Do I bother with it?

Derek Lofgreen · Feb 9, 2006

My son has spotted a color enlarger at his school that has been sitting in the corner for a couple of weeks. He asked the principle/director about it and was told that it was broken. She knows that my son and I are into photography and said that if we wanted it we could have it.

All I know about it is that it's a color inlarger. I don't know what is broken or what kind it is. I have only worked with B&W in my own darkroom and don't have a clue on color. I am however in the middle of a small renovation in my darkroom/garage and would have plenty of room to start something with color.

What do you think should I bother with a free color inlarger?

D.

Dave Parker · Feb 9, 2006

I would, no harm in picking up and seeing what is wrong with it, and it is free, so you have nothing to loose.

Dave

egdinger · Feb 9, 2006

Even though it's color it could still be handy for black and white, you can use the colored filters to get different grades (if you are using VC paper). I have never done color even though I own a color enlarger... all that said I wouldn't turn down a free enlarger, if nothing else it may come with a worthwhile lens.

Derek Lofgreen · Feb 9, 2006

egdinger,
I hadn't even thought of that. I will pick it up in the morning and see what's broken. Then I will be back with a "how do you fix this?" thread.

D.

Konical · Feb 10, 2006

Good Morning, Derek,

As others have already, indicated, grab it while you can! At very worst, it can always be converted into a copy stand.

Konical

Claire Senft · Feb 10, 2006

Concider this. The enlarger is broken. It has no photographic value. The head is removeable. You turn it into a planter.

Derek Lofgreen · Feb 10, 2006

Well, it looks like it's mine now. I will pick it up this afternoon. It is a vivitar VI. Anybody know anything about these?

D.

srs5694 · Feb 10, 2006

I don't know much about the Vivitar VI enlarger, but I did find three on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7587398478
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7588885193
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7589498911

You may be able to glean some information from the item descriptions, particularly for the first auction. You could also try a Web search; that'll probably turn up something.

One other comment: If you've currently got a condenser enlarger, the color enlarger may have some use simply because it's probably a diffusion model, which is likely to have somewhat different characteristics with respect to contrast, sharpness, and the extent to which scratches and dust are prominent in enlargements. Of course, this assumes you can easily fix whatever's wrong with it. If you're lucky, it'll be something simple like a bulb needing replacement.

Stephanie Brim · Feb 14, 2006

srs5694 said:
I don't know much about the Vivitar VI enlarger, but I did find three on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7587398478
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7588885193
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7589498911

You may be able to glean some information from the item descriptions, particularly for the first auction. You could also try a Web search; that'll probably turn up something.

One other comment: If you've currently got a condenser enlarger, the color enlarger may have some use simply because it's probably a diffusion model, which is likely to have somewhat different characteristics with respect to contrast, sharpness, and the extent to which scratches and dust are prominent in enlargements. Of course, this assumes you can easily fix whatever's wrong with it. If you're lucky, it'll be something simple like a bulb needing replacement.

Holy crap! That last auction charges $135 for shipping! Even if it is heavy I believe that may be a bit too much.

srs5694 · Feb 14, 2006

Stephanie Brim said:
Holy crap! That last auction charges $135 for shipping! Even if it is heavy I believe that may be a bit too much.

Yeah, some eBay sellers try to turn shipping into a profit center. OTOH, enlargers tend to be big, as well as heavy. This means you can run into oversized package charges, which can make the shipping costs skyrocket. It's often possible to pack an enlarger of this size in a small enough box to avoid this, or break the shipment across two boxes. It's conceivable that the seller looked up the costs using whatever box was at hand, ran into the oversized package charges, and didn't bother to re-think the packaging options.

titrisol · Feb 14, 2006

it is probably good.
Check the lightbulb, cord and switch since those are the things that fail.
Get as many negative carriers as you can from the school and chek for "accesories" that might be a part of the enlarger. You won;t regret having too many of these

The color of filters maybe off, but for BW variable contrast that can be adjusted and with a little expwerimenting you'll have a very very capable enalerger

Keith Tapscott. · Feb 14, 2006

Derek Lofgreen said:
Well, it looks like it's mine now. I will pick it up this afternoon. It is a vivitar VI. Anybody know anything about these?

D.

It uses Kodak colour filter values which may help you if you intend using it with variable contrast B&W papers. Most manufacturers provide a contrast grades chart inside their paper packaging.

Do I bother with it?

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