I went through a process of setting up a new darkroom
for myself last year and would like to offer a few
comments.
Be aware that not all bellows on enlarger's can go
short enough to focus a lens for very large
enlargements. This is also dependant on the design of
the lens itself. I have no problems with a Leitz
Focomat but I am limited to 12.5x with a Fuji 50mm.
This problem exists with Meopta Magnafax but not on
the 5x4 LPL, The LPL bellows fold inside themselves
better or there is a better design.
There are three approaches to very large enlargemnets,
extra long column, wall mounted column with table
below with moveable shelf for desk and floor height,
90 degree swing of head for wall projection.
A very nice enlarger is the DeVere, available in 2x3
up, it is very heavily engineered. For the the 5x4 you
will need 60 inch clearance depending on the head.
Heads for variable condensor's, colour, Ilford
Multigrade and tube are all avaiable second hand. The
great feature on these is the two wheels below the
baseboard, one for head height and the other focus.
This makes zooming up and down so much easier. The
problem is no glass carriers, very expensive new but
plenty on the second hand market in UK.
The LPL 5x4 with colour head, I had one for a short
time and exchanged it for a Meopta Magnafax that I am
much happier with. Wall mount model will give you the
magnification, I found it a stuggle to do anything
less than 10x8. Make sure the fan in the head has good
bearings, same applies to De-vere or any fan cooled
head. Mine was second hand and the light boxes were
yellowing and the scratchs on the bottom diffusion
surface were showing on the prints, when printing very
thin negatives on hard grade paper. Glass negative
carriers are also expansive.
The Kaiser range are available with extra long columns
and the colour or multigrade head sits above the the
condensor's.
In your situation I would also look have a look at the
Leitz Valloy, they have a moveable condesor that
clamps the negative, the column would need wall
mounting and under the lens filter would be needed for
variable contrast. These enlargers are rather old.
As I said earlier I am very happy with the Meopta
Magnafax.
Meopta enlarger lens are also worth looking at. I have
a 4 element 105mm lens that at 7x magnification is
slighlty better than a 5 element Leitz 50mm/4.5, a 6
element Fuji 50/2.8 or a 6 element Durst 80/5.6,
that's not what I expected. Meopta do publish MTF
curves for there lens on there web site, cannot
remember the address.
Apologies for the rambling nature of this post.
=====
Regards
Richard Saunders
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