New bulb for a Krokus 3 Color

Hi all,

Just a quick question here to ask for some more knowledgeable input and/or experience.

A long while back at my thrift store I picked up an almost new-in-box Polish "Krokus 3 (Color)" enlarger with a working bulb. I got it to print some negatives from my Pentax 6x7 (instead of scanning) ... and now I have a Fujica G690 BL, so I really would like to go forward to this print project.

That bulb was a 150W which is the max for the enlarger without its extension tube and it just died. What are my other possible options aside from buying a similar bulb as a replacement? For a test, I put in an old IKEA 11W fluorescent type bulb and it did not look too bad with the test negative I had in the Krokus.

What could anyone suggest and thanks in advance for your input. Cheers, J

Dear J,

If you are in the U.S.A., Freestyle has a 150W bulb that I think should fit, assuming it has a standard base.

Good luck,

Neal Wydra

If you decide to get a lens suitable for 6x9 printing, it'll have to have a 42mm thread instead of the more universal 39mm.

Neal said:

If you are in the U.S.A., Freestyle has a 150W bulb that I think should fit, assuming it has a standard base.

Click to expand...

Standard base...

In Europe that would be E27 whereas in the USA that would be E26.
I guess a E26 would fit in a E27 mount.


But is not about the thread alone...

Mains voltage in France is 230V whereas the lamp from Freestyle likely is designed for 120V and would die on first switching on...

You will need something like this Enlarger Bulb / Photo Lamp. Cannot really use a regular bulb as photo lamps are designed for even illumination and standard bulb is more than likely to cause issues.

If you are indeed on the other side of the pond, then same style is easily available for US market LIKE THIS ONE

I'll add that if you go with LED you will need to test it as visible spectrum of LED is reportedly quite different and I am not aware of E27 mounted LED bulbs designed for enlarger use.