Salut.
Et puis et puis, j'ouvre un atelier studio en mai, et por un an voir plus. J'ai un joli local de 90m2 en partenariat avec mon projet artistique, vraiment chouette, et puis donc je cherche à monter un laboratoire noir et blanc pour ke travail de Portrait que je vaus réaliser en studio auprès de ka population du quartier.
J'ai contacté l'ami Frank Wesp à Francfort qui m'a vendu la linhof MT et le 80ssxl, et qui nous avait fait visiter son superbe laboratoire.
Voici sa réponse.
Mais si quelqu'un vends un agrandisseur propre pour tirer du 4xt5 au formqt 40x50 je vais être intéressé.
Dear Malik,
you asked me a short question ... now you will get a looooong answer!
First; are you sure to start making your own SW-prints? - Because it is not only the enlarger, that you need.
There is also the neessary space, the trays, the chemistry, the enlarger-lenses and all the other stuff like the water supply.
There is a lot of work, money and sometimes frustration to spent, before you get the first print.
Please don't underestimate that. 4x5 is not 24 x 36 mm!
Today good enlargers up to 4x5 are only available on the used market.
Ok, one exception: [
www.kienzle-phototechnik.de] (but very expensive).
Anyway, you remember my enlarger the "Durst Laborator 138 s" in my darkroom?
I use this one since 2006, when i purchased it in Berlin.
It is equiped with a kondensor-head. I do all my prints (6x7 and 4x5 inch) with this machine and i am still very confident.
It allows me to get prints up to 70x80 cm. If someone needs even bigger prints, the head can be turned by 90 degrees to make wall-projections.
It is a professional machine, built for lifetime. Durst produced these machines beginning in the '60s' and continued it into the '80s'.
The price for the basic configuration startet with approx. 20000 DM. But with the necessary accessories it could also be 30000 DM !
Ok, it is heavy, it needs space (min. 210cm), but it is undestroyable and spare parts like film-holders, masks and glasses are frequently available on eBay.
The successors of the 138s are the laborators of the 1000 or 1200 series, also from durst. Compared with the 138s they are limited in the height as the
baseboard can't be raised and lowered seperately. On the used market they are a bit more expensive as they have a modern looking style and need less space.
But they are also very good enlargers, buildt for professional use.
But the biggest problem is to get good stuff. Some of these offers on eBay spent their last years unused on humid places like cellars or sheds ect.
Then the movements of the head and/or baseboard may be affected. In most cases the minimal, but necessary, mainenance like lubricating wasn't done before.
Depending on the condition of a standard-equiped 138s the price may be between 800€ and 2500€ or sometimes more. It may also vary by the accessories like holders,
spare bulbs, lenses ect.
But now let's first talk about the different options for the light-sources to control the contrast.
Option1, durst enlarger equiped with condensor head - you have to insert filters between light and negative to manage the contast in 1/2 steps between
0=ultra-soft and 5=ultra-hard. So you have 11 different filters.
Option2, durst enlarger equiped with color head. By filtering yellow and magenta you can get contrast values from 0 to 4,5.
So it is possible, but to my experiance a little bit tricky, as the exposure times is varying also. (and the color heads are big and sometimes tall and therefore needs a lot of space)
Option3, durst enlarger equiped with variable contrast head from Ilford. Better control but hard to get and also expensive.
Option4, durst enlarger equiped with LED-head from Heiland electronics. Very comfotable to use but together with the splitgrade controler the most
expensive option. And this is only the light-source [
heilandelectronic.de] next to the controllers.
You can get the same results with all systems! They will just vary by the comfort and different exposure times.
There is one more option: durst enlarger equiped with high power leds (red, green, blue, white), steered with android-app via bluetooth.
The most comfortable way, but only delivered by one manufacturer called Frank Wesp.
But why not greater than just 4x5?
Ok, this example is really extreme now. The machine to be seen in this video was ordered and buildt for one
customer only. The price: lower 6-digit €-range. It allows the use of negatives up to 50x60cm size!
I visited Jürgen Heiland just before he delivered the enlarger to St.Petersburg. The weigth: 450 kg.
The customer is owner of a very cool gallery with connected darkroom, frameworking ect.
The owner Anton Ivanov and his friend Maxime Bredov from Moscow are meanwhile on a save place in germany.
They escaped with their families, not to be forced into this stupid war.
I met Anton and Maxime last october and they told me, that the gallery is closed now. Only 1 of 9 guys left!
[
www.youtube.com]
By the way, 4 days ago i purchased another "Durst laborator 138s". So i have two now. I am now very busy to
clean, and calibrate this new baby. In this moment it's not clear if i will keep it as "spare" or maybe sell my
current enlarger.
all the best
Frank
