4x5 enlarger help?

I am considering an enlarger that is billed as a "Chromega D4 4 x 5 Enlarger". I believe the brand is Omega? I'm wondering if I should purchase this, or get something else. I can probably get it for about $50.

I've never heard of this brand. Do they make a good machine? Does anyone know how hard it will be to find parts if something breaks, or how large it can enlarge to?

Thanks everyone for your time,
Tortoise avenger

A D4 is quite old. But Omega enlargers are very good and very common in North America.

A very good resource for information on Enlargers is KHB: http://www.khbphotografix.com/omega/

The D3 and D4 are oddballs in the D series, but Omega D's are good enlargers. It says here you need special focusing cams and lens cones

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

But you might be able to get them here http://www.classic-enlargers.com/

Its probably a good enlarger, it just might take some extra effort to get everything you need. I've not used one. I have a D5XL. You'd want to make sure the color head is functional and with stabilizer/ power supply.

Those are getting kinda long in the tooth. you'd have to see it.

Lenses you can get, lens boards or mounts are a little tougher,
film carriages can be a tough to find and cost way more than $50.

Like many color enlargers, the chromega's have filters that fade over time.
Depending on it's age, these could be unreliable for setting contrast on b&w images.

Someone selling just the head would probably want a lot more than that if it were in good shape.

The one's I like for 4x5 [kind of in this order]: saunders/lpl, durst, devere, omega...

Good enlargers, along with all the holders, lenses and lens boards, power supplies, etc, are hard to come by and can still cost a bit.

I'd say keep looking, you'll spend a lot of time around the one you get, and you want them to be bombproof, and have very few issues
so you can concentrate on the important stuff, like making art

-Tim

When you want one,they are hard to find and expensive;When you want to sell one,nobody wants them even for free.go figure.

I've been using a D4 for years, and have no complaints. After using for both colour and B&W, with the original Chromega head, I adapted it to a dichroic head.
The frame is as sturdy as you can get, actually sort of an extra-robust D3, over-engineered to support the heavy Chromega head.
It's an autofocus enlarger, and if you have the proper cams matching the lenses, it's a sweet machine to operate.

Dan

RalphLambrecht said:

When you want one,they are hard to find and expensive;When you want to sell one,nobody wants them even for free.go figure.

Click to expand...

That's always been my experience as a seller.

I currently have 5 enlargers available on my website ... :confused:

TortoiseAvenger said:

I am considering an enlarger that is billed as a "Chromega D4 4 x 5 Enlarger". I believe the brand is Omega? I'm wondering if I should purchase this, or get something else. I can probably get it for about $50.

I've never heard of this brand. Do they make a good machine? Does anyone know how hard it will be to find parts if something breaks, or how large it can enlarge to?

Thanks everyone for your time,
Tortoise avenger

Click to expand...

Do not stop! Run and buy it. I have a Super Chromega Dichroic D5-XL 4 x 5 Enlarger in my darkroom. I paid about $350 for it. It is the same model that Kodak made available to employees in the after hours darkroom. I learned to print C-41 color prints on it. Now I use it for black & white and color printing.