Condenser enlargers

Gary Holliday · Jan 25, 2008

Which condenser enlargers are still on the market?

Pinholemaster · Jan 25, 2008

Beseler

Omega

is Durst still around?

Are you writing a book? or just shopping? Grin.

Gary Holliday · Jan 25, 2008

shopping

Neanderman · Jan 25, 2008

Gary Holliday said:
shopping

What size are you looking for?

Ed

CraigH · Jan 25, 2008

Beseler still makes the 23cIII & a 4x5. I believe that Durst sadly bit the dust.

Craig

PHOTOTONE · Jan 25, 2008

There are some inexpensive imports..don't know the names. Is Meopta still around? But....with all the good cheap, even free enlargers out there in the used market why buy new?

firecracker · Jan 26, 2008

LPL and Fujimoto brands are. But recently they both have increased their prices quite a bit.

George Papantoniou · Jan 26, 2008

There's Kaiser, too.

Stan160 · Jan 26, 2008

Meopta enlargers are still being sold as new stock here in the UK, so I assume they are still being manufactured.

Jon Butler · Jan 26, 2008

Hi,

Kienzle in Germany, for any type of enlarger you could want.

JON.

Aurelien · Jan 26, 2008

Rohen Enlargers are still in business.
They are condenser enlargers, with the possibility to adapt a color or a meograde head from meopta. I own one and it's great.

Gary Holliday · Jan 26, 2008

Neanderman said:
What size are you looking for?

Ed

6x6 and capable of 16x16 enlargements. Sturdy and precise and professional standard. Would consider secondhand of course.

dpurdy · Jan 26, 2008

I wouldn't consider anything but second hand. Too many enlargers going to rust in the world. In 1976 I bought my beseler 45mxt from an old timer going out of business. He had been using it for many years. I have been using it ever since. In 1990 I decided to buy a new Beseler 45 mxt because I thought there was a good chance the motor would go bad in my old one. Now 2008 about a million prints later my new black one from 1990 still sits unused. My old grey Beseler still cranks up and down everyday and still sits solid and still is square and level. My condensor head is mostly a piece of sculpture but it still is ready for action.

GeorgesGiralt · Jan 27, 2008

Hi !
Meopta are no longer made but there are plenty of them in stock so you'll find them for a while.
Durst has ceased to manufacture a lot of models, concentrating in the Lambda printers, but I wonder if the 1200 is still availlable. (a beast !)
Odyssey sales in Great Britain may still produce the De Vere, and you may still find the German Dunco.
I second the advice about Kienzle they made a clone of the Leitz Focomat II (it was designed by them, I think) and some larger size.
Reinhel may still be in business but these are large and heavy "things" for large format...

Gary Holliday · Jan 27, 2008

I had a quick look at the Kienzle enlargers, there seems to be quite a lot of models. So I'm not quite sure which models to single out and research for possible problems.

I would lean towards the Omega enlargers as they appear to be straightforward and well built. The D2 range recommended? The only pitfall is that they are not too plentiful in the UK.

Nick Zentena · Jan 27, 2008

If you're in the UK then why not an European model? Devere etc?

Omega made fine serviceable enlargers but they weren't better then Devere or Durst. It's one thing in North America where parts and the enlargers are almost free for the asking but why get the headache of a rare unit?

Uncle Bill · Jan 27, 2008

I too vote for looking for a good used enlarger, my 30 year old Devere 504 with Condenser head was a birthday present last year. My brother got it off a lab that was phasing out it's old equipment.

Skorzen · Jan 28, 2008

I would definitely look for something used. You can easily (in my experience) find enlarger in great working condition that will provide you with years (decades? centuries?) of use for pennies on the dollar.

Jerevan · Jan 31, 2008

GeorgesGiralt said:
Hi !
Meopta are no longer made but there are plenty of them in stock so you'll find them for a while.

Has Meopta really ceased production of their enlargers? Too bad if that's the case.

Stan160 · Jan 31, 2008

Jerevan said:
Has Meopta really ceased production of their enlargers? Too bad if that's the case.

It's not clear. I recently made enquiries about buying a Meograde head for my Meopta Opemus enlarger. The supplier said that no heads had been available from Meopta in the last 18 months, but they had been told that production had not permanently ceased.

Possibly Meopta are going to produce small production runs as and when the supply chain empties and there is a market to sell them to. FWIW, Meopta's web site still includes enlargers under the products section.

Ian

Thomas Bertilsson · Jan 31, 2008

I believe Holga makes an enlarger too. Check Freestyle.

- Thomas

Jerevan · Feb 1, 2008

Well, I asked Meopta about their enlarger production and got this shart and clear answer:

"Dear Mr Axelsson,

It is true that we have stopped the production of photo enlargers and
accessories.
We still have some stock, so we are continuing to sell them.

Best regards,
Antonin Smid
Meopta-optika, s.r.o."

Too bad. Another one gone.

dickgent · Feb 26, 2008

I just bought a Durst 1200 and i am really excited to use for my 4x5. Got it on ebaay for $400 US. I think it is a steal. Everything I've read says this is a great enalarger. I'll keep posting. Good luck

Gary Holliday · Feb 27, 2008

GeorgesGiralt said:
I second the advice about Kienzle they made a clone of the Leitz Focomat II (it was designed by them, I think) and some larger size
.

Do you know what the model number is? I would be interested in an autofocus B&W multigrade head.

I was planning to buy one enlarger to fit both formats, but ended up buying a Leitz focomat V35! Still on the lookout for a 6x6 enlarger.

Dovaras · Feb 27, 2008

I've had a Omega D2-V for years - got it used and it has worked great. Very solid. Funny - I did the same thing, I have a V35 for 35mm and the Omega for 6x6.

Condenser enlargers

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