[Leica] Enlarger advice

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

> Now I need additional advice:  what's a good, relatively compact enlarger
> and lens? Must be good for 35mm, optionally 6x7 negs. Color is optional.
> Called D.C. today inquiring about a V35 he has available. I might bite, but
> could I do just as well with a more conservative setup?  For reference, it's
> been 20 years since I used a darkroom.  My reference back then was the
> sturdy old Beseler 23C. I'm willing to even downgrade to the 67's if there
> are enough good recommendations from you.  Or what else is in that realm?
> Omega? Others?


John,
A V35 is not necessary. It's not the best enlarger; it mainly offers a
feature (autofocus) that beginners don't need; it's not very versatile (only
handles 35mm); its VC module is primitive (though it seems to work well);
and it's comparatively very expensive. It's also no longer made.

If you want the _ne plus ultra_ of enlargers, the best money can buy for
35mm, I recommend the Durst M70 with a variable contrast head. Beautiful
machine, from the world's best and most experienced manufacturer of
enlargers. This, not the Leica, is the M6 of enlargers. Approaches $2K
loaded, but you can start without the VC head for much less.

If you want something not quite as good but much more cost-efficient, I
recommend the Saunders 670 VCCE, an amateur enlarger of good if not
fantastic build-quality but very good functionality. It's easy to use, easy
to learn on, and gives excellent results. Light source is a
non-interchangeable dichroic-style diffusion head. About $800.

If you want to save still more money, look for a Durst 601 on the used
morket. You can get perfectly good ones for as low as $100. Make sure the
one you buy has the negative carriers you need; these are still available
new (from JOBO USA in the U.S.) but they're expensive. The 601 doesn't have
built-in variable-contrast filtering like the two mentioned above, and it
cannot be converted to color like the M70. It's a nice, tough, well-made,
utilitarian machine, however, and it's comfortable to use and works well for
B&W enlarging. I like the light source of the classic Durst head; it's
simple, consisting of a large frosted bulb reflecting off an angled mirror
then down (usually) through a single condenser to the lens. In practice it's
about midway on the spectrum between pure condenser (point-source) and pure
diffusion (cold light), which may be about the best compromise for
black-and-white, balancing good subjective sharpness with good tonality. I
like it, anyway. Some but not all other Dursts share this head design.

The Beseler 23CIII was completely retooled only four or five years ago, and
is actually quite a nice enlarger; you can buy three separate
interchangeable heads for B&W condenser, B&W VC (diffusion head), and color,
so if you buy it with one head now it's upgradeable. It works well and it's
a nice enlarger, although in terms of status it's definitely in the Pentax
category and will not earn you any bragging rights around here. I'm working
on the assumption that maybe your 10-year-old isn't a snob and doesn't care.
<g>

As far as enlarging lenses are concerned, buy a 50mm f/2.8 for 35mm. Any of
the current generation 6-element lenses are very good and will be perfectly
serviceable: Nikon El-Nikkor, Rodenstock Rodagon, and Schneider Componon-S.
These can be purchased new for reasonable prices or used for even more
reasonable prices. The latter two manufacturers make premium versions that
are more expensive, called Apo-Rodagon-N and APO-Componon. These are better
lenses but not by all that much, and might be overkill for your son, at
least until you have evidence that his technique is getting very good.

The very best enlarging lenses are not available.

If I can offer any more advice, please just ask. To toot my own horn a bit,
I was Editor-in-Chief of the world's leading darkroom magazine (well, in
English at least, but I believe the assertion still holds) for six years,
and have a long resumé of acknowledged darkroom expertise. And when I speak
on this subject, I speak from practical, hands-on experience, having logged
more than ten thousand hours in professional, school, and personal
darkrooms; I've taught the subject at the high school, college, and adult
levels, written articles (including enlarger reviews) for numerous
publications internationally, and for several years made my living full-time
as a custom exhibition fine printer (B&W only). Pictures I've printed (not
taken, mind you, merely printed) have appeared in major national magazines
and major corporate annual reports, have been exhibited at the Monterey Jazz
Festival, the Smithsonian, in the offices of high-level government
officials, in the lobbies of banks and the public spaces of giant
corporations, and in numerous art galleries and museums, including the
Museum of Modern Art, and reside in private and public collections here and
there around the world. (One sometimes needs to give one's c.v. around here,
especially seeing as how Erwin was willing to conclude, on the basis one
verbal-only internet posting from me, that I don't know how to print a
black-and-white picture. Not to be immodest, but I would say that the
preponderance of the actual evidence tilts in favor of the opposite
conclusion <g>.) On this list, I defer only to Pierce, whose resumé as a
black-and-white exhibition printer is similar to mine but better. I would
match my technical knowledge to his, but he has more experience as a printer
than I do.

- --Mike