Beseler 23C-II Condensers Order

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I'm putting back into shape a Beseler 23C II that my dad gave me, and I was puzzled by the order in which to put the condensers.

I put together a schema, so which is it: option 1 or option 2?

Comparing with my Vivitar VI, my hunch is that the lens with the flat surface goes at the bottom, and the one with the rounded surface goes on top, but who knows? I couldn't find clear confirmation from the documentation.

I went with option 2, but your explanations welcome.

 

[cjbecker]

Mine is setup as option 1. It is the way it came too me, but I'm not the original owner

 

[Nodda Duma]

If you have a lux meter, you can try both configurations and see which arrangement provides more uniform illumination across the easel.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I think I have another hint from page 10 of https://125px.com/docs/manuals/darkroom/beseler/beseler_23ciiixl_manual.pdf

It's for the 23C-III, but this enlarger is just an incremental upgrade of the 23C-II. It's said that "The two condensers are not the same, the upper condenser is thinner than the lower condenser".

This would also go in favour of Option 1 (rounded condenser at the bottom), so I think I'll re-mount my head.