Vintage Bonanza

I've mentioned a time or two that the one gaping hole in my partially functional darkroom has been an enlarger I lacked. Online auctions may be great for cameras and lenses and such, but shipping charges alone would exceed the budget I could allow for an enlarger no matter what sort of bargain I might be able to find. A search through the local online classifieds turned up slim pickings, usually a lot here and there of unspecified darkroom "stuff" that might include a rickety entry-level 35mm enlarger, but I figured if I waited long enough something would eventually turn up. A few days ago it did. 

The ad seemed much like all the others, just a complete darkroom setup, no photos, no list, contact for details. I don't even know what prompted me to inquire, but the next day the news from the seller arrived in my inbox that the lot included a Durst M601 enlarger, a model that would afford the near perfect balance between capability (it won't quite handle the full 6x7 frame of my RB, but heck, I usually crop square anyway) and size in the teeny darkroom space I have. That was all I needed to know. Apparently some other stuff was included too.

My primary target, The Durst M601, in its new still very unfinished home.  

The lot had been kept in a blue storage trunk (included) of sufficient size to contain a medium sized adult provided they were willing to endure physical discomforts exceeding those experienced by coach passengers. Inside was the enlarger which was in fine condition excepting for a portion of the gear teeth on column rail which create a dead spot at a certain height when cranking the head up and down. It included a 50mm and a 75mm Schneider lens which I'd say is at the high end of reasonable expectations. Then there was the expected - the obligatory trio of 8x10 developing trays, safe-light (though there were two of these), film tanks (though there were three of these), printing easel and a packet of D-76 powder. 

Then a few unexpected items began to emerge. First was the print dryer, not the most common darkroom item to be found but a sweet bonus for any printer who, like me, loves the look of a print on premium fiber based paper but the tendency to curl up into a cylinder not so much. 

Even before the digital age I wonder how many photographers would have known what this thing even is.

Then the film started to appear. At first it was the four bright yellow boxes, rolls of Kodak Plus X, a film that perhaps I didn't show enough appreciation for before it was discontinued a few years ago and had been hoping for one last chance to use. These rolls were hardly end of the line though; the freshest of the four had expired int 1982. This was followed by a larger yellow box, a 100ft bulk roll of the same stuff (develop by 09/79), a round metal tin bearing the old Ilford sunburst logo containing 100ft of FP4. (FP4 Plus is one of the films I use today, but this stuff is the nonplussed version.) Finally there was an even larger round metal tin of the sort that looks like it contains a movie reel. (And I suspect it well might, we'll find out when we get it open in the dark.) This contains 1000' of Ilford Mark V, a cinematic film I've never heard of. It's 35mm like all the rest of it though, we'll just have to experiment a bit to figure out how to use it to best advantage. All told then that's 1200 feet of film not including the bit that's in one of the bulk film loaders. (Did I mention there were also two bulk film loaders? Sorry. There were also two bulk film loaders.) That's over 1/3 of a kilometre of 35mm film. If it's any good after all those decades my Nikons just might feel loved again. 

Large format isn't totally neglected though. There was also a box, apparently of similar vintage, of FP4 in 4-3/4" x 6-1/2" sheets, so now I just need to pick up a few 4-3/4" x 6-1/2" film holders and I'm off to the races. They carry those at Walmart I think.

Just the perfect size to fall right out of a 5x7 film holder.

Along the way there had been paper. Ilfobrom paper, Panalure F paper, Kentmere paper, pretty much all of it 8x10. Down at the bottom though, the very bottom there was a garbage bag of something resting in what turned out to be three 16.x20 trays nested togther. In the garbage bag was of course 16x20 paper. 

This isn't even all of it. The question is what am I going to do with it? How am I supposed to print on this stuff? My darkroom is a glorified closet.