Which New Enlarger?

[Ellis Vener]

If you have the money, go Durst.

[Michael S. Briggs]

News models available in the US include Beseler, Omega, Saunder/LPL, Zone VI and Durst. They are all good machines. The Beseler & Omega are older American designs. The Saunders/LPL is Japanese. The Zone VI is a 5x7 enlarger. The Durst is European--it is more expensive but in a different class than the others with regards to precision.

You might consider buying a color head. The obvious advantage is that you could do color work someday. For B&W, the head functions as a diffuse light source and you can use the color filters to adjust the contrast of variable contrast papers.

If you go to a really large city (esp. New York), you could look at the different choices.