[Leica] Re: Leitz Focomat Ic and Saunders easel

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

All four bladed easels will have the problem that you describe as there is 
the width of the easel top plus the width of the top blade which moves your 
paper too far out. Get a two blade easel and try it. There is no top or 
left blade and your paper always gets positioned in the top left corner of 
the easel where it is only the width of the easel top between the enlarger 
post and the paper. You gain one to two inches.

Jim


At 03:02 PM 10/5/2001 +0000, Leslie E. England wrote:
>I just got a new Saunders easel so I could try 11x14 and 16x20
>enlargements on my Leitz Focomat Ic.  The problem is that the condenser
>head doesn't jut out far enough over the baseboard to use the Saunders
>easel (or the Saunders easel won't allow the paper close enough to the
>support pole of the Focomat)  11x14 works okay by slipping the paper
>into the anchoring slot on the easel intended for 16x20 paper.  That
>gets it close enough to the pole for the projected image.  But 16x20
>paper has to be put all the way to the pole side of the easel where it
>can't be anchored or pressed down.  It is pressed down by the blades on
>the other three sides.
>     Also, the only way I could get even this done was to put the
>enlarger on a counter and the easel on a lower set typing table.
>     There must be another way.  This easel was $400, and I have two
>weeks to try it before I run out of time to get a refund.  Is there
>another easel that works better on a Focomat for 16x20?  Does the
>Saunders easel work better on a Saunders enlarger?  Was the Focomat Ic
>never intended for 16x20?
>     Help.
>     The enlargements, by the way, are really good.  Pyro on Ilford HP5
>plus apparently stains in between the grain so well, there's really no
>noticeable grain, even at 16x20 with ASA 400 film.  I was thinking of
>trying some medium format, but now I don't know.
>
>-Lee England
>-Natchez, Miss.

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