Argentic photograph, a new generation enlarger transforms the home drawing

The return of silver photography is undeniable and continues to be confirmed year after year. We see new products, dandruff and even cameras arriving on the market. We can cite for example the Pentax 17 or the recent announcement of the return of Rollei 35. Leica, also always offers its famous M6 for sale!

People, and in particular the youngest, therefore practice silver photography. This discipline may, for some, not stop at the simple shot, but go much further with the development and the print of the photographs. Of course, these operations (including digitization) can be carried out by a specialized laboratory, but it is quite possible to make them yourself at home, as long as you have adequate equipment.

The company Smart Lab 35 has designed a new generation of enlargeers, Smart enlarger. An enlarger allows, as its name suggests, to project and enlarge the image, for example, of a black and white negative film on argentic photographic paper. Once exposed, this paper must be revealed and fixed using several chemical baths (revealing, stop bath, fixative) then washed and dried to give a final paper draw of the image.

Smart enlarger are extremely well thought out products that make it possible to simplify their use as much as possible. They are already very minimalist. The 35 model, therefore designed to operate with 135 mm (24 x 36 mm) dandruff, has been designed to use photo devices optics and not optics designed for enlargeers. Exit therefore the development system via displacement of the lens on the column of the enlarger, it is enough to turn the manual focusing ring of the lens. Smart Lab 35 also offers several adaptation rings for optics in Leica M, Nikon F and Minolta SR.

The manufacturer has also opted for a LED light source connected in Bluetooth and supplied with USB-C. It is this light which, in contact with the negative, will allow to project the image via the lens on the surface of the paper. On a traditional enlarger, this light source is generally incandescent, coupled with a timer system (which modulates the exposure time) and must be filtered to work the contrast of the images. On the Smart Enlarger, all these operations are now managed entirely by LED light and a dedicated iOS or Android dedicated application. The application, at the refined interface, makes it possible to adjust the exposure time, the intensity of the light emitted by the LED and finally to choose the gradation for the contrast (the equivalent of the filters). From the application, you can activate lighting to develop, activate red safety lighting to safely install your paper and finally launch the exhibition. It's just great!

The Smart Enlarger 35 is offered at a price of 389 euros. There is also a 120 medium format version equipped with a focus bellows and offered at a price of 789 euros.