11x14 enlarger

[Bazz8]

saw this tonight for the ultra LF crew

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAWO-LARGE-FORMA...item19c1cb8c27

[Allen in Montreal]

He has had that listed for what seems like a year, the price seems to have been lowered.

[Bazz8]

I,ll stick to my Durst 138s

[Len Middleton]

I,ll stick to my Durst 138s

How do you do it?

Cut the 11x14 negative into quarters, and print that way?

[bob carnie]

I have an 11x14 deveere.

For 8x10 negatives it is wonderful as the light seems more balanced from the top.I would never change.
My enlarger is so beautiful that it is the easiest enlarger to work with, and I revert to it for 4x5 negs all the time for portraits /

[Graybeard]

How high is the ceiling in your darkroom which allows such a large piece of equipment?

I have an 11x14 deveere.

For 8x10 negatives it is wonderful as the light seems more balanced from the top.I would never change.
My enlarger is so beautiful that it is the easiest enlarger to work with, and I revert to it for 4x5 negs all the time for portraits /

[bob carnie]

I rent commercial space for over 20 years now. Currently 16 ft , some of my darkrooms the height was 12-14 ft.
This darkroom has concrete floors and is 20 ft from a loading dock where equipment was rolled into.
When I retire to a home darkroom to print , I will be looking for a place with high ceilings again.

How high is the ceiling in your darkroom which allows such a large piece of equipment?

[Graybeard]

You are indeed fortunate.

My old farmhouse here has, at best, seven feet of clearance twixt the joists in my (otherwise quite nice and dry) cellar darkroom.

My Durst 138S lives with its head in the clouds between a couple of floor joists; ditto with the Omega D5 which lives atop a 24" bench.

Just as well, no telling what bargain I'd drag home if I had more space.

Good light-

I rent commercial space for over 20 years now. Currently 16 ft , some of my darkrooms the height was 12-14 ft.
This darkroom has concrete floors and is 20 ft from a loading dock where equipment was rolled into.
When I retire to a home darkroom to print , I will be looking for a place with high ceilings again.

[bob carnie]

Well I actually think you may be the fortunate one, able to wake up and walk to the darkroom in your pajamas.
I have to walk down the street and pretend I am part of the human race,
then there is the commercial rent, I have bought 5 homes over the years but given the money to other people, not to mention the hassel of keeping everything going during this period of analogue to digital change.
If I look at my business plan I think if I could go back I would have bought a live work home, and moved out side of the city.
Now with the internet , and most of my business not related to my location other than our retail operation , it may be the time.
But I should stop now and bitch on the complaining thread.

I new a fellow who cut a hole through the floorboards and with a motorized focus device would load the film in the enlager and move the head up and down as much as he liked. He was single of course,,, pretty happy guy.

You are indeed fortunate.

My old farmhouse here has, at best, seven feet of clearance twixt the joists in my (otherwise quite nice and dry) cellar darkroom.

My Durst 138S lives with its head in the clouds between a couple of floor joists; ditto with the Omega D5 which lives atop a 24" bench.

Just as well, no telling what bargain I'd drag home if I had more space.

Good light-

[Brian K]

Well I actually think you may be the fortunate one, able to wake up and walk to the darkroom in your pajamas.
I have to walk down the street and pretend I am part of the human race,
then there is the commercial rent, I have bought 5 homes over the years but given the money to other people, not to mention the hassel of keeping everything going during this period of analogue to digital change.
If I look at my business plan I think if I could go back I would have bought a live work home, and moved out side of the city.
Now with the internet , and most of my business not related to my location other than our retail operation , it may be the time.
But I should stop now and bitch on the complaining thread.

I new a fellow who cut a hole through the floorboards and with a motorized focus device would load the film in the enlager and move the head up and down as much as he liked. He was single of course,,, pretty happy guy.

Bob, I can understand your perspective. I had a photo studio in Manhattan for 24 years. The last one was 7500 square feet. That kind of overhead is always on your mind and on many levels is like a trap. It limits many options and choices in life. When I closed my studio and built a 1200 square foot addition to my home, my life changed, it felt like a huge weight had been removed. The only problem with having your work at home, is that unlike leaving the commercial environment, and going to a place where you can't really work, if you work out of your home, you might be a little too tempted to finish that project on a saturday. It takes discipline to not allow the easy proximity to your home facility make you work 24/7.

On the other hand assuming you have the available land on your property, you could build the dream facility you always wanted, from the ground up.

If you're at a point where the commercial facility is becoming unnecessary then maybe it's a good time to make the change. If you cut your overhead significantly then your requirements for generating revenue also lower and maybe you could get by with fewer employees and just dealing with internet driven business. It's not an easy decision but I think if you do a careful analysis you'll come up with the right answer.