enlarger recommendations

I'm currently living in Shanghai, and I've been using a terrible chinese made condenser enlarger (qihe). Total junk -- its impossible to align, and the light source is very uneven. Ok, it was cheap -- but still cheap garbage is still garbage!

I'm moving back to Canada shortly, and want to get a decent enlarger when I return. I do only B&W printing, and so have have only been printing on graded paper. I already have lenses (EL-Nikkor 75mm and 50mm), and a good easel. I print 35mm and 6x6, and at this point I haven't printed bigger than 10x10.

What quality enlarger would you guys recommend for me?

What is your budget?

If you happen to be moving back to Ontario and don't mind driving to Waterloo, I have an extra D5XL with a condenser head you can have gratis.

Graham

Dear dfoo,

If you can afford the space, a 4x5 enlarger is nice to have. A color head with dichroic filters is a great convenience as well.

Neal Wydra

I feel inclined to tell my story here. I was in the same situation. I fished a Beseler 23c xl out of the trash one day and set it up, collected all the necessary parts. I discarded the condenser for a Aristo Cold light Vario and went to work. After a while the alignment started to bug me, specifically since it went out of alignment from 8x10 to 16x20 in ways which couldn't be compensated for without little shims all over the place. So I went looking and researching for a new enlarger. I ran into a photographer in DUMBO who was downsizing and he gave me his Leitz IIA for a small fee. The Leitz II's are IMHO the fortress of enlargers and after working with this IIA I have to say I can't imagine having another enlarger. But I had to get another one, why, well the Focomat IIA's have the dubious distinction of having lenses which are difficult to replace with current lenses. The old Elmar's and Focotar's are not considered top of the line as far as contrast and sharpness are concerned, but I tell ya they make beautiful prints non the less. The normal lens that came with the IIa was in pretty poor condition, fog, fungus, separation, but the medium format lens was in great shape. I was shopping around for another better condition IIa Elmar when I ran accross another Leitz enlarger for sale at a good price, this one was a Focomat IC Color, (which means it has a filter drawer in the head, yippiee no more under the lens filters for me, a luxury indeed!) The Ic can take any lens you have plus the old focotar's if you have a 15mm adapter. This enlarger is by far the nicest piece of equipment I've ever used. The down side is that it only covers 35mm. My current arrangement then is the Focomat IIA for 6x6 and 6x9 and the IC for 35mm, they take-up more space then I would like. I'm waiting for A Focomat IIC to come along, that would be the one, a IIC Color with Focotar-II's, but they still fetch 4 figures. I agree with the previous poster go for a decent 4x5 if you can, next try for Focomat IIC, after that well its all compromise.

dfoo said:

I'm currently living in Shanghai, and I've been using a terrible chinese made condenser enlarger (qihe). Total junk -- its impossible to align, and the light source is very uneven. Ok, it was cheap -- but still cheap garbage is still garbage!

I'm moving back to Canada shortly, and want to get a decent enlarger when I return. I do only B&W printing, and so have have only been printing on graded paper. I already have lenses (EL-Nikkor 75mm and 50mm), and a good easel. I print 35mm and 6x6, and at this point I haven't printed bigger than 10x10.

What quality enlarger would you guys recommend for me?

Click to expand...

If there is any chance that you might like to try 4x5, consider a Beseler 45mxt or an Omega d5xl. 4x5 enlargers aren't that much bigger than medium format enlargers, they are sturdier, and there are always accessories available for the Beselers and Omegas for a reasonable price on eBay.

If you are positive that all you want is a medium format enlarger, consider the Beseler 23C series, which will handle negatives up to 6x9. Some enlargers only handle negatives up to 6x7, and you might like to use a 6x9 folder sometime.

I've been using a Beseler 23C11 (up to 6x9) bought new back in the 70's when they were painted blue and mounted on a wood base. I've never had any issues with it, it works like the day I bought it. I started with the basic condenser then later moved up to a dual dichro color head and a Zone VI cold light head w/Paul Horowitz designed compensating timer. The tilting lens stage is convenient for perspective control which includes the above lens sliding filter holder. They can also be rotated 90° for extremely large prints. I hear they can sometimes be found for $10. I payed $200 new, it's at least 35 years old - very tough machine.

Paul

Thanks for the feedback guys... keep it coming! I spoke with Graham about his very generous offer, however, I'm moving to Newfoundland, which is is nowhere near Ontario!

Meopta is allways good choice, you hardly can have better enlarger for less money Opemus 5 work 35mm and 6x6 and on standard base you can make up to 16x20 prints (I think, but 10x10 for sure you can). Not best loking enlargers. Former Eastern Europe communist country manufacturing which means they are ugly but they work and almost undestructible (You know communists were poor people, so they couldn't buy new stuff easilly. So, almost everything made in former communist countries was made to last lifetime ). Yes, former USSR and Eastern European communist countries had better made stuff than Chinese cheap stuff is.

I agree with Haris - Opemus 5 or 6 is a good, solid, dependable enlarger for up to MF.

If you want larger, I would recommend a Durst. But the smaller Dursts look like flimsy little things to me - only the big LF "professional" models are significantly better than the competition.

I use an Opemus 6 and a Durst Laborator 138S myself - and find them both worth keeping and equally dependable.

If it were me, I would keep my eyes open on the Newfoundland version of Craigslist or similar, and see what turns up, remain flexible. Personally my darkroom has two Beseler 45MX chassis - one with the condenser head, and one with the Ilford MG600 (Durst Multigraph) head. I got them relatively inexpensively, and basically kept my eyes open, and judged the combination of price, and driving distance. I would second Neals comment that a 4x5 is nice to have - even if you only print 6x6, you have a more solid chassis, and more even illumination. Durst, Omega, Beseler all make good enlargers, but they also make some less good enlargers. Prices on the used market now are a bargain - so just keep your eyes open, and remain flexible.

I have an Omega D3 and a Durst 601. Both have about the same footprint, the Omega is about 12" taller due to vertical condenser head as opposed to the horizontal configuration on the Durst. So ceiling hight may be factor as well as footprint. If I had to choose only 1 enlarger I would keep the Omega, but I do like the Durst. Well build, easy to use and keep in alinement. I have both the condenser and color heads. I use the Omega for 6X9 and 4X5 while I use the Durst for 35mm, 1/2 frame, and 6X6.

I'd go for the free Omega offered earlier in this thread. Otherwise, the big thing to find out is how much space you'll have. If you have the room, a De Vere 504 is an outstanding enlarger, and it's easily adjustable with set screws (no shims!) in each plane.

How about this enlarger? Any comments? It is in Canada, which is a plus!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Omega-D5XL-Supe...ryZ29985QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

You've been offered a free D5XL w/condenser head or you can buy a D5XL w/color head apparently with 3 lenses..
It's the same chassis.
Are you going to use it for color or B&W?
The lenses listed with the color enlarger are entry level lenses.
Take the free one and buy better lenses with the money you would have spent for the color enlarger.

I'll all about free! Unfortunately, I can't get the free one unless I drive 2000 odd miles

I'm going to use the enlarger for B&W only. I don't anticipate doing any color enlarging. With respect to lenses, I already have two EL-Nikkor lenses. One 75mm, and the other 50mm.