Zenit UPA-5 portable enlarger manufactured by KMZ in the Soviet Union during the 1970s. The UPA-5 came broken down inside a briefcase. Assembly was simple as there were only seven pieces, eight if you include the base. There was a short rod that screwed into the main rod, the short rod locking into the tube in the outside of the case (right hand side of the lid in the photo) Pre-mounted to the rod was the light and lens carrier frame which had a pressure wheel with a knob to raise and lower the assembly for enlargements and a locking screw to fix the assembly for exposure. Onto the top of the lens assembly one pressure mounted the lower half of the light housing. You then put the bulb unit through the top of the light housing, screwed in the bulb, then twist-locked the top of the light housing to the bottom. After slotting in the negative holder and plugging in the light you were ready to go. Setting up took two minutes and dismantling even less. Certainly not the best enlarger that you could buy at the time but cheap and portable and very useful if you were travelling or didn’t have the space for a permanent darkroom. An ingenious and interesting piece of design. Zenit Portable Enlarger 1970s
