Sounds like you just need a list of 4x5 enlargers.
Durst 1200
Omega "D"
Beseler 45
DeVere 504
LPL 7450
Sounds like you just need a list of 4x5 enlargers.
Durst 1200
Omega "D"
Beseler 45
DeVere 504
LPL 7450
I started on one of these in my dad's darkroom I currently use a Beseler 45 MXT.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
I use a Durst Laborator 1200 for 4x5" myself, and I think I know where the "is it a 4x5 enlarger or not" is coming from. The negative carrier, called FEMONEG, is shaped so that it will diagonally cut a tiny little bit off the corners of a 4x5" negative. The 4x5" glassless carrier for it has a size that takes this into account, trimming the dimensions down to slightly less than what's actually exposed in a proper 4x5" film holder. The reason, of course, is that the enlarger was originally designed for European formats up to 9x12 cm. (This is actually closer to 4x5" than you'd think, because the European formats specify useable area, not total sheet size. It's still smaller than 4x5", though.) There is an alternative negative carrier, the FEMONEG AM, that can utilize the full area of a 4x5" negative, but it is hard to find today.
That said, I have not yet encountered a negative that I couldn't afford to lose that 1/16" slice of each edge from.
A light bulb for contact printing onto Azo.
A Beseler MXT with a Zone V1 VC head 35-4x5
A Durst 138 for 5x7..... my favorite enlarger
Fotar 10X10, currently 5X7
Calumet 10X10 currently 8X10 converting to 11x14
Beseler CB7 4X5
DeVere 504 converting to 5X7, 6X17
All these are very good chassis, which can be adapted to different sizes and heads, IF you like to tinker and know how. NOT for everybody.
Then there are the tiny formats...
In London, find DeVere, very well made and easily adjustable to square.
Heck, last week somebody here was selling 4X5 monorail that they used for their first enlarger. He MADE it work.
Good luck!
Tin Can
When I had a darkroom, I had an Omega D2V, which I loved, but now, if I had a darkroom, I'd want at least a 5x7 or better, 8x10, enlarger. My fantasy, which probably won't get realized, is to fit one of my 5x7s with a light pad and make it into an enlarger.
I liked the Omega because it was relatively compact, as these things go, and sufficient to the job.
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
Have a De Vere 5108, a Durst SM 183, N an LPL 4500. In your Village it's a no brainer, get a De Vere 504 or 507.
Started with an Astron 4x5 which was a cheap condensor enlarger, almost like a slightly bigger 6x6 model. Moved on to a Beseler 45 and then to a Durst L1200 with an Ilford 500h MG head.
I used to have one of these - Eastman Kodak 5x7 Autofocus Enlarger. Solid as a rock and weighed a ton. Had counterbalance springs to help make raising and lowering the head easier, and had cams to adjust the focus as you raised and lowered the head too. Used an Eastman Projection Anastigmat lens, 7.5 inches and f/4.5.
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