Is it my imagination or have enlarger prices have gone up?

I remember 10 years ago, photographers were ditching their enlargers for ink jet printers. It seems that the price of them have gone up in the past year or two. Being a bargain hunter and a dumpster diver, I have a 45MXT that I bought for $100 with accessories and another I found for free on the curb and also with darkroom accessories.

Is silver gelatin printing is going through a renaissance?

I'm not sure this trend for very cheap enlargers reached the UK. Having said that, it wasn't that difficult to find my De Vere 5108 - although it did require some collection effort - whereas today I suspect it would be a greater challenge and possibly more expensive. My 504 came locally and via this site or another similar.

I suspect enlargers have become fewer, that's all. Many have gone to the landfill, inevitably, and the few left have become more expensive, but still cheaper than what they cost new, especially if you factor in inflation. And even if there's an increase in film sales volume, I suspect darkroom printing hasn't picked up, even the contrary might be true.

In UK, good used enlargers by Kaiser. LPL, (which are still being made new) and Durst hold their prices very well. Leitz have always been expensive but I picked up a Meopta (B&W 0nly) plus accessories for nothing. Together with a Rodenstock Rodagon 80mm and a Nikon 50mm F4, dishes timers dish warmers and a safelight. You just have to be lucky

Google Trends....

I assume those are sales graphs, not price graphs.

MattKing said:

I assume those are sales graphs, not price graphs.

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I had assumed they were google search results.

After the introduction of digital cameras require a 'qualifier' to split between film and digital. Initially the 'default consideration' of 'a camera' was that it took film, thus the common need to search specifically for 'digital camera'. However time marches on, and social norms change. If you ask my nephews "How do you see photographs after taking them with a camera", they're going to describe looking at them on a screen. And if you ask them what I collect they're going to tell you "film cameras". [or 'old cameras'? I should ask them sometime...]

But more on topic...

Enlargers, being kind of large and hard to ship cheaply, are an item that gets into a neat sort of regional markets state, and are strongly affected by momentary market conditions.

Accurately judging price trends is going to be difficult, as there isn't exactly much in the way of a reliable tracking source. Prices shown on local used good listings may also be a poor test for the local value, as those can easily be "What's hanging around" that no one really wants to buy, and is quickly upset by something like someone suddenly offering up their darkroom in a "Take it away before I haul it to the trash" kind of sale.

And that is kind of the sad thing. Connecting those who have one they want to get rid of [and what little for it] with those who are looking to get one [and aren't willing/able to pay much] isn't easy. I had an old family friend offer me $200 to take an old 8x10 commercial grade enlarger off their hands a few months back. Sadly they hadn't heard I moved clear across the country... And I've not noticed a working enlarger offered for sale here in Victoria in the last two years, but I've also not been keeping too close of an eye out for one. [I don't really have the space for one currently.]

Of course if you want a working unit without worrying about how badly worn or abused it is, you can always just buy something new that is still in production.

Luckless said:

And I've not noticed a working enlarger offered for sale here in Victoria in the last two years, but I've also not been keeping too close of an eye out for one. [I don't really have the space for one currently.]

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In case you change your mind, this has possibilities: https://victoria.craigslist.org/pho/d/victoria-beseler-23c-ll-enlarger-and/6969168159.html

Mainecoonmaniac said:

I remember 10 years ago, photographers were ditching their enlargers for ink jet printers. It seems that the price of them have gone up in the past year or two. ...
Is silver gelatin printing is going through a renaissance?

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Back in late November 2016 I bought my first Leitz Focomat V35 complete with WA 40mm f/2.8 Focotar* off eBay, and this was quickly followed by another without lens, but with the dedicated Multigrade head. Six months later I picked up major parts of a third, and via eBay added lamp holder and filter head, and later, an unused colour filter head - all without having to worry about cost. All lamp-houses were the early single condenser variant, and all major V35 items were collected in person from homes in the south & east of England. (None of the vendors offered to post their enlargers, or to use a courier service.)

As I see it now, those days are now gone, and all I see offered now are high priced "pristine" examples from Germany or the Netherlands, with carriage charges to match. (e.g. Prices over £600 plus carriage) I always ignore enlargers from the US because of the high delivery charges, and difference in electrical supply voltages.

*This lens had been taken apart, and wrongly assembled with anything but a 40mm focal length. It took me some time to discover how to re-assemble it correctly, and its focal length now is correct.

Perhaps there is a resurgence in wet printing, or perhaps people are getting bored with the reliability of getting at least a usable result from digital? I just wish I'd had the money to buy a V35 when I was printing heavily back in the 1970s.

Pro grade stuff owned by industry was scrapped. The stuff is getting old. Still stuff around, it's finding it and being close.

I've had zero luck trying to sell a Beseler 45MX for $30..... Being located in central Illinois might not be helping though..

I'll give you $25...only kidding I'm not in the midwest

Dmosher said:

I've had zero luck trying to sell a Beseler 45MX for $30..... Being located in central Illinois might not be helping though..

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I will agree that enlarger sales are regional. In my remote location, it was hard to source a nice, used enlarger. I bit the bullet and bought a new Saunders/LPL. A chunk of change for sure, but it is nice.

I believe the trend for film camera equipment has steadily risen for highly desirable cameras. This agrees with Fuji re-releasing Acros 100, for example.

wyofilm said:

I will agree that enlarger sales are regional. In my remote location, it was hard to source a nice, used enlarger. I bit the bullet and bought a new Saunders/LPL. A chunk of change for sure, but it is nice.

I believe the trend for film camera equipment has steadily risen for highly desirable cameras. This agrees with Fuji re-releasing Acros 100, for example.

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And lowly desirable ones too. Those cheap P&S cameras have gone from being almost impossible to give away, to costing tens of dollars! I've seen some fetch more than a hundred.

And I think enlargers are going up in value as more people are getting into film. However, most of the new people coming into film aren't printing, and if they are, are likely inkjet printing from scans. Though there are a few getting their feet wet with wet prints for the first time.

Around here, there aren't many enlargers for sale, and there aren't a lot of people buying them. In my experience, they are getting easier to sell and harder to buy at a low price. I'd imagine they've doubled in average price over the last five years, going from about $25-50 to $50-100 for a nice one. At any rate, they still take a while to sell, and the price you can expect depends mainly on who else is selling and what they're asking.

Yes along with pro darkroom gear and Jobo tanks and reels....
There is also nothing pro grade for sale here in sunny South Australia at all which sux

I have also noticed that parts and accessory’s for Durst enlargers have started to dry up on E bay as well ....5 years or so ago there was heaps or accessories for L1200’s ect now there are very few items on offer.

Even good Minolta 110 Film cameras have gone up from $1-5 to $30-70

Johnkpap

I budgeted €50 for a decent 35mm/MF enlarger and it was too easy to find. So now I've got a Meopta Opemus with a colour head. If I'd waited a bit, I could have found a Magnifax within the budget.

Dmosher said:

I've had zero luck trying to sell a Beseler 45MX for $30..... Being located in central Illinois might not be helping though..

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At that price it'd almost be worth shipping here to Georgia.

I'd expect you are right about location. Probably be gone in a few days in the Atlanta area.

MattKing said:

I assume those are sales graphs, not price graphs.

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I believe Google Trends is based on frequency of the indicated search terms. So, my interpretation of the graphs is that there is a decrease in the use of search term "Digital Camera" and and increase in the use of the search term "Film Camera".

Martin Rickards said:

I budgeted €50 for a decent 35mm/MF enlarger and it was too easy to find. So now I've got a Meopta Opemus with a colour head. If I'd waited a bit, I could have found a Magnifax within the budget.

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Enlargers have a wicked sense of humour. They hide from you until you pay a bit too much for one. Then a better one appears at a lower price. The 3rd one is better again and even cheaper.

YES! Which is why it is imperative to NEVER, NEVER go back a have a look after buying something. Don't do it. Close your eyes and move on.

Prices for the bottom end consumer grade seems to to about the same, in my neck of the woods the pro level enalarges have gone from, from free to up to $800 for a D2, or Bessler MX 4X5.

Dmosher said:

I've had zero luck trying to sell a Beseler 45MX for $30..... Being located in central Illinois might not be helping though..

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Dmosher, I sent you a private message about that enlarger. Not that I need it, you understand, but depending on what comes with it, I may be interested in purchasing.

I have contacted probably close to 500 places across Australia and New Zealand hoping to find something stowed away in storage (large format gear) nothing much has cropped up yet. I did find a few Omegas, LUSCA 5x7 (made in Melbourne!), a few a 504s, and durst horizontal units that thankfully haven't been scrapped.

There are usually one or two Omega DIIs for under 100 bones (sometimes with a bunch of goodies) on Seattle/Tacoma, WA craigs list. I saw one this morning for 75.00, didn't think anything of it. Pretty frequently see the motorized 4x5 Besslers on there, sometimes with color heads, more frequently b+w.

I think even though film might be making a come back, a heck of a lot of people scan their negatives into a computer to work on their images before printing. I have seen college after college close their color darkroom here in Western Washington. Without operating public facilities and instruction I just don't see how wet dark rooms can help but become more and more rare.