23C & 45 Negative Carrier Sizes

[mshchem]

Looks like the 3d printed is out of stock in 6x7

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I’m going to cut a mask out of black matboard and use the 4x5 holders for now.

 

[mshchem]

I’m going to cut a mask out of black matboard and use the 4x5 holders for now.

I've done that. You don't even need a carrier just slip the two mat boards into the enlarger

 

[wiltw]

They probably are close to the reality of the prices back in the day when Christopher's enlarger was new, when you adjust for inflation. Our perception of what might be an appropriate price has been skewed by the market prices in recent years..

I have all my gear in a spreadsheet, with List vs. My Price paid. Back in the 1990s I purchased a new Beseler 45V-XL,, and outfitted it with a fairly full set of accessories.
My spreadsheet shows that back in the 1990s, glassless carriers for the Beseler 45 were $87 at list, and typically could be purchased in the $40-60 range. The glass anti-Newton carrior was $100 list and I found myself one for only $20!...inflation data shows 1990 to 2020 has 100% inflation of prices.

 

[mshchem]

I have all my gear in a spreadsheet, with List vs. My Price paid. Back in the 1990s I purchased a new Beseler 45V-XL,, and outfitted it with a fairly full set of accessories.
My spreadsheet shows that back in the 1990s, glassless carriers for the Beseler 45 were $87 at list, and typically could be purchased in the $40-60 range. The glass anti-Newton carrior was $100 list and I found myself one for only $20!...inflation data shows 1990 to 2020 has 100% inflation of prices.

I bought a Beseler 45 MXCR, condenser head, in 1973, the ugly blue color. I paid $400. Brand new. Couple years back I bought the latest version 45 MXT, with carriers, a lens turret with a cheap 50mm and a 150 Companon, a Minolta color head, a Beseler adjust-a-table all for $100.

 

[wiltw]

I bought a Beseler 45 MXCR, condenser head, in 1973, the ugly blue color. I paid $400. Brand new. Couple years back I bought the latest version 45 MXT, with carriers, a lens turret with a cheap 50mm and a 150 Companon, a Minolta color head, a Beseler adjust-a-table all for $100.

I just sold the 45V-XL, two different size diffusion chambers for Universal Head & Color Controller, 3 lens turret and 5 negative carriers...$500. Cost me originally just over $3000 for sutff that was $5400 list.

 

[mshchem]

Inflation is measured by things that no normal person buys. When I bought my original Blue Beseler Gold $20 double eagle, ordinary, maybe a little rough. 0.98 oz of gold I could have bought for 50 bucks So rather than having 8 double eagles I had a Blue Beseler enlarger. Those double eagles would be sell to a dealer for $1750.00 EACH.

The great inflation 1960 through the 80's into the 90's. I vividly remember my Dad buying gas for 25 cents per gallon, I've bought it for 50 cents, I remember clearly gas being under a dollar a gallon before Gulf War 1.
A roll of Lifesavers, a 5 stick pack of Juicy Fruit gum, a Snickers bar, all could be had for a nickle. I remember Penny candy, tootsie rolls the long ones, 1 cent. Bottle of Coke 10 cents, 3 cent deposit to take the bottle, we always, got permission, to sit outside and drink our soda, we didn't have the big money to pay a deposit.

The stock market everybody thinks they are rich. See what happens when you take it out, or try to.

 

[wiltw]

For future reference:

• All 4x5 Beseler carriers are 83xx
• All 6x7 Beseler carriers are 67xx

 

[wiltw]

Inflation is measured by things that no normal person buys. When I bought my original Blue Beseler Gold $20 double eagle, ordinary, maybe a little rough. 0.98 oz of gold I could have bought for 50 bucks So rather than having 8 double eagles I had a Blue Beseler enlarger. Those double eagles would be sell to a dealer for $1750.00 EACH.

The great inflation 1960 through the 80's into the 90's. I vividly remember my Dad buying gas for 25 cents per gallon, I've bought it for 50 cents, I remember clearly gas being under a dollar a gallon before Gulf War 1.
A roll of Lifesavers, a 5 stick pack of Juicy Fruit gum, a Snickers bar, all could be had for a nickle. I remember Penny candy, tootsie rolls the long ones, 1 cent. Bottle of Coke 10 cents, 3 cent deposit to take the bottle, we always, got permission, to sit outside and drink our soda, we didn't have the big money to pay a deposit.

The stock market everybody thinks they are rich. See what happens when you take it out, or try to.

I went to private college prep high school, $400 tuition only, in my freshman year. Now, $22,230.
I went to private university, $1250 tuition only, in my freshmen yearl. Now, $50,282
Yes, I remember $0.30 gas here in CA, and when it went over $1.00 in 1973 during the 'gas crisis'.
But my point was the DROP in resitual value on enlarging equipment, I only brought up the CPI shopping basket- computed inflation to take early 1990s prices to today's value when only accounting for inflation and not the increased rarity due to production volume drop, which would account for today's prices on neg carriers.

 

[logan2z]

I wanted an anti-Newton ring glass carrier for my Beseler 23C II because I was getting some negative popping, but the price seemed outrageous. So I muddled along with a glassless carrier for a long while until I finally broke down and bought the glass carrier. Yeah, it was over $200 which is more than I paid for the entire enlarger But it's made my time in the darkroom more enjoyable and I haven't really thought about the cost since the purchase (until I was reminded of it by this thread, thanks a lot! ).

If I were the OP, I'd just take a deep breath and buy the proper carrier. You'll screw around with matboard, 3D printed stuff, etc. and probably just get frustrated with those half-baked solutions. The cost of the Beseler carrier will be amortized over the many years of use you'll get from it, so it won't amount to much in the long run.

 

[mshchem]

I went to private college prep high school, $400 tuition only, in my freshman year. Now, $22,230.
I went to private university, $1250 tuition only, in my freshmen yearl. Now, $50,282
Yes, I remember $0.30 gas here in CA, and when it went over $1.00 in 1973 during the 'gas crisis'.
But my point was the DROP in resitual value on enlarging equipment, I only brought up the CPI shopping basket- computed inflation to take early 1990s prices to today's value when only accounting for inflation and not the increased rarity due to production volume drop, which would account for today's prices on neg carriers.

Yeah I went to college, no special perks, University of Iowa. My folks paid for tuition and dorm, super inexpensive. I wouldn't no what to tell a young person today.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

@Greg Davis gave me an idea in his video .

Is the diameter of the 45 carriers the same as the round parts on an Omega carrier? Because if that's the case, I know where I can get one for a couple bucks and cut it down to a full circle.

 

[tballphoto]

just found a 23c 6x7 carrier on the fleat bay right now

 

[wiltw]

About 1992 I purchased a new Beseler 45V-XL with a range of accessories. New glassless carriers were $87, and a new glass carrier for 6x7 was $100. Using an inflation calculator, $100 in 1992 is about $195 today.