Enlarger(s) for large, medium & 35mm, 1or2

[Joseph O'Neil]

I have two enlargers. My DeVere is setup soley for 4x5, and my Omega with colour head I use for 120 and 35mm. The later enlarger does not handle 4x5. I do have an older omega D enlarger with lens boards, cones, carriers, etc, for all formats, but I found it was a PITA to keep changing the positioning of the condensor lenses, lens cones and/or boards, etc, when flipping between formats.

As stated above, decent enlarger in the 35 and 120 format sizes are becoming very inexpensive, so picking up a good used one if you have the room is likely the best way to go. It only seems good used 4x5 (or larger) enlargers, as a general rule, are becomming harder to find and more expensive.

joe

[Kevin Crisp]

I used to have an Omega B22XL, a nice little enlarger, next to my Beseler 8X10. I'd had the Omega forever so figured, why not? I eventually concluded that the Beseler handled the smaller formats very well, and sold the Omega. I enjoy the additional counter space and have never reconsidered at least this decision.

[mark e mark]

Guys, thanks for the feed back. My Blumfield is a table top monster (106lbs) I need to use a 135mm lens so my max head room I have, will give me 16*20 prints tops. It is superbly stable, but you manually haul the head up and down the column. For 4x5, I don't mind doing that but for 35mm it's abit much. There are a few De veres popping up with colour heads (cheap) and a few with multgrade heads (twice the price of colour). Or I could get a 6x9 enlarger (colour head) for 1/4-1/2 the price of a colour 504 devere. If I could do every thing with one enlarger (can't get any 6*7, 6*9) for the blumfield at present) I might do that. I may get one this weekend? Keep the comments comming in because I plan to buy something by Thursday 21st.

Is every one pro glass neg carriers? One of the 6*9 enlargers I an looking at is glassless!


regards,

Mark

[walter23]

I'm using a D6 XL with diffusion dichroic head and it works great for 35mm to 4x5 without problems. I finally enlarged some 35mm for the first time last week and while it was a bit clunky having this huge head down so low with the 50mm lens, it worked out very well.

It's definitely not a 110 lb monster like the thing you're describing right now, and it's pretty versatile. I cant imagine ever wanted another enlarger for the smaller formats.

[ic-racer]

I have one D5500 set up for 35mm and smaller and the other is setup for 6x6cm and larger. (http://www.apug.org/forums/437328-post428.html). One enlarger could do the work of both but would require swapping out the lens holder, swapping out the mixing box, swapping out the negative holder and redoing the laser alignment.

[ggbushaw]

Is every one pro glass neg carriers? One of the 6*9 enlargers I an looking at is glassless!

I am quite definitely not pro glass negative carriers. Four more surfaces to keep free of dust and the potential for Newton's rings was enough to make me swear them off a long time ago. I use a Beseler Negaflat carrier for 4x5 and regular glassless sandwich carriers for smaller formats. If I enlarged 5x7 or 8x10 negatives, with their potential to sag, I suspect it would be a different story.

[Mick Fagan]

I run a DeVere 504 with a dichroic colour head and use it for everything from 35 right through to 5x4. Mine was manufactured approximately 1981, saw extreme use in it's professional days, but it to this day, performs flawlessly. I've had it for close to 10 years now and cannot see it ever wearing out, especially with my modest usage.

If you use one enlarger and you set the alignment up correctly, then for all formats, you will have an aligned enlarger. With the DeVere this is simple, plus they are built like tanks.

You also have the option of easily manufacturing neg inserts yourself. I have manufactured a steel insert for my Horizon panoramic format negs, which are 24x56.5mm.

If you can get a free standing one with the drop table, then I think you will never want for another enlarger.

Mick.

[Henry Ambrose]

If you want another enlarger only for 35mm get a Focomat - there is no finer, IMO. I have a 4x5 Saunders LPL and a Focomat sitting side by side. The Saunders can do all formats but the Focomat is the one I use 90% of the time to print 35mm.

[Joseph O'Neil]

Is every one pro glass neg carriers? One of the 6*9 enlargers I an looking at is glassless!
regards,
Mark

-snip-

Argh! Glass carriers, evil, evil, evil things!! Best place for a glass carrier is under a large sledge hammer.

joe

[max_ebb]

I use a Beseler 45MCRX for 6x7 and 4x5. I don't print from 35mm anymore, but I have a 35mm carrier and 50mm lens, so if I needed to print from 35mm, I'd use the Beseler. I love being able to raise and lower the enlarger with a flip of a switch.

I use a dichro head and only print color, but if I printed black & white with the condenser head, it has an upper bellows so changing formats is just a simple matter of making a quick adjustment of the upper bellows (no need to change condensers lenses or cones). I found the complete setup on Craig's list for $225, including both a dichro and condenser head, 3 lenses, and 4 carriers, plus a separate exhaust unit that connects to the dichro head with a flexible hose (so there's no vibration from the exhaust fan).

I personally don't want anything to do with glass carriers because of the 4 extra surfaces making 3X the potential for dust in the image. The Beseler exhaust system keeps the film camber cool enough that I don't have any problems with film 'popping' no matter how long it takes me to get an image sized and focused.