Wow thank you for all the info, I do love the size, I too will have a tiny space that I have to utilize. I will have to move mine in a few months and may ever end up building out a trailer as a darkroom cause im tired of the tear down rebuild ive had to do over the years but it sounds like the ZONE VI is more dedicated to one size once set up? im ganna be going back and forth from MF to LF everytime.
Thanks!
Last edited by lostlabs; 11-Dec-2019 at 11:56.
Man, I feel like I really scored. A few weeks ago I got an LPL 4550XL with a VCCE head for about $350, including a few accessories. Now I keep seeing the same enlarger priced in many multiples of that.
If only I could track down the dang masking adapter hah!
You won’t regret it. I’ve got both Durst and DeVere 8x10’s and if I only needed 4x5 I’d get the LPL! I’ve also got the dichroic head-haven’t used it yet.
Hmm, please let me to quote my own words.
With cold light source I'm referring to a light source that remains... "cold", say a LED based source, not an Aristo type fluorescent cold light head which (to my taste) is -absolutely- inconvenient. LED sources are a HUGE improvement, so I have all my working enlargers (4 in two darkrooms) equipped with LED... with the only exception on the LPL (sadly, because LED sources are great by its modulation capacity). I'd love to find LED replacement bulbs for that dichroic lamp. Any day.
My LPL is the 7452 Dichroic version, which I like, it is a nice enlarger, with its modern look and "simplicity"... well, I'd like to have fully adjustable lens carriers, also a head adjustment built-in system. And it is certainly somewhat difficult to align (well, compared to my Dursts, or to my vintage Omega).
Yes, you can shim some planes, LPLs ONLY bring a "partially" adjustable lens stage. For an "easy" alignment at least a wall mount is needed. If not, you must rely on shims, and with such heavy weight, I'd not say it is an easy task. My LPL was bought new, and it was never 100% aligned. Of course it is in perfect shape, never ever received a knock; so I always thought that the factory aligned argument was just marketing... that turned to a myth. Or it's just my unit, or maybe I'm looking for extremely minimal tolerances.
Well, please notice I'm not saying it is a bad enlarger (I keep mine after the years, so think it`s one of my favorites, -I have discarded quite a few ones-), but e.g., many Beselers have full adjustment capability (although sometimes useless), my Omega is just fine (not so elegant but working at 100%), some Dursts are amazing (like the ones I keep), even some dirt cheap ones like the Meoptas I have used were easier to align. I'd say the "perfect" enlarger should be (1) the one that is fast and comfortable to use, also (2) the one that can be easily (and perfectly) aligned, and (3) keeping that alignment after continuous use... The LPL has a nice ratio. Just my opinion
BTW, here in my surroundings LPLs are insanely expensive, and so hard to find.
Thank very much, Arne. I’ll have a look.
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