From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!imm Newsgroups: net.rec.photo Title: Re: Enlarger Query - (nf) Article-I.D.: harpo.1347 Posted: Wed Jan 26 17:17:47 1983 Received: Sat Jan 29 08:20:03 1983 #R:ittvax:-59100:harpo:10900004:000:1173 harpo!imm Jan 26 17:15:00 1983 I have a Bessler 23XL and I am pleased with it. I have been printing color prints both slides & negatives. I have been using filters rather than a color head. I bought a color head about a year ago, but I have not bothered to install it. I have found that once you get the correct filter pack for the paper you have, it is good for most negatives. I wish the focus had a vernier adjusment. But I am not aware that I have had problems with focus. I have printed up to 11 by 14 with both slides and negatives from 35mm. I believe with a 16 by 20 grain would become a definite problem with 35 mm. I prefer working with negatives because of tweo step processing rather than three with slides. Buy as large as a pack of paper you can afford and keep it in the freezer. For chemicals I have used the Bessler chemicals. Once mixed, the life of the developer is a month or so. You mix up a liter at a time and the powders take a while to dissolve. Recently I try Parcolor. The advantage is it is all liquid and you mix only what you need. However, the developer once mixed has only a life of several days. The life of opened unmixed chemicals I am told is one year.