Durst DA900 - autofocus question

[Jerevan]

I have the opportunity to get a Durst DA900, which has some kind of autofocus function - does this work well in practice, or would I still need a grain focusing device to fine-tune with?

As far as I can see from the few pictures I can find on the net, it seems well built and sturdy. The enlarger also comes with the original (?) Componon 50 and 80 mm lenses. I am a bit tempted but I already have an enlarger...

 

[CraigH]

I have an Omega B-7 autofocus & I use a grain focus for critical focusing.

Craig

 

[MattKing]

I worked one summer in a large newspaper darkroom that had autofocus Durst enlargers. I don't recall which model. The advantage of them was that as one changed magnification, the focus setting tracked the change, so it was easy to adjust cropping exactly. The disadvantage was that the autofocus would go slightly off, so one needed to use the fine adjustment, regularly, and that fine adjustment was a real PITA to work with.

IIRC, there is another thread on APUG where a member here indicates that if the autofocus is properly calibrated/adjusted on Durst enlargers, and the enlarger is used reasonably (certainly not the case in that newspaper darkroom) than the autofocus should work properly, and the fine adjustment should rarely be required.

Hope this helps,

Matt

 

[Jerevan]

Thanks a lot for the help! Now, it seems, it won't fit into my darkroom closet space straight off, so I'll have another round of creative thinking to do...