Beseler (Cadet?) 3500 worth a gamble?

Plenty of the Nikkor 50mm F2 EL for sale Online on the 'Bay $12 U.S. & up - good deal for what they are. Have one & found it excellent.

My first enlarger was a Meopta and it was very well made and functional. They are much more popular in Europe than in the US. Just make sure it is complete and in good condition. You can get 35mm and 6x6 inserts for negative carrier. Some of the Meopta enlarging lenses are considered to be very good.

The lens with the Opemus looks like an Anaret, made by Meopta and worth next-to-nothing IMO. The enlarger itself will only take up to 6x7 negatives, I believe, whereas the Fuji definitely has a 6x9 carrier included.

 

Opemus enlargers were about the lowest-priced available when new. Serviceable, but definitely built down to a price. I think the Fuji might well last you longer.

 

Anyway, the lens is the most important component, and that Anaret probably won't do justice to a reasonably sharp negative.

 

WRT f/2.8 enlarging lenses, it has little to do with brightness or printing speed. Most f/2.8 50mm lenses have a high-quality 6 element design. Whereas those with an f/3.5 or f/4.5 aperture are simpler 3 or 4 element jobs that almost invariably give inferior print quality. Condition, is everything though, so you need to get a clean sample that's been well looked after, but definitely not over-cleaned!

Edited December 2, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

The lens with the Opemus looks like an Anaret, made by Meopta and worth next-to-nothing IMO. The enlarger itself will only take up to 6x7 negatives, I believe, whereas the Fuji definitely has a 6x9 carrier included.

 

Opemus enlargers were about the lowest-priced available when new. Serviceable, but definitely built down to a price. I think the Fuji might well last you longer.

 

Anyway, the lens is the most important component, and that Anaret probably won't do justice to a reasonably sharp negative.

 

WRT f/2.8 enlarging lenses, it has little to do with brightness or printing speed. Most f/2.8 50mm lenses have a high-quality 6 element design. Whereas those with an f/3.5 or f/4.5 aperture are simpler 3 or 4 element jobs that almost invariably give inferior print quality. Condition, is everything though, so you need to get a clean sample that's been well looked after, but definitely not over-cleaned!

Having used both the Fuji and Meopta, I'd say the latter is better built and will prove more durable. I had to throw the Fuji away when the clamp holding it to the column failed. Meopta's Meogon lenses are very good. Only the Opemus 7 will accept 6x7 negatives; all others take a max of 6x6.

I was almost about to purchase one of the above enlargers when a very complete Leitz Fotomat came down dramatically in price. It's very complete with timer, security light, a large paterson tank, a density meter (not sure of the english name) and one of those rigs to do margins. Also a box or two of paper within the use by date. Unless anyone can think of a good reason not to get it, I'll likely buy this one. It has a Schineider Coponom s 50mm f/2.8. It looks in excellent condition.

 

But to make the decision a little harder, yet another Leizt Fotomat appeared for a lower price than the Opemus 6. This is lacking a base but looks like the bracket is all there. It has a Summarit 50mm lens.

 

Will paste past photos of both. The seller of the base-less enlarger seems to suggest that it can enlarge 6x6s. Is that correct? I'd thought they were for 35mm only...

 

If you have any comments on these 2 please let me know!

 

 

 

 

a couple more shots from the complete kit:

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2018 by Xícara de Café

That Focomat kit will set you up fine for 35mm..... but the one shown will only do 35mm.

 

Leitz did make models for medium format, but they're pretty huge beasts and had a multi-lens turret. There's nothing like that shown in your pictures.

 

The colour analyser will work as an exposure meter for black & white, and with the Componon-S lens is a real bargain compared to the Meopta or Fuji.

 

I would snap it up. You're then ready to go with 35mm negatives. And if you want to expand to medium format later on, then I suspect you'll lose very little if you resell it.

 

Or you could hang on for the (maybe?) medium format Focomat, and perhaps not get as good a deal. The Summitar lens isn't an enlarger lens, so I suspect the seller has no idea what they've got. Caveat emptor.

 

In addition, condenser enlargers like the Focomat need a different set of condensers in order to take MF negatives. Make sure that the relevant condenser sets are supplied for all the formats you want to use.

Edited December 4, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Definitely go for the Focomat with the Schneider Companion S--that is one of the best enlarger lenses made. The Leica Summarit is a fairly mediocre camera lens (in my experience) and would be a terrible choice for darkroom work.

Thanks rodeo joe and AJG. One thing that's apparently is missing is the "focus filter". I don't as yet know exactly what this is. The seller says however that there is a red Tiffren filter to take its place. I think that must mean that it is missing swinging red filter in front of the lens, i don't know. Could someone please clarify what the focus filter is? Would the tiffen be screwed on to the lens?

Well, I did some googling and I'm fairly certain that's what it is. The seller also said that the lens and condenser are in a "perfect" state. So, I made the purchase! Thanks everyone for your help and patience with my questions. I appreciate it!

Don't worry about the red filter--in 30+ years of darkroom work I have never used one.

+1

I have also never used the red (focus) filter, and even removed it from some of my enlargers.

 

The B22 I have now doesn't have one, as it seems that someone else removed it.

 

Why they put them on, if everyone removes them, I don't know.

 

I suppose you could focus on the actual enlarging paper, instead of the easel or a sheet of ordinary paper.

 

The only use I can think of, is doing borderless prints when you might use double stick tape, a vacuum easel,

or otherwise hold the paper down without a visible frame.

 

With the usual easel, you position the easel, put the paper in with the lamp off, and usually it stays in place.

 

I have 5x7 and 8x10 Speed-Ex-El, which are sort of fun, though usually expensive.

I got both of mine used for a low price. They are usually even better at staying in place

than ordinary easels.

 

Otherwise, while you are using it, keep your eyes open for other deals. You might even find

someone giving away photography supplies, including enlargers.

Doing some after-purchase searching on the Fotomat 1c, I found a pair of videos on the actual enlarger. These weren't available on the platform i purchased from as they don't allow for external links. Looking at these, i think I've done well: