New enlarger! Kienzle Primos 69 S

[chip j]

When do you think a doulbe-condenser w/ diffusing disk Valoy was made? I've never heard of any other but mine (and it is a bit "weak" on most papers but really "SINGS" on Galerie!

 

[Trond]

Just an update. The enlarger now has some new parts from Kienzle: a new stronger counterbalance spring, and a new filter holder for use with under the lens multigrade filters (a red filter without the actual filter). In addition I have replaced the opal lamp with a Osram 20w LED bulb. Plenty of light and no heat!



The enlarger is a real pleasure to use, and the old Schneider lenses are sharp and contrasty. I am a surprised, but this enlarger is an improvement upon the Focomat IIc (at least for me).

Trond

 

[AgX]

Why did you change the spring? Did your set-up become heavier?

 

[Trond]

Why did you change the spring? Did your set-up become heavier?

The springs were a bit weak even with the original head, and especially with the colour head. Much nicer now!

Trond

 

[Hans Mulders]

Looks great. Here in the Netherlands there is one for sale on a Dutch marketplace site for 2400 euro, sound quite much to me though.
Dead Link Removed

I don't know what you paid for yours.

 

[Trond]

Looks great. Here in the Netherlands there is one for sale on a Dutch marketplace site for 2400 euro, sound quite much to me though.
Dead Link Removed

I don't know what you paid for yours.

I paid less than €300 for mine, which is a very good price. €2400 is a lot, and much more than I can afford to pay for an enlarger, but still significantly less than what these enlargers cost new.

Trond

 

[Hans Mulders]

300 sounds far more reasonable and realistic to me also

 

[kwm]

I guess, the dutch seller on "marktplaats" knows about the price of the enlarger in new condiditon which was 5000 EUROS in 2004 (the last printed MONOCHROME catalogue i have) but even in Germany prices are between 300 and 700 EUROS.

 

[czortownik]

Hello Trond,
Ive bought Kienzle 69s alredy, and I cant figure out how autofocus working/how to run it. Do you have any manual for this enlarger?

 

[ic-racer]

An attempt to unveil the truth behind the myth.:
http://www.porezag.de/index.php/9-b...mythos-und-fakten-vorwort-und-einleitung.html

Translation to English:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.porezag.de/index.php/9-buecher/6-ernst-leitz-aus-wetzlar-und-die-juden-mythos-und-fakten-vorwort-und-einleitung.html

 

[AgX]

The german press reports on that "legend" as the author calls them did not even came to my knowledge, though I am into history in general and industrial history. Even in a memorial booklet on him published by his grandson, there only was a most vague hint.
I only learned about that reputation of Ernst Leitz here at Apug. To me the reference to it is an attempt of the Leica afficionados to whitewash "their brand", whereas the involvement of Germany's industry in war effort and terror hardly otherwise was of interest here...

There hardly were people in Germany not being involved in the system, and might it have been by looking the other side.

 

[Arklatexian]

The german press reports on that "legend" as the author calls them did not even came to my knowledge, though I am into history in general and industrial history. Even in a memorial booklet on him published by his grandson, there only was a most vague hint.
I only learned about that reputation of Ernst Leitz here at Apug. To me the reference to it is an attempt of the Leica afficionados to whitewash "their brand", whereas the involvement of Germany's industry in war effort and terror hardly otherwise was of interest here...

There hardly were people in Germany not being involved in the system, and might it have been by looking the other side.

I have had the pleasure of visiting with one of the E. Leitz, New York employees who was involved in finding jobs in the New York City area for Leitz Jewish Refugees sent there from Wetzlar by Leitz. When I visited with him was before any of this story came out and, of course, he never mentioned it. In spite of what some of you may think, these things DID happen during the period just before September 1939 and the beginning of WW2. Some Jewish Leitz people went to work for Hasselblad in Sweden. What bothers me today is that this can happen in the USA whether some believe it or not. If Leica was an early supporter of Hitler and the Nazi Party, I am convinced they would no longer exist no matter how much the U.S. Government needed their products after the War or "their brand" needed "whitewashing". AGFA in the USA was confiscated by the U.S. Government. Before WW2, it was known as ANSCO, then AGFA/ANSCO........Regards!

 

[AgX]

If Leica was an early supporter of Hitler and the Nazi Party, I am convinced they would no longer exist

Then a great lot of german companies would not have survived....

And strange enough I have never read anything here about the forced labourers having to work for Leitz. People are just picking those pieces of history that please their minds.

 

[BMbikerider]

Where is it made? I have never heard of them. The onlytime I have head the name Keinzle before is a wrist watch

And they were very good watches too.

Is there any indication where it was made, Germany, Switzerland, Japan? At first glance it looks like an amalgamation of two British designs, a Gnome and a Gamer. The Gnome was one many people cut their darkroom teeth on, a basic design but well made and had a similar shaped lamp house (less the colour head) to yours. The Gamer had an exceptionally long column and a superbly engineered parallelogram way of raising and lowering the head, which was shaped like a globe and very similar in design to one or two of the post war Leitz 35mm B&W, AF enlargers.

I was an utter fool to sell mine!

 

[AgX]

Yes, my first wrist-watch was a Kienzle. And Kienzle signs were to be seen at watch-shops and watchmakers. I even got a cardboard model kit to build a Kienzle show truck. But that Kienzle went under.

Here we are speaking of another Kienzle, a current manufacturer of enlargers with a long tradition, located in a tiny town in the Black Forest. They started making enlargers in Stuttgart in the late 30s.
www.kienzle-phototechnik.de

 

[Trond]

Hello Trond,
Ive bought Kienzle 69s alredy, and I cant figure out how autofocus working/how to run it. Do you have any manual for this enlarger?

Hi,

PM me you e-mail address, and I'll send the manual to you.

Trond