Kodak Flurolite enlarger?

[athanasius80]

Does anyone have experience with the old Kodak Flurolites? I need a 6x9cm enlarger thats as cheap as possible but still respectable quality for 8x10 to 11x14 prints. Any advice? Thanks a lot.
Chris Rini--rank newbie

 

[Nick Zentena]

Going from the name I'm going to guess flourscent tube. I don't know how long it's been since Kodak quit making enlargers but it must be awhile. You might have problem finding tubes. Even if you find them you might have problems using VC paper. Too much blue in the light. You might be able to filter that but maybe not very well. Even if none of those issues scare you off. You might have problem finding things like lensboards and negative carriers if the unit isn't 100% complete. Some you might be able to make yourself or adapt from a different enlarger. I wonder if this Kodak is related to the Omega one?

Keep your eyes open for a cheap 4x5 enlarger. With some luck you might find one for not much money if you aren't in a rush.

 

[wfwhitaker]

These days you can't give an enlarger away. It makes little sense to buy a relatively obscure obsolete enlarger for which parts are not readily available when there are so many others available to you. This is especially true if you're a "rank newbie" as you state. Buy something mainstream. You can't go wrong with an Omega or a Beseler - and there are parts and accessories all over the place.

 

[Paul Howell]

These days you can't give an enlarger away. It makes little sense to buy a relatively obscure obsolete enlarger for which parts are not readily available when there are so many others available to you. This is especially true if you're a "rank newbie" as you state. Buy something mainstream. You can't go wrong with an Omega or a Beseler - and there are parts and accessories all over the place.

Kodak last made this enlarger in the early to mid 50's. I have a Kodak book on enlarging from the early 50's which does describe the Florite enlarger. I used a Florlite in the mid 60's when I was in college, as a freshman I got enlarger that one none else wanted . The cold lite was slow (maybe due to age) and it was not the best built enlarger to begin with. I agree that with the current prices of used enlargers an Omega, Beseler or Durst is a much better investment.
If price is a consideration and you are looking for a next to nothing price, I would look for a Federal with all of the attachments such as negative carries, and lens boards. Most Federal's are point source condenser type and were abilable in 6X9 to 4X5. When buying any older enlarger you need to make sure you can fit a modern lens to it.

Best,

Paul Howell