[LargeFormat] Enlargers......

[Stein]

Dear JP,

     Congratulations on getting the Missus to agree to the new enlarger. I
assume that is what she agreed to...not just you getting a new set of dishes
and oh, by the way, this was in the shop....Remember it is easy to sneak new
toy trains or model soldiers into the house if you wear a big floppy
overcoat but getting an entire 4 x 5 enlarger past the kitchen door en route
to the darkroom is another matter.

    I'll leave the Saunders and Omega question to others. The Dursts I have
seen here in West Australia are well built but some drives do not seem to
last with constant winding up and down. Perhaps the users were just heavy
handed.
The LPL's that are in the shop seem very precise. The 6x6 units command a
good price in the secondhand market and in most cases you can get accessory
neg holders and switchable head units.

    I must put in a plug for the brand that I use - Fujimoto. I got a
Fujimoto 450 M-D cheap from a state government sale and was blown away by
the solidity of the construction - particularly in the column and head
support. The M-D is a B/W enlarger but the head just lifts off and I adapted
a colour head from a Chromega C 670 to fit in place of the lamphouse.

     Yes, it works. The whole 4 x 5 area of the neg is illuminated evenly
and all it took was one chipboard adapter and a sheet of tracing paper to
replace the diffusion screen. I selected the C670 because it was lying
neglected in the photo store for $ 50 and the chipboard and tracing paper
were out in the workshop. So far the largest print I have made with it in
colour is 16 x 20 on Agfa Signum paper and all it took was 30CC yellow and
5CC magenta. I regularly do runs of a dozen 8 x 10 for dancers and the
colour stays consistent.

    Of course they also do a colour enlarger - see the Jobo website. I would
love one, so if they offer you a two for an extra penny sale like the
drugstores, I am prepared to send the penny.

    The Fujimoto has metal negative carriers and they seat onto the main
casting quite positively.There is no clamping - a spring locates them. The
lensboard bayonets out and a recessed one is available for 50mm work.

    I am not going to change mine, other than add a dinkum colour head if
one ever comes into the shops.

    Uncle Dick