Krokus enlarger?
Panayotis Kouvarakis
I'm trying to set up a darkroom to do b&w processing and I'm looking for an
enlarger. I'm really new to this so I've been reading like crazy to figure
out what I need. Any way amongst others I found a very good offer for a used
"Krokus" enlarger with color head. I haven't seen it yet but the guy who is
selling it says he hardly used it so it should be good as new. I searched
around for some time but I couldn't find any information (or the company
itself). Has anyone had any experience with such an enlarger, or any clues
as to its quality?
Also I've seen a b&w Lupo M2 (new) for a good price. Never found anything
for this either (apart for the company's web site www.lupo.it)
Thank you
Panayotis
Ralf R. Radermacher
> Any way amongst others I found a very good offer for a used
> "Krokus" enlarger with color head.
Most decent equipment. Used to be made in Poland. No idea if they're
still in business. But a lot of it has been sold, here in Germany. A
people I know have used them for many years and I've never heard any
complaints.
Ralf
--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
coming soon: http://www.free-photons.de
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Ralf R. Radermacher
hagaik
Krokus enlarger are made in *Poland*. To my knowledge the company that
makes them is also called WZO. I owned one, model "Color 4". This was a
b/w condenser head with filter slots, and when I bought it used it came
with a bunch of CC filters with Cyrilic letters on them, made from 2mm
GLASS... Anyway, its a pretty simple machine, very very basic. try to
avoid the glass negative carrier - no AN glass there. Also, mine was
supposed to do 6X9, but I wouldn't try to do anything more than 6X6.
One major problem that I now remember is that the thread for the lenses
is not the standard 39mm leica mount - something bigger - so if you
want to use other lenses than the ones made by them, you're in a
problem.
I think that if you're looking for a basic cheap enlarger you should
look at MEOPTA enlargers. They are made in the Czech republic - also
very basic but much nicer than the krokus.
Hope it helps
Hagai Kaufman
Tel Aviv
ISRAEL
www.geocities.com/hagaik1
In article <9528pl$9dv$1...@usenet.otenet.gr>,
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Hagai Kaufman
Tel Aviv
Israel
hag...@matnasim.org.il
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John Dancke
John Dancke
<ari...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to set up a darkroom to do b&w processing and I'm looking for an
> enlarger. I'm really new to this so I've been reading like crazy to figure
> out what I need. Any way amongst others I found a very good offer for a used
> "Krokus" enlarger with color head. I haven't seen it yet but the guy who is
> selling it says he hardly used it so it should be good as new. I searched
> around for some time but I couldn't find any information (or the company
> itself). Has anyone had any experience with such an enlarger, or any clues
> as to its quality?
Krokus were of Polish manufacture. I owned a Krokus Color 3, a 6x9 cm
enlarger with tripple condensor (double condensor for 105 mm lens and
the third addded for 60 mm lens. The enlarger in itself was quite well
made. The lensboard was threaded for 42 mm thread (Pentax/Practica
thread), but a conversion ring for M 39 could be bought. The original
lenses were not highly esteemed, but I have never used these myself.
If you want to use a 50 mm lens you would need an extra deeply
recessed lensboard. The newer Krokus 69 was also suplied with a
dichroic colour head. I have used nor seen this, but it was critcized
for its rather flimsy filter mechanism. I beleive Krokus also made a
6x6 cm and a 4 x 4 cm model. The Color 3 had a filter drawer for 5x5"
filters, and an inset for use with 3,5x3.5" filters when used with
negatives not larger then 6X6 cm.
>
> Also I've seen a b&w Lupo M2 (new) for a good price. Never found anything
> for this either (apart for the company's web site www.lupo.it
This one is Italian and quite good I think.
John M. E. Dancke
dan...@online.no
Egersund - Norway
Panayotis Kouvarakis
watch out.
I'm going to have a look at the Krokus anyway and see what else I can find.
Here in Greece it seems not many people are into darkroom processing and
it's really hard to find used equipment. So to have a better range to choose
I have to turn to new equipment which of course is much more expensive. The
only brand names I found on new equipment are Meopta, Kaiser and Durst.
Regarding Meopta, I found a b&w (not VC) Opemus (new w/o lens) at a price
(around $250) a bit more expensive than the Krokus. I definitely won't be
printing color for quite some time (if I ever get to it at all) so a b&w
enlarger should be just fine. But then again I was always hoping that given
time and more experience I could move to printing Ilfochromes from my
slides. And that's the only reason I would consider Krokus.
Anyway, thank you all for your help. (I must admit I've never had such a
rapid response in a newsgroup before!)
Babar de Saint Cyr
> thread), but a conversion ring for M 39 could be bought
Exactly 70 mm thread so to do:
6x9 you need a plate ring 70 -> 39
24x36 you need a recessed ring 70 -> 39
Babar
