Holga enlarger...

[Kyle]

Last year there was a thread on the topic of the Holga enlarger sold by Freestyle Photo. There was some discussion, but nobody had actually used one. I'm just wondering if anyone out there has anything else to say or if anyone might have used one since then. I can't seem to find the deals and giveaways on darkroom gear that others have found. I'm getting impatient, so ~$100 is looking pretty darn good for a cheap enlarger. If I were to get it, I'd use it for my Holga photos and other toy cam shots or other prints where absolute sharpness is not required. When I have a good shot that I want printed at the absolute highest quality I can go to my school's darkroom. Without being registered for a class, however, I don't really have access to the darkroom all the time, so I only use it for occasional printing. I'd really like to just have a cheap little darkroom at home for the summer.

Anyways, thanks to all for any input.

 

[ZorkiKat]

The Freestyle "holga" enlarger looks like a super-sized version of a plastic bodied Chinese-made enlarger I bought for the equivalent of US$75. The Freestyle version looks better made though. The "JuFeng" enlarger I got was hard to align, and I don't think it was possible to really align it right. In fact, what I have is actually a replacement for the first I got which had a defective lens bellows rack which was mounted askew- factory defect since its base was moulded into the plastic and no adjustments were possible.

The "Jufeng" would take up to 6x6 cm negs. It's imprecise nature made me thought that it
would find best use with Holga and toy camera photography. It would make prints from negatives which were as if shot with toy cameras- even if these negatives were shot in a Hasselblad!

The Freestyle enlarger looks like the enlargers built in the late 1960s-1970s. If you have some photomagazines dating from that period, scan the back pages and store ads. There'd be enlargers (often store-branded Japanese made ones) which bear the marks "Prinz" or "Spiratone". Others were branded as "LPL" or even "Bogen". You may still find these enlargers in second hand or junk shops. Search on eBay as well- you'll find many selling for around $25 tp $50.

Jay

 

[T_om]

I'd really like to just have a cheap little darkroom at home for the summer.

Then I would look on eBay for a deal (there are LOTS) on a better quality unit.

Unless you just want to have bragging rights to owning perhaps the biggest piece of junk ever passed off on an unsuspecting public as an enlarger.

Tom

 

[Kyle]

Then I would look on eBay for a deal (there are LOTS) on a better quality unit.

Unless you just want to have bragging rights to owning perhaps the biggest piece of junk ever passed off on an unsuspecting public as an enlarger.

Tom

Hahaha... point taken! I'll go ahead and keep checking ebay. I just started to get impatient and the ability to drive down to Freestyle to pick one of these up anytime I wanted was looking really tempting.

 

[Finder]

I second ebay. Reject any that show corrosion.

Also get a good lens - a six-element design from Rodenstock, Nikon, or Schneider. Those can be had on ebay as well. The Nikon seems the best buy and is excellent. Get a modern version as the older lenses are not coated. You will need at least an 80mm of your Mamiya negs. You should be able to make 8x10s with it of your 35mm film, but if the column is not high enough, then you will need a 50mm.