Can anyone confirm whether the LPL 7452 and the Saunders 4500(11) are one in the same enlarger. The reason I ask is that I have found the spec of the Saunders (size of baseboard in particular) but need to know if the base is the same size as the LPL. Many Thanks Paul

-- paul owen (paulowen_2000@yahoo.com), February 28, 2001

Answers

Just for grins I did a search under "lpl" and came up with 31.5" x 23.75" as the baseboard size for the model 7452. That would match up to the Saunders 4550xlg not the 4550II.

-- mitch rosen (mitchrosen@sprintmail.com), February 28, 2001.

Paul's right, I think.
Jobo distributes LPL enlargers under their own name in Europe, and the size they give for the 7415 (Jobo model number) baseboard is 80 x 60 cm, which is 31.5" x 23.6".

BTW, did you know that LPL stands for 'Little Penguin Limited'? That was the original quaint name for the LPL company, and their logo was a little penguin; naturally.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), March 01, 2001.

If your in the market for a new 4x5 LPL enlarger, make sure you check out the accessory extension arm which attaches to the fine focusing knob. This accessory will cost about $50, but it really makes focusing tolerable when you use a magnifier on the baseboard.

-- Dave Willison (dwillisart@aol.com), March 01, 2001.

There are infact two models the Older 7451 and the newer 7452 the difference is in the projection board and the distance between lens ans column, the later model can enlarge more, therefore the features of the extended board ad increased distance between lens column. other than that the enlargers are identical, I second the suggestion of the focussing device and would add the masking blades too! Good luck Paul!

-- Andrea Milano (milandro@multiweb.nl), March 01, 2001.

On the subject of Saunders enlargers, a few years ago I saw a 4x5" model at a shop in L.A. that had a curious feature: 8" or 10" above the baseboard the column angled about 30 degrees toward the rear to its point of attachment with the baseboard. With the head high, this got the column back out of the way of projected cone of light, and allowed an easel to be placed further to the rear than would otherwise have been possible. Model?? Vintage?? njb

-- Nacio Jan Brown (njb@sirius.com), March 01, 2001.