The Souped-Up 1971 Durst M301: Small Enlarger, Big Personality

Back in 1971, Durst introduced the M301 with an ad that read like a hot-rod brochure. “Introducing the new souped-up 1971 Durst M301,” it crowed, promising so many upgrades you’d “almost be able to tell it from the M300.”

The highlights? An “incredible” base extension that jumped magnification from 10½× to 11½× so you could knock out easy 11×14s on the baseboard. A “fantastic” Stay-Up-By-Itself condenser housing that finally let you use two hands to drop in the negative. And a “marvelous” hand crank for raising and lowering the head that was supposedly so much fun you’d “sit there and zip it up and down by the hour.” It kept the good stuff from the M300 too: glassless carriers for everything from 8 mm to 35 mm, condenser/reflex lighting, a filter drawer, and a price under $70 (lens not included).

It was the compact Italian workhorse that defined a generation of amateur darkrooms. Built by the same company founded in 1936 by the Durst brothers (encouraged by their photographer mom), the M301 was small enough for an apartment, solidly made from metal castings, and sold in huge numbers. A 1974 Modern Photography review called it ideal for limited space—crank-driven, filter-ready, and ready for an optional CLS 35 color head if you wanted to get fancy.

Decades later, that playful ad still nails why new film shooters love these. They’re cheap and plentiful on the used market, small enough not to take over your life, and built tough enough that a clean, lubricated one will still spit out sharp black-and-white prints. The lifting head and crank make the process feel hands-on and a little ridiculous in the best way. Pair it with a decent 50 mm lens and multigrade paper, and you’ve got a machine that rewards learning without demanding a professional darkroom.

In short: the M301 is the enlarger equivalent of a fun, reliable little sports car from the ’70s. It gets the job done, fits almost anywhere, and still makes printing feel like an event instead of a chore.