Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>With all these postings on enlargers, I am becoming curious. > >What should you be paying attention for if buying a second hand Leica V35 >enlarger. >What should come with it? >Is it still a good buy (at what maximum price) or should one get a new >Durst or something? > >Thanks for any info. > >Pascal >NO ARCHIVE Hello Pascal, I am a new owner of the Leitz V35. I shopped around a bit before buying. Friends tried to talk me out of it, because it can only do small format. Nevertheless, I went with the advice of seasoned LUGgers and took the plunge. I found that the prices varied considerably--from less than $1000 US dollars to over $2000 if both color and B&W heads were included. My initial cost was $1400 and it came with the Manual, an 11X14 Bogen easel (which I replaced with a Saunders "V" track), some other books, a Paterson exposure meter, which I haven't used yet, and, of course the Focotar 40/2.8mm lens, and the color hear, which works very nicely for B&W. I had to take it to Leica for adjustment and repair, which cost an additional $254, but the seller refunded me $150. I figure the enlarger alone, with color head & lens cost about $1250. There are probably better bargains out there, but I'm happy with what I've got. It's 100% better than the old Omega I was using where I took a class last summer. A real joy to use. I even think the autofocus is working! (This took a bit of fiddling around.) I like having Leica consistency from neg to print. Hope this info is helpful. All the best, MK