Originally Posted by
paulr
Well, here's a shout from the wilderness: the only enlargers I would never consider are Omegas. I've happily used Durst, Besseler (own one, used several), Saunders, Leitz ...
The Omegas I've used were in friends' darkrooms, my college darkroom, and the commercial lab where I worked for two years. They spanned every 4x5 model over two decades. And they were all dogs. Not a single one was capable of maintaining alignment through repeated use. The people who used them disliked them; the people who maintained them cursed them.
At my college darkroom, out of frustration, the darkroom technician invited the school's machinist to try to come up with a solution. He almost fell over when he examined the D-2s. Gave us a point by point lecture on how there were no known methods to manufacture a machine more cheaply and innefectively. He suggested recycling them, threw up his arms and walked out laughing!
Anyway. For cheap enlargers, I'm much happier with Beseler. Once you align it (which takes some extra effort) it will stay aligned for years. I've also had no issues with Durst, although I would not pay the extra money for one.
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