what to look for in an enlarger?

Some good suggestions here I think, but probably the most important thing is simply go get started Chances are, your decision will be determined by what's available in your local area at a great price. Buy it a la carte and you may spend thousands of dollars, but get a package deal from someone who wants to get rid of their darkroom and you can easily get thousands of dollars worth of gear for not much more than pocket change. Bring a vehicle with some real cargo-hauling capability and you may get really lucky. Truth of the matter is, you can't really know what features are important to you until you've spent some time in the darkroom. My first two enlargers were cheap 6x7 Omegas with color heads, which is what happened to be readily available to me. I grumbled about needing to re-align the head via a set of nylon screws periodically (mostly after bumping into it) or the foam light traps which needed replacement once in awhile. But they were perfectly serviceable, and if I hadn't started shooting large format, they might've continued to serve me well.

If I were assemble a darkroom today, who knows, maybe I'd do something crazy like get a Leica V35 enlarger with variable-contrast module: 35mm-only but it's the most lavishly built 35mm enlarger you've ever seen. And like most darkroom equipment these days, can sometimes be had cheaply.

4season said:

Some good suggestions here I think, but probably the most important thing is simply go get started

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Y*E*S!!

After owning many different enlargers I found the Beseler 4x5 to be the best. The Beseler 23C is also a great machine if you never need a larger size. Good Luck

If you're in the US and have the room, the no-brainer option is an LPL 4500 in any of it's flavors. You can get it with the VCCE B&W head, or the dichroic color head. If you want something smaller, then I'd get the LPL 7700 or 6700. You'll save yourself a lot of grief & aggravation, and won't be buying a "project". Parts are readily available and they're not ancient. Also have the best head modules of any enlarger system. Available used often through this forum or on Craigslist.

http://www.khbphotografix.com/LPL/

L

Keep an eye out for a Beseler 23CII on Craigslist as people sometimes try to sell fairly complete darkrooms for around $100. Find the manual online and read it before checking out the enlarger; check all functions but you can usually tell right away if it's in good condition or has rusted/broken parts, etc.

These are solid enlargers that can do 35mm and 6x4.5, 6x6, and 6x7 medium format with the standard condenser lenses. Some other enlargers, e.g., the Omega B22, require an additional small condenser element for 35mm and if doesn't come with what you buy, it's nearly impossible or expensive to find parts. Again, check the manual for anything you look at to make sure it's complete.

Same for a lens board and negative holders for the format you think you will use; they are expensive if they don't come with what you buy. A 6x6 negative holder can be masked to do 6x4.5.

You can always get good 6-element enlarger lenses (Nikon, Rodenstock Rodagon, Minolta CE) for about $70 on ebay later if one of these doesn't come with your enlarger.

You can do black and white with a color head enlarger; if you find one, besides the lens board and negative holders, make sure it comes with the the power supply/transformer which is a separate box for most color head enlargers. Again, read the manual beforehand.

The reality-check response:

I live in a major US city (Dallas, TX) - but Dallas is a little "new" compared to the northeast, where there may be many more enlargers from the 50's to the 70's on the used market. But for the DFW area, Craig's List is pretty hit and miss, and you might spend months searching for the right enlarger to come along.

If you live in a big city, hunt for used photo stores. We have a great one here, and they also carry the whole ilford line of paper and chemicals… I'd guess any big city has **something** along those lines, sort of a photo-centric pawn shop at the least.

Then there's eBay, where you can't inspect the enlarger… on the other hand, many people sell decent enlargers for a hundred bucks, and if they're regular sellers the shipping might only be $50-$75. Less savvy shippers will charge $100 to ship an enlarger.

My un-scientific observation: there's a lot of Beselers out there. Skip the Printmakers and Cadets - they're cheap student enlargers. Also skip the printmaker 67, which is a 35 with bigger condensers.

Entry level "serious" Beseler is the 67, which comes in a variety of single-column formats, condenser, dichro head, and the rare-ish B&W filtering head. It's a sturdy enlarger, limited alignment controls for going bigger than 11x14 though. There's also a fairly rare model where the 67 head was placed on the 23c body. All versions do up to 6x7. Lens boards and neg carriers show up on eBay - the lens board is tiny and can be hard to find if not included.

Next up and very very common is the 23C, which started life as a blue-painted unit and evolved into the 23C III XL, which is still fairly common and a very sturdy beast. EBay is full of neg holders and lens boards for it. Seems to be the most common used enlarger out there??

Beseler dichro color heads come in 2 eras, based on the power supply - early units needed an electronic power supply which will eventually die and are hard to find. Newer ones have the PSU built-in. If the head has a standard edison power plug and the name plate says "110v", it's the newer one.

As for 4x5 - I find them to be rare beasts on the used market. I'd like one, but I rarely see 'em, and they don't get marked down to "almost-giveaway" status like the 6x7's. Lens boards and neg carriers could be a pricey hunt for many 4x5's.

Doesn't the Beseler 23CII also do 6x9? I have one and am pretty sure it does. Since I got a 4x5, that is all that I use.

fotch said:

Doesn't the Beseler 23CII also do 6x9? I have one and am pretty sure it does. Since I got a 4x5, that is all that I use.

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It does - 23 probably was intended to refer to 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 (inches, of course).

Last year, I gave away a Beseler 45MCRX because I'm an Omega (D2V) kind of guy. It looked it would be pretty sweet, though, since it has the motorized head that moves up and down at the flick of a switch. It seems like the one to get for those looking for a 4x5 capable setup.

Unless you've got a lot of room, avoid the enlarger vortex! I've been fighting the vortex for years and now am down to only four enlargers. This happens when buying another enlarger is cheaper than buying the parts to convert our existing enlarger to a different format.
To recap:
You can find basic D-2 cheap(free even!) Or you can spend quite a bit of coin on a complete D-2 kit that will allow you to enlarge all formats from 35mm to 4x5 on one enlarger. Say the Meopta you've been given (yes given, like a bit of crack cocaine to get you hooked) you get is set up for 2-1/4"x2-1/4") You learn that a complete with lens 35mm Lietz Valoy 2 for $40 on ebay is cheaper than buying the condensers, negative carrier and lens to enlarge 35mm on that Meopta, so you pick it up. Then comes along a 6x7, Then a 4x5. Then a 5x7. Your enlarger family grows by leaps and bounds! Pretty soon you have to add another bedroom to your house!
Don't do what I have done.
No.
Unless of course you enjoy collecting really cool old enlargers

More by accident than design I ended up with a Vivitar V1 with the colour dichroic head. Very sturdy. Unique "light pipe" gives cold light, so glassless neg holders. Up to 6x6. Good bit of kit. If you see one at the right price, don't discount it.