An enlarger without its small parts is a column and a lamp. The carrier, the condensers or mixing box and the lens board are what let it print your negatives, and they're the parts most likely to be missing from a listing. They're also model-specific, so the one you need is rarely the one in the junk box. Here's what each part does and how to tell whether a listing has the right ones.
Negative carriers
The carrier holds the negative flat and masks it to the frame size. Every maker made its own, and most made several ranges. KHB Photografix, a Canadian dealer that services Beseler, Omega, LPL and De Vere enlargers, sells Beseler carriers that fit "all models of 23C", a separate set for all Beseler 4x5 enlargers, and another for the Printmaker and 67-series. Omega's split by series too, with carriers for the B-series, for the C700, B600, B66 and B22, for the C760, and two-piece sandwich carriers for the D-series. LPL's 4x5 carriers fit both LPL and Omega 4x5 machines, because Omega has sold LPL's 4x5 under the Omega/LPL name. So a Beseler 23C carrier won't drop into a 45MX, even though they share lens boards.
Within a series, carriers do carry over. Omega's D2 manual says its D-series enlargers accept all D-type film carriers, and KHB lists its 23C carriers as fitting every 23C. In the photos, read the size marked on the carrier, or count them in the box. Full-frame and oversize carriers show a little more than the standard frame. LPL's 4x5 range includes a 26x38 mm one alongside the standard 24x36.
Glass or glassless
Most carriers in KHB's lists are glassless, hinged metal plates with a cutout. Omega's D2 manual says that's usually fine, because roll and sheet film lie fairly flat, and that glass carriers stop the film buckling under the heat of high-wattage lamps. The largeformatphotography.info darkroom primer sums up the trade. Glass holds the film flat but adds four more surfaces for dust and Newton's rings, the ring patterns that show up where film touches glass. Glassless carriers can let the negative sag and drift out of focus. Makers fought the rings with anti-Newton glass, and KHB still lists anti-Newton top glass for Beseler, Omega and LPL glass carriers. Durst went further on its 606, sandwiching film between an optical glass plate and a plastic frame, and offering a metal mask for 35mm to keep the rings away. If a glass carrier is in the photos, check that both glasses are there and uncracked.
Condensers
On a condenser enlarger, the condensers need to suit the negative, and sometimes the lens. The Omega D2 has two fixed 6-inch condensers plus a variable one that slides to a position set by your lens's focal length, with a chart inside the access door. The Omega C-67 takes a separate 35mm condenser lens in place of its upper condenser for small negatives. Beseler's 45M lamphouse has upper and lower condenser lenses, and Beseler sold a condenser position scale kit for its 4x5 machines. Many heads also have heat-absorbing glass, which KHB lists as a separate part for many models.
Ask the seller to photograph the condensers out of the head. You want them all there, unchipped, and the right set for your format.
Mixing boxes
Color and diffusion heads use a mixing box instead, and they come in format sizes. Beseler shipped the Dichro 45S with a 4x5 box and sold 6x7 and 35mm boxes as extras. Omega's C760 came with a 35mm box and a 6x7 box. A box sized to the negative lights it properly, which is why Beseler said its chambers "optimally illuminate the selected format". Missing ones can be hard to replace. KHB's LPL guide marks the 6x7 and 35mm diffusion boxes for the 7452L 4x5 as discontinued and no longer available, and its Beseler 35mm chamber for the Dichro 45S was out of stock when we checked.
Picking the lens focal length
The usual rule, from the largeformatphotography.info primer, is a lens about as long as the negative's diagonal, or you'll see light fall off at the corners. KHB's lens listings follow that pattern.
- 35mm, a 50mm lens, or a 40mm wide-angle for bigger prints on a short column.
- 6x6, a 75 or 80mm.
- 6x7, an 80 or 90mm.
- 6x9, a 100 or 105mm.
- 4x5, a 135 or 150mm.
A longer lens still covers smaller negatives, but it can't enlarge them as much on the same column. Durst's 606 manual says a 75 or 80mm lens suits 6x6 and also gives excellent results from smaller formats, but you'll need shorter lenses for bigger enlargements from them. Whatever the focal length, Wikipedia's enlarger article says enlarging lenses are sharpest about three stops down from wide open.
Lens boards, threads and cones
The lens screws into a board or a lens disc that fits the enlarger. The 39mm "Leica" thread turns up on many machines. LPL ships a reversible 39mm board as standard, Durst's 606 used M39 lens panels, and Beseler made 4x4-inch boards in 25, 32.5, 39 and 42mm that fit both the 23C and its 4x5 machines. LPL's 4x5 boards run up to 50, 53 and 55mm for big lenses.
Focal length changes the mount, too. Omega's D2 takes a flat mount for 50 to 105mm lenses, a 2-3/4-inch cone for a 135mm and a 4-1/2-inch cone for a 150mm, and the D5 uses a separate slide-in mount for lenses under 50mm. Short lenses on big machines can need a recessed board or a special mount. If you're buying a 4x5 to print 35mm, ask whether a 50mm lens has been used on it and which board it needed.
What a complete listing looks like
- A carrier for each format you shoot, made for this model or series.
- Condensers for those formats, or a mixing box for each size on a color or diffusion head.
- Heat-absorbing glass in place, if the head uses it.
- A lens board or mount for your lens thread and focal length.
- A lens of the right focal length, if the seller says one's included.
Our guide to checking a used enlarger covers the rest of the machine, and the LPL 7700 page is a good example of a model where carriers and boards are still listed new.
