How many enlargers do you have?

Xylo · Mar 30, 2023

Still holding on at 3 in the darkroom and 1 in the garage.
Durst C35
LPL 66
Omega D-II
Pixur 4x5 (in the garage and waiting to be turned into a UV enlarger)

John Francis · Mar 31, 2023

At the moment I have 4 enlargers:
Durst AC800 elite x2
Leitz Focomat V35 x2
One Durst has a set of Rodagon lenses (50, 80,100) the other one has Componon-S lenses (50,80,100) they both have mixing boxes from 35 up to 6x9
The Focomats each have the WA Focotar 40mm, one is set up with the color head whilst the other has the DW module & the multigrade module.

Regards

pmviewcam · Mar 31, 2023

I also have four:
Durst 7x5,
LPL4552,
LPL760 6x7 with contrast head, and
Leica V35 with both contrast and colour heads.

There is also a not quite complete medium format Focomat iia (I think) with an Ilford Multigrade head which I need to dump.

BMbikerider · Mar 31, 2023

Actually one and a half. a fully working LPL6700 and a dismounted LPL7700 with no baseboard. The 7700 used to be mounted on the wall and it always produced the 'goods' so to speak, but I actually prefer the 6700 because the focussing wheel is about 3 or4 times larger in diameter than the 7700 and is far easier to get a precise point of focus.

It would make a 12x16 print on the baseboard, but it is now mounted 6" above on a bracket fixed to the same wall as the 7700 used to be, so now will exceed the paper size I can handle.

There is a more precise adjustment to get the column vertical as well with an adjusting screw under the lamp-house which only requires an allen screw to be slightly loosened and a screwdriver to turn an adjuster then tighten up the allen screw again.

MattKing · Mar 31, 2023

BMbikerider said:
I actually prefer the 6700 because the focussing wheel is about 3 or4 times larger in diameter than the 7700 and is far easier to get a precise point of focus.

Intriguing - the two wheels on each of my two 7700 enlargers have a diameter of 6 cm or 2.375 inches.
Do you, by chance, have the fine focusing accessory installed on your 7700?

aparat · Mar 31, 2023

I have one, a Beseler 23CIII XL. I recently had a chance to try the 45XMT and was really impressed by it. For my very modest needs, however, the 23C is just fine. I use it with a condenser head and Ilford under the lens filters.

BMbikerider · Apr 1, 2023

MattKing said:
Intriguing - the two wheels on each of my two 7700 enlargers have a diameter of 6 cm or 2.375 inches.
Do you, by chance, have the fine focusing accessory installed on your 7700?

it could well be I don't know. I know there used to be one available years ago but this enlarger came to me sans baseboard so I wall mounted it (MX Version) and I used it as it was and it worked but the focussing was either in or out there was no stage of being 'nearly' there and gradually bringing it into sharp focus.. With the 6700 it has a much larger focusing knob on the right hand side only and the focussing is much more precise (for me anyway). This large knob cannot be removed as it is molded onto the adjusting spindle so it seems to be as it originally came.

On the inside edge of the knob is a moulded groove that looks as if it could be attached to a lower focussing stage by a circular belt or something similar, which if it were correct, would be a boon. My arms and back are not as flexible as they once were and when making big enlargements it is an impossible task to stretch to use the Peak focussing finder.
I also have one of the Paterson 'Major' finders which does the job but not as nearly as well as the 'Peak'

The Kaiser enlarger system has a flexible extension to do this much more conveniently, but sadly not the LPL, or if they did, I have not seen one.

I mentioned earlier, the ability to get the column truly vertical is a lot easier on the 6700 as well. Like the 7700 the focussing stage is connected to the rest of the head by a single knob underneath. Unlike the 7700 which has a rather crude casting in the alloy and a pointer to get the head into alignment. The 6700 has an Allen screw which can be loosened and very fine adjustments made via screws either side to change the tilt like a vernier adjuster. There are guide marks (difficult to see) but I use a small spirit level to let me do the job far more accurately than any marks. That is for the side to side adjustment. For the fore and aft adjustment when wall mounted. in the top of the column of the 6700 there is a plate drilled and threaded to take a 6mm bolt or screw secure a slotted angle bracket which can be moved back and forward to get it 100% vertical

Another 'improvement' on the 6700 are the windows to see where the filtration values are set. I find the marking much clearer using finer lines to show the values.

HamishKL · Apr 1, 2023

Three at the moment: two Durst Laborator 138s of different ages, and one Durst M670. They were all such screaming bargains that I couldn't turn them down, and I like them a lot. The oldest Laborator allegedly has a history dating back to 1945 in North Africa, and was supposedly liberated from an Italian aerial reconnaissance unit there.
I somewhat doubt it's old enough for this to be true though, and would love to find some info on serial numbers and years of manufacture.

mshchem · Apr 5, 2023

Well, I'm going to pick up my 5th Beseler 45MXT tomorrow. I had 7 at one time, sold off 3, now I found another nice one, I pick it up tomorrow 2pm. Saving the world one enlarger at a time.

apbphoto · Apr 20, 2023

As someone remarked several years earlier in this thread, this is a safe space so here goes...
I have more than 20 enlargers and am acquiring more than one gifted each week. These are mostly destined to help workshop participants set up their own darkrooms so I think of them as only temporarily in my domain. Instead of listing everything I will just note a few of the more interesting ones I have (and intend to keep, at least for a while): Leitz Vasex (35mm to 6x9 manual focus ca. 1936); Durst M35 Micromat (wow, a beauty); LPL7700 condenser (and colour); Focomat Ic Multigrade (ex Ministry of Defence, UK); Focomat IIc Multigrade (ex Guardian newspaper); De Vere 504 wall mounted (MG, colour and condenser heads); Focomat V35 with Kienzle condenser mixing box. Lenses I won't be parting with any time soon are: S-Biogon 40mm; Apo Componon 45mm; Componon HM 50mm; Apo Componon 60mm; Apo Rodagon 45mm; S-Orthoplanar 60mm; Focotar 50-2; Focotar 100-2; Componon-S 150mm; Apo Symmar 100mm (for very large enlargements of 6x12 negs).

For me and perhaps a few others out there some of these are fabulously exotic yet the difficulty is finding them more than affording them these days. In the context of rapidly rising film, paper and chemical prices it's more a matter of enjoying them whilst it is still possible.

igzabeher · Apr 22, 2023

Two, with the promise of a third.

An Omega B-600 came with my D3. Decided I wanted to be able to print 16x20, want and actually doing not being the same thing, so I sold the B-600 and picked up a Pro Lab D6. Some time in the next week, I'll be rescuing a D5XL with a color head

To recap, I have an Omega D3, because I think the autofocus feature is a neat trick, though having to change the condensers and cones around is a bit of a pain. I got the D6, to print larger, the zoom condenser makes switching format easier and no need for cones. And the D5 is just to have a color head. I don't shoot color. Other than the fact that all of this has cost me little, it's amazing my wife hasn't murdered me yet. Then again, she'd have to explain all of the enlargers and the dead body, so maybe not.

The only other thing I may ever need is an 8x10 enlarger, if and when I ever buy a camera. At that point, I'd probably sell two of the above three, if not all of them.

Melvin J Bramley · May 21, 2023

mshchem said:
Well, I'm going to pick up my 5th Beseler 45MXT tomorrow. I had 7 at one time, sold off 3, now I found another nice one, I pick it up tomorrow 2pm. Saving the world one enlarger at a time.

Saving the world on enlarger at a time, I like that!
I have tried but have picked up a couple of lemons of late.
An Omega D2 with no accessories or extra condensers and a Durst m670 with damaged rack.
Currently looking at a Leitz 1C with a Walner colourhead a D2 variable condenser and another! Beseler MCRX .
The long run is to find an affordable LPL 4500GXL.
When I have the funds there are no deals.
When I have the funds prices go up!
Go figure.

mshchem · May 21, 2023

The wonderful young lady who sold me my last Beseler has an Omega, belonged to her father, I'm not sure what model, but beautifully preserved, older version. Think it's a model b

David Reynolds · May 26, 2023

I worked with an Omega D2V and a few years later added a D5XL with dichromic head . Both were mounted on a narrow platform (12" wide) mounted directly into the wall studs. Never used with their baseboards. Added buttresses stabilized and leveled the narrow platform. This allowed me to project to the floor of the darkroom and I was able to print 30" x 40" prints easily and without using mirror reflectors etc. When printing 8x10 prints I would slide a table about the same height as the platform under the enlarger holding the easel. This system served me throughout my career.

Thorsten · Jun 1, 2023

One in use (Jobo 7451 - known as LPL 4500 II outside Europe with Heiland cold light LED head), and one (Kaiser 7x6 with Heiland Splitgrade filter head) in storage.

dickgillberg · Jun 1, 2023

1x Focomat 2c
5x Focomat 1c
2x Leitz V35 one with multigrade and one with color head

I use one V35, the 2c and one 1c with focotar 2.

Philippe-Georges · Jun 1, 2023

Enough, for now...

mpirie · Jun 2, 2023

Two Durst L1200's, one Durst L1000 and one Vivitar VI.

Anxiously awaiting a new arrival!

Mike

Philippe-Georges · Jun 2, 2023

I have some parts of a DURST 10"x10" (=24cm x 24cm) saved from the Belgian airforce, but not enough to built a complete enlarger, but very heavy...
The double column with the cast iron foot and the double spring-and-cable system, the head with mirror, one condenser and a neg. carrier, baseboard support and a 'not so fresh' Schneider Componon 360mm.
Useful as spare parts for DIY repair...
They are free to be picked up, anyone?
PM me.

Sirius Glass · Jun 2, 2023

Still only one.

Chan Tran · Jun 5, 2023

None now for the past 10 years.
I had only 1 at a time. I only had Beseler enlargers
I had a 67S with dichroic head. A 23CII with dichroic head. A 45MX with the computerized color head, A CB7 with dichroic head.

rochephoto · Jun 5, 2023

I have a Durst 184 10x10 motorized with a Durst Color Head, a complete Zone VI MkII 5x7 with timer, stabilizer, and VC unit and a 1940's Kodak 4X5 all of which I need to sell.

ianbutton1 · Jun 14, 2023

Hmm, I can't catch up with apbphoto - but a few :- my original Leitz Valoy II (sold to a friend decades ago, and given back to me recently), Rayham Prefect 5x4 (ex-police), Durst Duomat (given by a friend), Durst 609 (free at the end of a car-boot sale: was filthy, now restored), Gamer 6x9 (ditto), Durst M370 BW (£2 at car-boot sale, since restored & sold), Meopta Magnifax 4 (parts: from Freecycle), Russian UPM-5, and part of a veteran Ensign (Magnaprint? retrieved from a muddy skip by a friend!). That's 9 (8 still in my possession) but sadly none in use.

mshchem · Jun 14, 2023

Philippe-Georges said:
Enough, for now...

View attachment 340343

I love this photo. My last darkroom had windows, no problem. Currently I'm in the dark

How many enlargers do you have?

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