De Vere 508h

[cramej]

Does anyone have any experience with the De Vere 508h? I may have an opportunity to buy one for $150 and possibly an Eseco Speedmaster 7050 roll paper easel for some extra $. It looks to me like it comes on a cart and would be pretty heavy. Any manuals around?

 

[Jerevan]

I've had a DeVere 507 - excellent enlarger that although it had had hard professional use, still worked. Things to look for is the condition of the bellows, if any fans are working correctly (shutting down unexpectedly is a sign of malfunction - presumably overheating). Bulbs can be expensive. Dichroic filters can be found at Edmund Scientific. I have tried to get in contact with http://www.odyssey-sales.co.uk/ to get spares but they are dead, gone fishing or whatever - they just don't answer. Maybe you have better luck with them.

 

[Ian Grant]

Most De Vere's are similar 504, 5108 etc as they use the same chassis but not the Horizontal, The 508H is just under £3000/$4600 re-furbished from Odyssey Sales who make De Vere enlargers so that price is excellent.

If you remove the colour head it may not be too heavy, depends how well built that cart/trolley is.

Ian

 

[Muihlinn]

that one isn't that heavy, but you cannot handle it alone for transportation, and yes, it comes in a cart which you absolutelly need.

I have a 1010ET and is a pretty good one, but I don't use the electronic part.
For such price is a steal if you can fit it in your darkroom, mine has about 20ft rails, which is the main culprit and headache for proper installation.
I'd take the roll easel without any doubt, in fact I should look for one to make things easier

Manuals are difficult to find in the net, I had mine with the enlarger, along with electrical plans, etc. There are people who sells them, and they appear in the search results first page.

 

[cramej]

Thanks. I may pick it up yet if I can find a place to store it until I have a darkroom. I already have a Durst Laborator 1000 with a Pavelle 401 dichro head on it but with the DeVere 8x10 capability, I'm not sure I can pass it up. Now I just need to buy the color processor from a university near me