8x10 enlarger

Nicholas Dellerba

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Does anyone know where I can get an 8x10 enlarger, that holds 8x10 negatives? Willing to travel a little. I live in Columbus, Ohio. Hoping for a reasonable price. Any ideas would help. Thanks!
 

Bronson Dugnutt

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Good luck in your search; 8x10 enlargers are generally pretty chunky bits of equipment, second only to a process camera.

In a pinch you may want to consider experimenting with an overhead projector.

 

Paul Howell

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Ebay, Estay, Goodwill, Craig's List, start with cities closest to you and work outward. Check with KHB in Canada, he might have parts to put together an Omega. You might get lucky, but it could take a while. When professional labs closed there were a number on the market, most have be either bought by LF shooters or trashed. I don't know if anyone is making an 8X10. If you have a darkroom and a close by machine shop that will take on odd jobs you could build one. Ansel Adams built his out of an 11X14 Camera, his first 8X10 used the sun as a light source. There was a guy here in Phoenix who made an 8X10 that used a sun tube, a sky light in the north wall of his dark room, cobbled together bellows and rails, worked rather well.
 

Bronson Dugnutt

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Indeed. My traditional enlarger will handle negatives up to 6x7, but an appropriate light source (e.g. a graflarger https://www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/graflarger.html) can repurpose a camera into a projector.
 

Luis-F-S

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If you can find a Durst 138 or an Omega/Beseler 4x5 they made (make?) 8x10 adapters for them. L
 

Robert Maxey

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AND ... isolate it from vibration. The bigger you go, the worse it can get. No, I mean the worse it WILL get. To those attempting to set one of those glorious behemoths up, Bless You.
 

TheFlyingCamera

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If you're in Ohio, you might want to hit up Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus - they at least used to deal a LOT in used large format gear, and they'd certainly be ones to have an ear to the ground for an available 8x10 enlarger. Give them a call and ask for Mat Marrash - he's their large format guy, and an overall really nice guy to talk to/work with.
 

Dan McGuire

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Hello
You can do what I did, get a Bessler MX45 as cheap as you can, and then purchase a conversion kit LED Head
Works like a charm
 

ic-racer

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Did you see the Zone VI 5x7 enlarger in Mt. Vernon, OH on ebay? Not 8x10 but a good deal considering Zone VI enlargers were 'high end' and it is within driving distance.
In terms of value, the old Elwood enlargers, at least in the Midwest, seem to be the ones I see more often offered as junk. I think even one left outside can still be refurbished; they are not that complex but they are very sturdy.

I got my two 8x10 Durst enlargers by driving to Cleveland and Toronto may years ago, but recently it seems most of the Durst and Devere enlargers are on the coasts.

I found my enlargers using "Searchtempest" to search Craigs List in multiple cities. I used these terms:

"Darkroom"
"Durst"
"Omega"
"DeVere"
"Elwood"
"8x10"

 
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ic-racer

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For example, here is an Elwood that was in Akron Ohio that sold for $5 not too long ago: 2019.

 

ic-racer

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If you can drive to Montana, I think this ad is real. Elwood for only $60! Though this might be the 5x7.
 

mshchem

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Elwood enlargers are most common. They work fine. I got extraordinarily lucky, one of the wait until it finds you. Zone VI 8x10 and a separate 5x7 type 2, with VC heads. If you can find one with a Metrolux II timer there's nothing better (IMHO) for black and white, and it's easy to move. The huge professional DeVere and others are the Rolls Royce of enlargers, so cool, but not for me, even if I could find one. (I would be sleeping with a DeVere in my garage, 12' ceiling, when my wife found out )
 

ic-racer

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Using 'searchtempest' this is the closest Durst to Ohio, it is another 5x7 but only $250.
 

ic-racer

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I suspect in a few years it will be "where did all the 5x7 enlargers go?"
 

mshchem

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ic-racer said:
I suspect in a few years it will be "where did all the 5x7 enlargers go?"
Click to expand...
I have a good friend who has a 5x7 and 8x10 Elwood and a 16x20 Robertson process camera, in her basement! All in good shape. That process camera would be amazing to modify into a trailer borne ULF camera, vacuum back. You could unroll 120 rolls of film, slap it on the vacuum back and make 6 x a gazillion cm pan shots
 

DREW WILEY

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Glenn Evans of Glennview.com in Chicago can help you with 8x10 enlargers, but not cheaply. Sadly, I watched over 20 of the real-deal pro ones go to the scrap yard a few years ago, because I only had room for one other big enlarger enlarger in my darkroom. The one I took for free originally cost about $26,000 and was hell to move. So even the best do sometimes turn up with a price tag of zero. It takes timing and luck. If you are open to a conversion, the Durst 138 5X7 model is probably the most solid precise choice for retrofitting an 8X10 head and negative stage. Glenn Evans offers those conversions.

Durst commercial gear was designed to be capable of being tuned up. Unless it had taken a direct bomb hit in WWII, any 138 chassis for $250 is not something you should think about, but drive a pickup toward as fast as you can. Yes, some TLC will no doubt be needed, but even that commitment will giving you an appreciation of the sheer quality of the device.
 

Luis-F-S

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Neil Poulsen

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ic-racer said:
Did you see the Zone VI 5x7 enlarger in Mt. Vernon, OH on ebay? . . .
Click to expand...

Years and years ago, I got lucky and picked up a local Zone VI Type II 5x7/8x10 enlarger that included both heads. But really, the Zone VI 8x10 enlarger is just an adapted 5x7 enlarger. If you can find some sort of 8x10 negative carrier, you could build a Zone VI like adapter. Then, it's just a matter of finding an 8x10 light source that could be fitted on top.

That shouldn't be so difficult, since you would be specifying the dimensions of the adapter. Your chassis should be the Type II 5x7 enlarger chassis with the 60" column, which was designed to be converted to 8x10. So, the Type II enlargers have a larger lens stage and a longer bellows.
 

ic-racer

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Dublin is not far from Mt Vernon, he should to check it out.
 
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