Do any of you have any personal experience with or knowledge of enlargers made by Hunter, Penrose, and Littlejohn, and can speak to the quality and usability of these enlargers? I understand the manufacturer is British, but I've been unable to find any information about them on the web. A Littlejohn enlarger is available on ebay right now from a gentleman in Houston. Through correspondence with the owner, I know that the instrument is enormous. The height of the column is 9 feet. This particular example has been fitted with a condenser light source in place of the original diffusion head. The base dimensions are 56 by 48 inches. It has a 36 by 28 inch vacuum easel. It weighs 900 pounds. Clearly, it is not a good fit for the bathroom darkroom! It comes with 5x7, 8x10, and 11x14 negative carriers. I'm thinking it might be suitable for enlarging my 8x10 black and whites, but I'd feel better if I could hear comments from someone having experience with this enlarger.

-- Skip Abadie (sabadie@airmail.net), December 07, 1999

Answers

THis is a well made, industrial quality item by one of Britain's leading graphic arts equipment manufacturers .As well as I can remember the negative carrier and lens panel are effortlessly controlled by two large handwheels below the easel. If you have space for it you will not be disappointed.It's a beautiful machine intended primarily for making line and halftone positive and negative transparencies for litho plate making,silk screen stencils etc.but with the condenser head excellent for continuous tone also.

-- Kevin Brown (kbrownco@aol.com), December 16, 2000.