LPL 4500II questions

[Steve Goldstein]

I'm considering buying a used one that's near me - the adjustable filtration makes it attractive compared to using filters with my Beseler. What should I watch out for? Aside from the occasional bulb, what fails on these machines? How is parts availability? Is there any way to use it with Beseler 45 negative carriers so I don't have to replace my pin-registered stuff?

I googled around a bit and found lots of praise but no answers. Of course, being an old(er) guy my googling skills may be lacking.

Thanks.

[Oren Grad]

I've had an LPL4500II with color head for more than 20 years. It's still my workhorse. The continuously variable M and Y filtration is a great convenience for variable contrast printing.

Check alignment. "Permanently aligned from the factory" can also mean "permanently misaligned from the factory".

Check the power supply (duh!).

Check that the filter knobs, filtration in/out lever and neutral density knob are operating properly. The mechanism in my color module gummed up a couple of years ago after a longish idle period. George Brown ("apogeebee" on eBay) fixed it for $100 plus reasonable shipping, with very quick turnaround. KHB would also have been able to do it, at a higher price, and is also a good source for accessories and maybe repair parts too. I don't know what's what with OmegaBrandess these days - might be worth a query to them to see what level of support re parts and repairs they are able to offer now.

I don't think Beseler 45 carriers will fit.

[Geary Lyons]

I owned a LPL4500II with dichroic color head for several years. It is an exemplary piece of kit. Like most enlargers, it had slight light leaks. Wasn’t a problem for me as the area around the enlarger was painted black. The construction is quite solid. The diffused lighting is quite even.

You do have to futz around a bit to get everything into fine alignment. There are no alignment adjustment points built into the unit. After awhile, I bought the wall mount. That really solidified the whole system once mounted and trued. Since I built a separate, adjustable base, alignment of the enlarger was pretty much constrained to perhaps a simple shim to the lens board.

The negative carriers tend to wear off a bit of finish, from use, that occasionally got into the image area. But that was easily remedied during the test strip phase. Overall I could be quite happy using the unit for the long term.

I would still have it today, had I not got the opportunity to buy a Devere 504 floor standing unit. That is a whole ‘nuther world in terms of the user interface.
Cheers,
Geary

[Steve Goldstein]

Thanks guys! Now to see if I can sell the idea to my wife ...

One other thing I forgot to ask - is the baseboard 60x60cm or some other size. My enlarger location is absolutely constrained in width.

[Oren Grad]

One other thing I forgot to ask - is the baseboard 60x60cm or some other size. My enlarger location is absolutely constrained in width.

Just took a brief detour to the darkroom on the way back from shuffling the laundry... looks like about 23 5/8" square. Checking the KHB website now, I see that they say 60 cm square, which amounts to the same thing.

[Ted R]

I am a happy LPL 5x4 user also.

Be sure to check ebay.com several have come up recently.

[Luis-F-S]

The LP 4x5 enlargers IMHO are the finest 4x5 enlargers made. I have two I use for 6x6 & 135 and an 8x10 DeVere for sheet film. If it 's one of the newer 4500II's with the venilated light housing (the top of the housing will have a vent), then it will take the 250 W bulbs. The ones with the non-ventilated housings (solid top) require the 200 W bulb as not to overheat. I have a thread on this:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?122905-LPL-7452-Power-Supply

L

[agregov]

One thing to check is the filters in the color head. I bought my 4500II used and after the fact found out a few of the color glass filters were broken. You can check it by removing a holding screw (right below the yellow filter dial) and then carefully sliding the color head out. BTW, if the filters are indeed broken, the color head is easy to replace. Just see if the seller would take a bit off the price. Sounds like a great buy--Saunders are the best enlargers I've used.

[David Karp]

I have one too. I really like it. Like Oren said, you might need to align it. I used shims made from 120 film to line mine up.

[jose angel]

Another LPL user here.
What Oren says. You may be interested on buying a wall mounted type one, instead of the baseboard version. Much better for easy alignment.