Kindermann vs Saunders

isocero

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35mm

• Today at 5:43 AM

• #1

Good morning from my side of the world,

I had a quick question about the rebranding of enlargers. I heard great things about the Saunders LPL 7700 enlargers, and I am looking for some of these for my darkroom. Is the Saunders LPL 7700 the same as the Kindermann LPL 707B but rebranded?

 

DavidHopper

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Canada

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• Today at 8:11 AM

• #2

The 7700 and 707B? Yeah, they're pretty much the same LPL thing but with different names. Same parts inside, just a re-label, so grab whichever one you see first.

 

OP

OP

isocero

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• Today at 8:50 AM

• #3

Hi David,

Thank you for the confirmation! I heard these are great enlargers that are built well and simple to learn to use for a community darkroom.

 

lensman_nh

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• Today at 10:00 AM

• #4

Concur on it being a great enlarger. Used one for many years and still have it, but it's now in the original box only because I picked up a Omega D5 with the Dichroic head for a bargain price. Given how little I print 4x5 these days I'm tempted to switch back.

 

Lachlan Young

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• 51 minutes ago

• #5

The dichroic ones are a little fiddly to rewire the lamp socket on.

The really interesting oddity that LPL made for Fuji was a 7452 column/ runner with a 7700 condenser head - looks much more solid than the regular 7700 can be unless you brace the column to a wall.

 

lensman_nh

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• 38 minutes ago

• #6

Lachlan Young said:

The dichroic ones are a little fiddly to rewire the lamp socket on.

The really interesting oddity that LPL made for Fuji was a 7452 column/ runner with a 7700 condenser head - looks much more solid than the regular 7700 can be unless you brace the column to a wall.

Click to expand...

I've never had any issues with stability with my 7700. The Fuji version may be more stable, but IMHO it is a case of well-engineered being compared to over-engineered.

 

OP

OP

isocero

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Santiago, Chile

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35mm

• 25 minutes ago

• #7

Hi Lachlan and Lesman,

Appreciate both your input.

@lensman - I took a survey poll of my community, and they shoot primarily 35 and 120mm, so I believe the LPL will be great.

@lachlan - The Kindermann that I am looking at is soley B&W and not dichroic. Therefore, what are your thoughts of the stability with the B&W condenser?