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  #1  
Old 12th February 2010, 12:27 AM
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Gavin Gavin is offline
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Default Enlarger queries.

A few queries on enlargers if you don't mind.

First off I've obtained my first piece of dark room equipment, a Componon-S 2.8/50mm enlarger lens which is still in its factory box complete with silica gel for £40. I understand this is a quality piece of glass and am personally very happy with what I paid considering its been removed from its box for only 4 sessions.

Now, to match this up to an equally deserving enlarger what would be my best route? Some confusing factors I've read is that true B&W enlargers are best for B&W developing but then there's the argument colour enlargers are better in giving the option of filter effects for paper variations, so would both be better?

Next query is a guesstimation on what my local camera store has for sale. They say that they have an LPL color enlarger for sale which has been sat in their stock room for a while and want half price to clear at £150, so my question is that if you were to buy a new LPL colour enlarger for £150 what model/s would you be happy to receive and what would you expect to come with it? Any rep on the LPL brand would also be useful.

You may want to take into account that I'm being gifted an unknown B&W enlarger tomorrow. I don't know the model but it was the enlarger originally bought with this Componon-S glass so I imagine it will be of some quality, however, quality or not if two enlargers are optimum even if only shooting monochrome so be it if the price is right. (space is not an issue)

Thank you in advance.

Mossy.
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Old 12th February 2010, 01:01 AM
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you'll get lots of varied answers on this question.

Firstly there are essentially two types of enlarger. Diffusion and Condensor. Condensor are theoretically capable of delivering sharper prints but most who have compared say they can't see a difference.
Diffusion are the norm for colour printing but because colour heads have magenta and yellow filters, they are also good for B+W.
So either type is fine.
Next you need to consider biggest negative format you will want to print. 6x7cm is big enough for most people but if you are thinking of 6x9 format or bigger negs then make sure your enlarger can cope and has the neg masks etc for it.
Then comes the thorny question of whether to use colour head dichroic filters or perhaps ilford filters or possibly a special variable contrast filter head which are available for some enlargers.
Ilford filters are good with condensor enlargers but they are also good as under the lens filters on colour head enlargers. Colour head or VC filter heads give infinitely variable contrast settings. So if you know you only want to do B+W then VC head is probably easiest but colour head is simple too but slightly less convenient.
But for a complete beginner the ilford filters combined with ilford papers might give you a head start because they are very well matched.
Basically any of the above will work for you.

Are LPL any good? Lots of people think so. Personally I'm a Durst man. Others here are LPL types. An enlarger is a pretty basic bit of kit. The two important things are that it doesn't leak light and that it can be aligned and stays in alignment otherwise it'll be a pain to use.

Personally I think the durst negative holders are superior to LPL but others will tell you LPL are fine.

IMO just take your freebie enlarger and use that until you are comfortable with how it works and what you are doing. You will then be in a much better position to make a judgement on whether it suits your purpose or you need something else.

The quality of output from an enlarger is dependant on its alignment and your skill as a printer and not which make or model it is. i.e. a properly aligned very cheap enlarger with a reasonable lens is capable of equal quality output as a very expensive top of the line enlarger. The top of the line one may be easier to use and may have auto focus and built in negative metering but that doesn't make the output better. That is down to you.
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Old 12th February 2010, 07:33 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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LPL enlargers are of reasonable build quality and capable of quality work. I think two models are sold here, the C6700 and C7700. I think the C7700 allows bigger enlargements to be made from film formats up to 6x7cm, they are still in production and therefore spares, should anything be required, are available.

My advice must be to purchase an enlarger with a diffusion colour head, that’s one with dial in filtration, as I think this will be simpler to learn with. As for commenting on the one on offer from your club I cannot without knowing which model it is, but £150 doesn’t seem too unreasonable given its known condition and ease of collection; however some negotiation is in order.

As for the machine that you are to receive tomorrow, I shall be interested to read which make and model it is.
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Old 12th February 2010, 09:04 AM
martinb martinb is offline
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I have both an LPL C6700 and Beseler 23C. I bought thye Beseler while living in the US, paid $200 for it, 20 years old but still new in the box!. Its a condenser enlarger that has a drawer to take the VC filters. Very sharp and contrasty images from Nikon lenses but shows up every spot of dust on the negative. I bought the LPL from a fellow camera club member for £75 last year in excellent condition. Works well and prints seem to show fewer spots due to the diffusion head. I would also take the freebie enlarger and see how you get on before spending more. Save the money for a decent timer.

Martin
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Old 12th February 2010, 10:18 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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The most important part of an enlarger is the lens,you have an extremely good lens, I prefer to use a condenser enlarger withj ilford above lens filters. I would suggest that you use a condenser enlarfger and use the ilford filters,either above lenns or below lens, it is a simpler option. Also consider the biggest negative size you want. You maybe content with 35mm now but you may in the future want to use m.f., and if your enlarger is only capable of 35mm then you would need another enlarger. Take the freebie and see what it is, it may well be perfectly good for what you want,but if you do get the lpl then yiou won't go far wrong,I don'tthink there is much to chose between the makes unless you go for a top end make such as duncol,Richard
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Old 12th February 2010, 10:34 AM
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Miha Miha is offline
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I would be happy with another Kaiser System-V enlarger. Still in production, made in Germany double-condensor* enlarger with either colour or multigrade B&W head. Top-notch quality.


http://www.kaiser-fototechnik.de/en/...ent.asp?w=1347

*A must for enlarging 135 film.
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Old 12th February 2010, 10:48 AM
Tom Kershaw Tom Kershaw is offline
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Miha,

Could you elaborate on the reasons for a double condensor system for making prints from 35mm film? (a format that I don't seem to get on with, but would like to use)

Tom
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Old 12th February 2010, 11:17 AM
Alan Clark Alan Clark is offline
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Mossy,
for many years I used multiple format enlargers- first one that would do 35mm and 6x6, then one that would do from 35mm up to 6x9. I thought changing condensers and fiddling with sliding masks on negative carriers was the norm. Then one day I bought a Leitz Valoy 2. a 35mm only enlarger. It was a revelation It was so much simpler to use. No more fiddling around; its just set up to go! But I'm lucky to have room for other enlargers. If you only have room for one and want to print different formats you have no choice but to go for a multi-format enlarger.

Alan

P.S. The Leitz Valoy has only one condenser but works like a charm. It is the only condenser enlarger I have used that has no central hot-spot.. All the two-condenser enlargers I have used have had uneven baseboard illumination, including a Meopta Magnifax.

Alan
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Old 12th February 2010, 11:38 AM
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Personally I would choose a diffusion enlarger any day over condenser. Much less of a faff to set up, and doesn't show up the dust and scratches. I started with an LPL 7700 colour in 1987 and have never felt the need to change. It's not the brightest enlarger out there but it does the job and is very solidly built.
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Old 12th February 2010, 12:59 PM
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This is quite an area for personal preference - as you may be discovering already !

If the LPL has been sitting unwanted in the stock room for a while, it is unlikely to be going anywhere soon so I'd wait until you find what exactly your free enlarger is: it may be that it has all the features and build quality you need at this stage. If not, then the LPL will still be there in a week or so. Do find out which model it is tho: although the 6700 and 7700 are the most common, there are some older ones knocking around, as well as the 74xx models which take up to 5"x4" negatives.

My preference is for a colour head as it is the most versatile, especially of course if you want to try colour printing later on, but a dedicated b&w head makes things a little quicker and a little less prone to error. Ideally one of each would be best if room and budget allows but starting with the most versatile seems to make sense.

In case you were wondering about all this talk about diffusion Vs condenser... A condenser head uses one or two large lenses to focus the light from the bulb to a beam before it hits the negative. These usually have a filter drawer in the light-path where you can insert "above-the-lens" filters to control contrast when using variable contrast papers. Because the light is in a beam it tends to show up every speck of dust on the negative.

Diffusion heads shatter the light in a diffusion box to give even light over the whole negative. Most colour heads are diffusion types. Because the light hits the negative from many different angles, dust is less obvious.

There are also b&w heads that have the contrast filters built in, but these are rarer. Be careful when people say "b&w enlarger" because what they normally mean is an enlarger with a simple head with no filtration at all, but sometimes mean an enlarger with a head with built-in contrast filters (a "multigrade head") - the one is a very different animal from the other, the latter being much more desirable of course.

Have fun, Bob.

Last edited by Bob; 12th February 2010 at 01:02 PM.
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