I recently asked a question about the Valoy enlarger which contributor Warren Allen espoused the praises of the Valoy enlarger.

My question essentially related to the differences between the Valoy and the Focomat Ic.

I want to do solely B&W work and I want a fully manual focussing enlarger. Is the Focomat auto focus or manual focus ?

Your replies would be appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Tony Salce

-- Tony Salce (NadinaTony@bigpond.com), January 02, 2002

Answers

The Valoy is manual focus and the Focomat autofocus. It (the Focomat) has a color filter drawer but is of course highly acceptable for BW only. I don't remember a filter drawer on the Valoy which may be a problem if you intend to work with variable contrast papers.

Regards - Seth

-- Seth Honeyman (sdhoneyman@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.

My Valloy II does not have a filter drawer. I've replaced the original swing away red filter with an under lens v.c. filter holder from another enlarger which works fine (Ilford or Kodak filters, designed for under- the- lens use are thin gels which don't degrade image quality). Unfortunately the clamp-on holders that come with Ilford and Kodak v.c. filter sets don't work, because the helical focus causes the lens to rotate.

-- Robert Marvin (marvbej@earthlink.net), January 02, 2002.

Hello Tony,As a user of the Focomat 1c enlarger I can advise:This unit allows fully manual focussing,with the provision for up to 10 power enlargements by auto. focussing should the sliding assembly of the unit up and down the enlarger column be calibrated to the proper height setting.This enlarger contains as standard a plain filter drawer above the condensor unit to hold your separately inserted filters for either black and white or color printing.The "long column" variant of this enlarger allows for 20 by 16 inch print enlargements directly onto the baseboard.One thing to note maybe the the appearance from time to time of "Newton's rings"on your prints.These will be removed whilst printing by using the special Leica anti Newton ring glass fitted to the underside of the condensor unit.This accessory was not standard with the Focomat 1c and maybe a little difficult to procure.Coupled with a good quality grain focuser this enlarger will render outstanding black and white prints. Regards.

-- Sheridan Zantis (albada60@hotmail.com), January 02, 2002.

The focomat 1c is autofocus but can be changed to manual focus easily. You can work faster with the 1c than with the valloy because of the autofocus.If you print a real lot than this is an advantage.Also you can't crop as deeply with the valloy because of the way it is set up vs. the 1c. Its easy to put filters on top of the condensors so this is not a problem in either enlarger.Make sure you get the valloy-2 though as this is the best one.If you can, get a valloy with the brass spacer for the condensor you can avoid newtons rings...some people use cut mat board instead.Either way you cant go wrong with either enlarger.If it is a choice between one or the other ..... the valloy if you need money and space savings... the 1c if you need autofocus. There is not going to be any difference in your prints with either enlarger. They use the same condensor and lens combo...These enlargers are incredibly aligned and a joy to use! Good luck!

-- Emile de Leon (knightpeople@msn.com), January 02, 2002.

Thanks for your replies. They have been very useful. I've found a Focomat 1c color enlarger. I am about to post another question on the cost of this unit. Thanks again for your help.

Kind Regards,

Tony Salce

-- Tony Salce (NadinaTony@bigpond.com), January 03, 2002.