Omega Automega E4 Cold Light Enlarger

This is an Automega Type E4 (S.N. 97954) Autofocus Cold-light enlarger. It is in very good condition, is ready to use, and comes complete with lenses for 5x7, negative carriers for 5x7 down to 35 mm, a variety of lens-mounting stages, and a custom-made welded steel enlarging table. With the addition of the proper lenses it can be used for 4x5, medium-format and 35 mm negatives, although it is at its best when used for large-format negatives.

The price is $200 for the whole package - read on for the full description. I'm not going to ship it - it must be picked up in Rochester, MI, just north of Detroit. You can contact me through a private message at APUG or an email to: mark at mseverson dot com (of course, replacing the "at" and "dot" with "@" and ".").

The enlarger chassis is in good shape, the head moves smoothly up and down the track. The upper bellows has holes in most corners, all patched with tape.

The cold-light source uses a circular fluorescent tube which costs a few dollars, I replaced it a few years ago. My testing shows the light source to give the full range of contrasts on Ilford MGIV, using under-the-lens contrast filters. Exposure times are not bad for large negatives, but tend to be long with smaller negatives. I understand that Aristo makes a brighter light source to fit this enlarger if you decide to upgrade.

The enlarger is mounted on a custom-made welded table with leveling feet, and has two projection stages. The top stage can be removed to expose the lower stage for greater enlargements. The table is 40.5 inches deep, 26.5 inches wide, and the table plus enlarger is about 6.5 feet tall. The original baseboard will also be included.

The system has been modified to allow quick and easy alignment. Both the upper and lower projection stages on the table can be leveled independently. In addition, the lens mounting stage attached to one of the auxiliary focusing bellows has been modified to allow easy leveling. With a laser alignment tool, this allows the negative stage, lens stage, and projection stage to be made parallel to one another within a few minutes.

Lenses included:

Kodak 7.5 inch Enlarging Ektanon lens, f/4.5 - f/32, S.N. RC228, coated. One of the autofocus tracks is for this lens.
Kodak 161 mm Enlarging Ektanon lens, f/4.5 - f/22, coated.

Both of these cover 5x7 and are mounted on the proper rings for quick attachment to one of the lens mounting stages. Both are in very good condition, although more modern multicoated enlarging lenses are available for not much money these days.

Lens mounting stages:

3.25 inch lens mounting stage with attached auxiliary focusing bellows - bellows is in excellent shape. (Shown attached mounted on the head in the images at the top of the page.) This is the one which has been modified to allow fast lens alignment
3.25 inch lens mounting stage with attached auxiliary focusing bellows - bellows has many holes in the corners, covered with tape (back right)
6.25 inch lens mounting stage (back left)
2 flat lens mounting plates (front)

Negative carriers:

5x7 glass (clear bottom, anti-newton top)
5x7 glassless
4x5 glassless
3x4 glassless with inserts for medium-format (6x6) and 35mm negatives
Home-made (from black mat board) medium-format negative carriers for 6x6 and 6x7.