| Photography Forum: Darkroom Techniques Forum: |
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Q. Buying an enlarger
Asked by Richard Wells
(K=310) on 1/8/2003
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I would like some suggestions on buying my first enlarger. I don't want to spend an arm and a leg. I would appreciate some suggestions.
Thanks
Richard
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Terrence Kent
(K=7023) - Comment Date 1/8/2003
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used used used, NOT NEW, once you buy it the resale value is nada, which is precisely why you can get some incredibly nice equipment for next to nothing, other than that i don't have much to offer
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Charles Morris
(K=5969) - Comment Date 1/8/2003
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figure out how much space you have to work in. enlargers for big negatives take up a lot more space than say a beseler cadet made for 35mm. one of the best buys in a solid chassi for an enlarger is the old omega D series enlargers. i have an omega D-2v that is about 30 years old. most of the parts for the current production D-5 will fit it and it uses a common bulb. these will work with negative up to 4x5 inches and anythign smaller works just as easily. the thing ot worry about in midsize enlargers that will only do up to say 6x7cm is that often they work great for 35mm but when you really put MF film in them, you find out they have uneven illumination on big negative you just don't notice in the small size of the 35mm frame. there are however a number of reasonably good 35mm enlargers.
once you find a chassis you can live with and feel confident in, the light source is an issue. you basically have condenser heads that have big lenses to even out the light and a specially coated incandescent light bulb in the head. these generate heat and tend to preduce a higer contrast output. there are a variety of dichroic heads, if you are printing color at all this is almost a requirement. its possible to use the filter drawer on a plain white light enlarger, but its slow and painful. there are also "cold light" heads. these usually use some kind of fluorescent tube for the actual light source. they last a long time, generate little heat, and provide very even soft light for your print. the output from these tends to be lower contrast by nature so you would want more dense negs and maybe a higher contrast paper grade.
there are some modern miracles. VCCE heads supposedly compensate for the variable density of the filters used with multigrade black and white papers with another layer of filtration that gives a constant exposure on the baseboard. these are wonderful if you do a high volume of black and white printing. this feature comes at a high price though.
ok, so much for the guts of the thing....
here is my best advice: get the best chassis you can afford. be patient, shop around, compare, visit studios that may have some of these older enlargers and touch them. you can use cheap lenses with 35mm negs and still get decent results if you have a very sturdy chassis that is aligned correctly.
meaning: don't get a cheap enlarger and a $400 lens and complain about the image quality. you will get better mileage spending $400 on a good used large format enlarger and a $80 lens.
additional benefit of the designs that have been around for 50 years-- you can get new stuff like dichro heads and cold lamps to replace the old hot light lamp housing.
my enlarger was purchased from a college that was getting rid of thier wet darkroom free up space. these things turn up on state and local school auctions all the time. occasionally in the newspapers, but mostly on online auctions these days. be careful of what looks like a bargain. make sure you have shipping or transport details worked out before you bid, these things do not pack or travel well.
i hope you find something you can use.
2cents@large
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Stacy Malbon
(K=109) - Comment Date 1/14/2003
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www.natcam.com Order the Darkroom Catalouge. They ship to anywhere in the world. And call them - they know what they are selling (well, most of them, anyway). :)
~ Stacy
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David Goldfarb
(K=7611) - Comment Date 1/15/2003
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Hmmm..., as long as you can align the enlarger and it is sturdy, I place more value on the quality of the lens than the enlarger, but in the current used market, you can have both! Something like a Beseler 23C (standard workhorse medium-format enlarger) can be had for around $200-300, and a six-element lens like a Schneider Componon-S or Rodagon for 35mm or medium format in excellent condition should run about $80-100 used.
If you think you may be shooting 4x5" and have the room for it, enlargers like the Omega D2 are easy to find for cheap and are easy to find parts and accessories for. A reliable source for rebuilt Omegas is http://www.classic-enlargers.com/.
Some people are selling off their whole darkroom to go digital, and if you can find an enlarger that has all the accessories you think you might need, you can select one on features and condition alone. I recently bought a Philips/Paterson PCS 2500--a very well made but discontinued enlarger with advanced features like a tilting lens stage, very much the precursor to the Saunders LPL and Kaiser enlargers--with a glass neg carrier with adjustable masking blades, accessory fine focus gearing, condensor sets for 35mm, 6x6, and 6x7, and various other neg masks including an insert for mounted 35mm slides, in great condition for $200. Since it had everything I wanted, it was an excellent deal, but if it was missing one essential component, it would be a nightmare to try to find it.
If you just want to test the waters with something that isn't fully outfitted, it's best to stick with the most popular models (Beseler 23C, Omega D-series, Durst), so that you can add options (different heads, negative carriers, lens cones, etc.) in the future.
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