Beseler 23c diffused light filter?

[Digger Odell]

Hello good folks,

I'm new at darkroom enlarging/developing, but managed to get my hands on a couple of boxes of equipment that are enough for me to make prints, and a Beseler 23c ii enlarger. I like tinkering with things and making them well tuned and versatile. Which leads me to this question. Can I just put a piece of sandblasted/etched glass in the filter holder above the condenser lens and have a true diffused light source? or would this be a diffused, then condensed, light source with a net sum of zero?

Thank you.
Digger

OM-1,OM-4, Yashica 124g.

 

[darkroommike]

The lamp is already diffused, flashed opal glass envelope on the lamp. How much more diffused the light would be if you place the diffuser above the condensers is anybody's guess but my guess is "not much more diffused". You will get stronger diffusion if you place the diffuser on top of the negative. If you're that new try printing with just the condenser system, it won't be awful/And if you are dead set on a diffusion set up look for a Beseler Dual Dichro color head which can print with both diffused on condenser light and has dichroic filters to boot. Or the 23 VC head, a little slow but nice quality of light.

 

[jim10219]

It won't diffuse it noticeably. The lens will culminate the light. It might, however, reduce the strength of the light, which is why I did the same thing. I couldn't get exposure times long enough to dodge and burn without it.

In any case, I sold a color diffuser enlarger and an Ilford 500h diffuser head and just use filters for multigrade and color papers because I preferred the look of condensers. It's more work (dust is a bigger issue), but I prefer the look of a condenser by a large margin.

 

[voceumana]

Note that etched glass (i.e., ground glass) may well come into focus if used directly above the negative, and so give the etching pattern in the image. Opal glass will not suffer from this problem--as it has no pattern.