First, thanks to those who responded to my questions about developing TMAX 100.

I am ready to move from my old Besler 35 condenser enlarger to a diffusion enlarger. I will try to find a unit 2nd hand so I need to pose the following questions:

1. What are the essentials to look for in a diffusion enlarger ?

2. What should someone inspect when looking over a used enlarger ?

3. What should one look for in an enlarger that may be upgraded in the future ?

Thanks for your help. grant

-- Grant A. Thompson (gathompson@bc.sympatico.ca), May 10, 1998

Answers

1. make sure you also get a matching voltage stabiliser/transformer for the colour head. Also check that it allow dial-in filtration from grade 00 to 5. Some enlarger have a limited magenta range and cannot print grade 5 contrast. You may not print a lot of grade 5 contrast anyway so this may not be absolutely important. 2.check the alignment of the neg carier to the lensboard and the baseboard. Some of the old enlarger baseboard are saggy in the middle from abuse/improper storage. Check the electrical wiring. Fortunately, most of the electrical stuff is readily available. 3.Depending on what you will need the enlarger for, make sure you can get parts for it. For example, glassless masks, masks for mounted slides, lensboard for you format. Good luck!

-- Michael Lee (jamcom@tpg.com.au), March 06, 2000.