A fellow member in my photo club is looking to sell his darkroom equipment since he has gone completely digital and hasn't used the enlarger for over a year.

The enlarger is a Ricoh, colour head, 35mm up to 6x7, Nikkor 50mm lens.

I have never heard of a Ricoh. Are they any good? How do they measure up to the big boys (saunders, besler, durst, omega)?

My desire is to set up a home darkroom with (obviously) spending as little as possible. Most of my work will be 35mm but I do have an old TLR that I tinker with occasionally, so I will want an enlarger to go up to 6x6.

The other option in my area is used from a camera shop. Locally the following are available; Omega M600, Saunders/LPL 670XL, and a couple of extremly ancient looking Leitz enlargers. Lenses are not included.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated

-- Roger Bird (rbird@i4i.com), February 13, 2001

Answers

Ricoh makes copiers and, I think, some cameras. I'm sure they have the ability to design and manufacture a fine enlarger, but I doubt you can find parts if you need them.

I recommend sticking to one of the big 3 for a used enlarger: Beseler, Omega, Saunders. Exceptions to this are the big mothers: Solar, Elwood, etc. for 5x7 & 8x10, since the modern options are prohibitively expensive. A Durst in current production is also a fine option, but for older units parts might also be a problem.

You can always check E-Bay, but that can be iffy. The big mail order houses (Adorama, B&H, etc.) have used equipment.

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), February 13, 2001.

Also, check out this recent thread on "Reputable Dealer for Used Enlargers"

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004Y6c

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), February 13, 2001.