Retro fit a color head?

[non sequiteur]

That's not a Durst commercial enlarger at all, but something from their separate amateur division. There are a number of L-series 4x5 bench enlargers in use in the US; I was once offered one for free, but didn't have space for yet another enlarger. Here most such anodized aluminum bench enlargers are Omega, Beseler, and Saunders brand instead - all good quality items, but not built anywhere near to the standards of real commercial or industrial enlargers. With one rare exception, the smallest commercial Dursts were 5x7 inch film capacity, on a 138 chassis. L184 10X10 units were also common; but their industrial enlargers were made clear up to 12X16 inch film size (I've never seen one of those either). I use both L138 5X7 and L184 10X10 floor standing models; most of the components are either machined or diecast. It would be prohibitively expensive to still manufacture such things that way today.

It's a durst laborator 1200. I never mentioned anything about commercial.

 

[DREW WILEY]

All I was saying is that I've never even actually seen a bench model Durst. I do know that the 4x5 ones were marketed here in the US after the commercial division ceased production (although some reserve inventory still existed). I have seen a lot of the older floor standing commercial units, along with some horizontal machines. The number of bench units is comparatively small here, and all of them came out of the amateur division of Durst, which does not imply poor quality, but not top end either in terms of anticipated durability, fine-tuning features, and range of precision accessories.

 

[non sequiteur]

All I was saying is that I've never even actually seen a bench model Durst. I do know that the 4x5 ones were marketed here in the US after the commercial division ceased production (although some reserve inventory still existed). I have seen a lot of the older floor standing commercial units, along with some horizontal machines. The number of bench units is comparatively small here, and all of them came out of the amateur division of Durst, which does not imply poor quality, but not top end either in terms of anticipated durability, fine-tuning features, and range of precision accessories.

I think durst is german and I'm in Scandinavia so there plentiful here but mostly lo-end consumer products and often with a head for multigrade filters (90% of what's floating around on the used market), that being said, they're still solid units for what they are.

In the current dark room we have two durst units, one 6x6 with the before mentioned rudimentary b&w head and one 6x6 color head. They're alright for what they are but as you said, not really pro models. The laborator series is a few notches above these.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Durst is Italian.

 

[non sequiteur]

Durst is Italian.

Ah, the more you know. Well they probably had a pretty solid sales division here because they are very plentiful.

 

[ic-racer]

Originally in Bolzano; a German-speaking area of South Tyrol in Italy. All the technical literature is in German. Now relocated to Brixen.

 

[ic-racer]

In general the Professional Durst models were either on tracks or free-standing. The Consumer enlargers were table-top.
Some of the 4x5 enlargers were somewhere in the middle; Professional, tabletop enlargers. Like this Labator 45:

 

[miha]

Durst Laborators were either tabletop or free-standing, with most 4x5 models being tabletop. All were built to professional standards, and 4x5 was never considered an amateur format in Europe, though it was viewed somewhat differently in the States.

 

[MattKing]

Durst had a very large presence in the amateur market in Canada - relatively more than in the US, I believe.
I see a lot of similarities between those machines and the almost current LPL 7700s I've recently been using - in particular with respect to fit and finish.
But I still miss my Omega D6, which I would still be using if we hadn't downsized.
I understand Drew''s preference for the Durst commercial enlargers, and have enjoyed using one of those a couple of times, but I would suggest that 99.99% of users would be as well served with a well outfitted D series Omega in excellent working condition.
And as for those other 0.01%? Mostly, they are doing things like Drew who, with all due respect, is not in any way a typical user.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I still have my old Omega D chassis. I did a number of color exhibitions with that prior to me scaling up to much bigger prints, and then shifting more to 8X10 format and the necessary bigger enlargers. Once the Chromega power supply and fan failed, I retired the machine gave away some of the useful components to others who needed them. There were plenty of Omega D's and even big 8X10 F's in area labs, along with some Beseler units too. But the heavy lifting was done with commercial Durst plus some Devere.

My brother went pro for awhile and got along fine with his classic ole 4X5 Beseler beehive unit. If he needed a special color print, he'd send the chrome to me.

 

[non sequiteur]

Suddenly a wild devere 507 appeared only two hours drive from me. I might skip the whole conversion thingy.

 

[MattKing]

Suddenly a wild devere 507 appeared only two hours drive from me. I might skip the whole conversion thingy.

Are you planning to try to domesticate that devere?

 

[non sequiteur]

Are you planning to try to domesticate that devere?

Yep, rope it in, brand it and make it do tricks

Just gotta raise the $1500 the seller is asking

 

[ic-racer]

Do it!