Intrepid Enlarger Prototype Review 

Very helpful, thank you! There are several review videos which cover this thing; I'm glad you took yours in a different, and very useful, direction!

This was a very helpful video! Almost none of the videos I've watched reviewing this enlarger have touched on this topic regarding the high contrast functions of the enlarger. As someone who often prints at grades 4 and above, this is really important information.

Great video Lina. Very informative especially about your LED research. I often wondered about LED spectrum with respect to multigrade printing. This is the nail in in the coffin for this enlarger for me. I do split grade printing with 5 and 00 filters. Contrary to your comments about who needs the 5 filter I have made some prints in fog that were printed entirely on the 5 filter and I wished for more contrast.

thanks for the detailed explanation on the grade 5 filtering Lina.

Thanks for the extra work to include those visuals in your videos lately. It's really nice. I would consider carving out the section on contrast filters and publish it too on YT for people to find it easily.

It's so great to the the passion and enthusiasm in your videos.

That is exciting news! It would sure beat dragging around my Beseler 23c. I shall look into investing in on of those. Thanks for the review!

A very informative video. Well done Lina!

Really good product, I "ordered" the package yesterday for 35 and 120 mm. Even though I have worked with photography for about 50 years, this is really an exciting product.

What a fantastic review. Thanks!

Lina, love your chance, great video. I also have a nice darkroom that gets regular use. But I will, 100%, buy an Intrepid when it becomes available. What a great gift for a student too!

Great examination of the contrast settings. I had a feeling about this 😄

Thanks so much for this. I just finished taking a b&w printing workshop and am thinking of finally setting up a darkroom. This is definitely a contender.

Great video and I agree the team at intrepid are awesome. I will buy it for the simple reason that it is nifty and they build great stuff. I learned allot on the light spectrum so again, thanks for the education!

Very informative!!!! I love it!!!!

Thanks for the video!

Great overview. For ilford emulsion to reach maximum density without any trace of emerald green it needs purple instead of royal blue which has a tail into the green spectrum that affects the low contrast layer, I have developed multiple led conversions

I've picked one of these up as my darkroom space is my tiny office/dining room. I don't have space to keep a traditional enlarger head around. I've got all my trays, the enlarger, and the rest of my fear in a small box stuck away under a chair in the corner. I've not managed to print yet, but have tested the setup and focusing, and it all seems good. I'm not going to be printing a tonne, and I'm not selling my prints, so this should suits my needs well enough.

Hi Lina I have one of the soviet enlarger I was my first enlarger and I continuous to have it because I love it and I remember my beguinings

I wouldn't call it entry level but Hi Tech Pro. I have a Beseler 23 with Color head but have ordered this because of the ability to use it as a neg scanning light as well. Really looking forward to getting it.

I look forward to purchasing Intrepid's 4x5 camera on the near future. They're an awesome company who is making the medium and large format camera world, relatively affordable for newcomers. However, I would like to ask you about a 35mm/120mm brand of film you spoke highly of in another video. Adox CMS 20 B&W film in 120 and 35mm rolls. I cannot find any of these film rolls (in 35mm specifically) here in America. Nor can I find it's corresponding developer. I absolutely fell in love with the depth of the black and white images you displayed in that video! Would you be able to recommend a place where I could buy both the Adox CMS 20 black and white film in 35mm, as well as the proper developer supplies? I would so greatly appreciate any help that you can offer. Thank you

Enlarger in a case: My first enlarger was an Opemus IIIC and it had a "case". Eventually tossed their lenses for Nikkors. Also had glass and glassless negative carriers. The enlarger had a very nice focus aid.

hi @linabessonova - do you have any update on the blue LED issue? Did intrepid solved this in their final product? or is the max grade still around 4.2 ?

OK thanks for the review, so less contrast as tungstene on ilford black and white multi grade paper, but for color print it's probably less an issue with fuji Ra4 cristal paper, this last one is perfect with laser and led light because it was formulated to use with there frontier minilab that can print digital photo on those silver paper.

would you share what LED light source you recommended to intrepid, i plan to buy an enlarger for b&w with the ability to use 00 through 5 filters for split grade prints the intrepid would be great for my small space but.......

Thank you for doing the Led breakdown! It's good to know what the benefits and the limitations are. I think I'm going to give this thing a try because I have a tiny house with a tiny bathroom, but I think I can make this work. I've been dying to do some printing instead of just digital scanning of my 35 and 120 negatives. I just can't fit a full sized enlarger in my home.

Was the Grade 5 issue resolved in the production unit?

Great video Lina, I didnt yet check the different filtrations, but will soon.

for the grade 5 test did you do the grade 5 setting on the intrepid controller or did you use a white setting with an under the lens grade 5 filter?

Lina, I hope you can do a follow up review of the Intrepid Enlarger. I'm curious because while I have a 40 year old Devere 504 with a condenser head, a Leitz V35 and an Omega something or other in boxes. I know my living arrangements are going to be changing so the Intrepid makes more sense over the long haul. The Devere takes a tungstan buib and I have only one spare left. I do hope there are other enlarger companies looking into using LED lighting going forward.

What’s the soviet suitcase enlarger called?

great video. would i be able to print 16"x24" with this enlarger? also, are the neg carriers full frame?

5x4 would do me but wouldn’t say no to 10x8!

Do you happen to know if they switched out the blue LEDs like you suggested?

You say many of the LEDs you have tried are not 'blue' enough. I am curious if you have tried any UV LEDs, which peak at a shorter wavelength?

Lina tks for your videos, doesn't the package include the lens? Does it mount a L39 ones? tks

Nice review. I wish they made it to take the 4x5 neg too. BTW, I have one of those enlarged in the suitcase.

If you have a color enlarger, do you still need to use filters for variable contrast paper? I’ve never had a color enlarger myself so I used filters.

When is it available to buy?? Looking forward to getting it!

How stable is it and does it move easily once you are printing?

Sadly with a 500sgd price tag, I’d still need a copy stand and a m39 lens to get them working

Make a film back for that enlarger and boom, mini bellows camera

I wish they would make an 8x10 kit

Great review but you did not give a conclusive, I would by this enlarger - or wouldn't, comment. Intrepid themselves compare this enlarger's prints to De Vere 504 prints so they are not seeing their enlarger as a toy as you described it. Do you feel it is capable of the professional results you demand of your own darkroom enlargers and would you spend your own money to buy one? Many thanks.

Здравствуйте, купить уже где-то можно сей гениальный девайс)?

i wish it would be one for large format and not like all stopping by 6x9

Look at that excitement on your face, come that should be the privilege of 'Boys with Toys' but OK OK we can have 'Girls with Gadgets' then.

My 4x5 Chromega is getting jelous....

Better have a traditional one...

440nm blue light source is better

'channel'

In *Soviet times* .........Lol I bet you were not even born in Soviet times

Other YT media has tested this "enlarger" package and discovered the the output of the LED source is so uneven that it cannot be used to enlarge negatives larger than 35mm. Intrepid has confirmed that although set up to cover medium format sizes, the light source cannot be used effectively for medium format. They hope to correct this defect "later". As a practical matter, to use this product, you have to buy an enlarger and adapt its use or a copy stand or similar to get to a working device. That could be $150 up, and the Kickstarter is $300. My evaluation is that anyone proposing to spend $450 for an enlarger, is not going to be buying this jury rigged mess. Far better used enlargers are out there for much less. "But it is so small, you can put in the box and keep in the bathroom between uses." The labor to set up and level is more trouble than that would be worth. "You can use your tripod." Anyone who thinks that has never tried it. For starters, every time you change a print size. you have to realign the whole contraption - you spend more time playing with the device than you do enlarging. Conclusion: Not ready for prime time!

Sorry, this is a toy 👎