Elwood Enlarger

I went to a used photo shop today to look at an Omega D2 they had advertised. Instead I became intrigued with an old 5x7 Elwood. I had never seen one of these beasts before but am interested. The dealer guessed the unit was built in the 50's. It has adjustable masks with platic adjustment knobs. There is a metal frame neg carrier with glass and another wood neg carrier. No lens boards are included. The light housing has some of the silver reflective surface worn off the edges. There is a light diffuser that looks like several sheets of frosted glass in a pack and then another single sheet of glass over the top. The single piece has some chips at the edge.

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Can someone enlighten me on this old enlarger? Is it useable? What is the quality of light from these units? Are replacement glass and bulbs available?

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What impressed me with this thing is that it looks like it would be impossible to get out of alignment and would allow for big enlargements. My interest is in B&W 4x5 and 6x9 negs mostly although I do some 35mm as well. Any comments would be helpful as well as web resources on the Elwoods.

5x7 Elwoods are okey, but they're not in the same class as the

Omega. Since you're using 6x9 and 4x5, get the D2. If you ever need

any parts or accessories they are always available. (If you were

shooting 5x7 or 8x10 the Elwood might be the only affordable option.)

Over the past 20 years I have owned two Elwood 5X7 enlargers. I like

you, were using it to enlarge 4X5 negatives. If I had the budget, I

would have purchased an Omega D2. I did not have the budget so I

gambled on the Elwood and purchased it for $100. The Elwood turned out

to be a very good investment and made beautiful enlargements. I had to

make a few changes/purchases before I was satisfied with the enlarger.

1) I added an Aristo cold light head ($100), 2) I purchased a very

high quality 150mm Rodenstock lens, 3) I disassembled the whole

enlarger, painted all metal and reassembled, making sure all fittings

were tight, 4) I ran two guy wires from the top of the enlarger to the

wall behind the enlarger to prevent vibration. Nobody can tell that

the enlargments made on the Elwood were not made with a much more

expensive Omega or Besesler enlarger.

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About 3-4 years ago I found a second Elwood 5X7 for $25. I have since

sold both Elwoods and have gotten out of the darkroom business.

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If you are on a budget, buy an Elwood and start making prints. you can

always get your money out of the enlarger at a later date.

Old Elwoods are real sleepers. The one you describe has a cast iron

metal chassis. Many older models were wooden. It's a perfect

candidate for an after market cold light head, and I believe VIEW

CAMERA magazine is soon to print an article on this topic.

The flaws you mention are probably insignificant. You can polish up

the reflector surface gently with something like BonAMI.

If you want to use the tungsten head that is original, make sure that

the diffusion glass plate that sits between the bulb and negative

carrier is present and undamaged. This piece is crucial to operation

and is often broken or missing. It is a piece of what looks like

frosted glass, but it's graduated from center to edges to smooth out

the hot center spot from the bulb and reflector. If this glass is

present, the prints resemble cold light diffusion and are very nice.

The original bulbs came is several sizes and wattages and equivalents

can still be obtained.

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Since 5x7 was a popular portrait format (ideal for full-length bridal

portraits), many small studios owned these and there are plenty of

them around but probably a lot of them got trashed in the '70's when

color roll film replaced sheet film in portrait studios. They take a

little tinkering and fabrication to get them back in shape but it's a

wonderful enlarger and you can't beat the price.

I had an Elwood 8x10 which I was pleased with. The only reason I sold

it was because I rescued a Saltzman on the way to the dump.( the

Elwood seemed big until I had to wrestle the 800lb Saltzman into the

darkroom )An enlarger is a simple device, as long as it is aligned,

has a good lens and a suitable light source, it will produce excellent

results. If you don't plan on printing negatives larger than 4x5

though, you may be better off with a 4x5 enlarger, which tend to be

much smaller.