Compact enlarger - Difference between Durst F60 v M600?

Bikerider · May 15, 2020

If you find the ideal enlarger for you to use and cannot pick it up yourself, enlargers can cost a fortune to ship even small distances. I have to pick up an LPL 6700 from my son's house because of the price of getting it to me. It exceeds the cost of fuel to get there and back AND the actual value of the enlarger combined.

Bob Bibab · May 21, 2020

Seems like it is a bit harder to find used Durst M601 / M605 at a reasonable price than I expected, in particular given the shipping issue. I wonder if this thread is actually creating demand for the these enlargers, because the two I had my eye on quickly disappeared. I think I need to broaden my search? Any thoughts on the Meopta Opemus 6 or the Kaiser enlargers?

gorbas · May 21, 2020

I'm Durst M605/M800 user. Last summer I saw nice selection of Durst's in Mr CAD Photographic store near Victoria station. Prices were on very high side for my Canadian taste. Opemus 5 or 6 are even better than Durst for your storing requirement. They are very solid enlargers. Buy enlarger with most useful accessories included. Meopta lenses are great too.

Luis-F-S · May 21, 2020

Kaiser makes great enlargers it’s a matter of finding one at the right price

Bikerider · May 21, 2020

Bob Bibab said:
Seems like it is a bit harder to find used Durst M601 / M605 at a reasonable price than I expected, in particular given the shipping issue. I wonder if this thread is actually creating demand for the these enlargers, because the two I had my eye on quickly disappeared. I think I need to broaden my search? Any thoughts on the Meopta Opemus 6 or the Kaiser enlargers?

Kaiser enlargers are very good, but they are also very very expensive new even good used ones will cost around £650 or around $800

Bob Bibab · May 21, 2020

Maybe I am too late to the party. But I see a Kaiser vcp6000 was sold on ebay back in March for £100. Working, with seemingly all the accessories. People are asking £300+ for a Durst m605 right now. I assume these are in the same league, if the Kaiser is not better. I guess I just need to keep an eye out and wait.

Is the Kaiser easy to get parts for in Europe?

gorbas · May 21, 2020

I never used Kaiser but from I have seen in the shops, there is too much plastic on them, for my taste. Will choose Opemus any time over it. England was big market for Meopta - Opemus manufacturer. You should not have trouble finding some for not much £

Bob Bibab · May 21, 2020

gorbas said:
I never used Kaiser but from I have seen in the shops, there is too much plastic on them, for my taste. Will choose Opemus any time over it. England was big market for Meopta - Opemus manufacturer. You should not have trouble finding some for not much £

Is the Opemus 6 the one to go for? Or doesn't really matter? Any thoughts on the colour v B&W head and anything I should look out for?

Ian Grant · May 22, 2020

Earlier in the thread I suggested going for a colour head, the light is more diffuse and far less prone to showing up dust and scratches, also easier with MG papers. The Meopta's are OK quite well made.

Ian

AgX · May 22, 2020

gorbas said:
I never used Kaiser but from I have seen in the shops, there is too much plastic on them, for my taste. Will choose Opemus any time over it. England was big market for Meopta - Opemus manufacturer. You should not have trouble finding some for not much £

Kaiser and Dunco went the modular way with there enlargers, with Kaiser using more plastic.

gorbas · May 22, 2020

Opemus 5 was the last one I used before moving up to Magnifax. Mostly I used it with condensers but had colour head too. From I can see now plastic used in variety of photography product does not age well. That particular Opemus colour head had mixing chambers made partially from styrofoam. I have no idea how well they aged? Did it yellow, crack? I can see that even now Ilford Multigrade mixing chambers are turning yellow inside.
Opemus is so easy for storage with that angled column and big screw at the bottom.

Bikerider · May 22, 2020

Bob Bibab said:
Is the Opemus 6 the one to go for? Or doesn't really matter? Any thoughts on the colour v B&W head and anything I should look out for?

Personally if I was not going to print colour, then I would go for the Opemus. Two main reasons; the light output will be greater from the light not having to go via a diffusion box, plus using condensers to concentrate the light the contrast will be marginally greater. There is one downside to this, the extra contrast will make grain a little more obvious and if there is any dust or scratches they will be more obvious. Not hugely but the risk is there. That said, providing you can keep your negatives clean and undamaged, the B&W print via a condenser enlarger will also appear slightly sharper. For multigrade filters, try to get the below lens set as they can be swapped over with no vibration, so making splitgrade printing with the same negative so much more easier..

Bob Bibab · May 22, 2020

Ian Grant said:
Earlier in the thread I suggested going for a colour head, the light is more diffuse and far less prone to showing up dust and scratches, also easier with MG papers. The Meopta's are OK quite well made.

Ian

Thanks. Yes. I saw that. One of the reasons I have been looking for a colour head. I guess my question was more in the specifics with the Meopta's in case there is anything I need to think about, such as light bulb availability and cost of different heads.

Paul Howell · May 22, 2020

The owners manual is one line, once you have a the part number for the bulb you can find out if there are replacments.

Bob Bibab · Jun 20, 2020

Been having difficulty landing a well priced M605 ... Prices seem to be going up daily at the moment. Probably just a phase.

Anyway, does anyone know how the quality, size, usability and maintainability of the m670 compares to the m605. Will I be losing anything going with the m670 if I don't shoot anything above 6x6?

Ian Grant · Jun 21, 2020

Both are similar in quality, there's no differences in teat respect oth. I think the columns is taller on the M670 so the neight needed is 49.2 inches, my M605 is around 42 inches with the head at the top of the columns. Having an enlarger capable of 6x7 isn't an issue for 6x6.

Ian

Bob Bibab · Jun 21, 2020

Ian Grant said:
Both are similar in quality, there's no differences in teat respect oth. I think the columns is taller on the M670 so the neight needed is 49.2 inches, my M605 is around 42 inches with the head at the top of the columns. Having an enlarger capable of 6x7 isn't an issue for 6x6.

Ian

Thanks Ian. You actually answered another question I had as well which is great (about the column height). I was hoping to find something that would double as a copy stand and my lens minimum focus distance is 50cm. Good to see both would work.

domenicostefani · Apr 10, 2021

Bikerider said:
The F60 was multiformat. I owned one when I lived in Germany between 1976 and 1980. I used both 35mm and 6x6 so yes it was available.

Hey, I can confirm, however I just found an issue with mine. I always used it for 35mm with a cardboard mask put there by the previous owner. Now I removed it to print 6x6 negatives and i found out that the square hole on the negative carrier has rounded corners! When projecting a negative you can clearly see them.
Do you know if they can be filed safely? I’m not sure if they are like this because the compact condenser cannot cover the entire frame.

Compact enlarger - Difference between Durst F60 v M600?

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