? Thanx- F.

 

After further review of my post, it occured to me that I should be using the
50mm lens w/35mm negs. My bad.

 

Omega DII Lens/Condenser help

Just a couple of things.
What format/size negative and are you sure the lens is a 80mm?

The condensize should not make a difference here if the negative is evenly
illuminated.

There are other condensers. a 50mm or so one, a combination of a 2" with a 3½"
among others.

Get the lens thing fixed and you should have no problems. Many print 35mm with
a 75mm with no problems. Also make sure the enlarger is steady.

 

I've the smaller 6x9 B8. I'm quite sure the large
condenser set may be left installed whatever the format.
The smaller condensers are for the purpose of increasing
the light intensity over small area negatives. Dan

 

To substantiate the above, I have a DII, an 80mm Componon also. Your
situation is about normal. Enlarging a 35mm negative to 8x10 with an 80mm
lens requires a stage height of about 30 inches (+/-). The only difference
I have noticed between the 6" and 3" condenser set is that using the 6" for
35mm requires about a stop more exposure.

The height of the head will have essentially no effect on print quality
given the same amount of enlargement. If you are experiencing poor prints,
in your opinion, it must be due to other factors like: poor negative
quality, poor enlarger alignment, vibration during printing, bad /
inappropriate light source, or misaligned light source.

Of course a 50mm lens will allow less head height but the lens must be at
least as good as your Componon, which is excellent.

Truly, dr bob.