Beseler 23C problem

[ezwriter]

Series 2, Mine has the 23 DGA head installed, bought used. She gave me a lot of trays,tongs,etc and in the drawer is a knob.
Looking over the manual it appears to be the Condenser stage adj. Knob. That shaft is there but just has a screw
in it so u can't adjust for 35mm,120 etc. Its stuck btwn 35 and 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 and even with visegrips i can't
turn the shaft. Weird thing is with the color head on, theres no room for that knob (it would hit the head).
So with the color head you don't need to adjust?
That doesn't make sense to me.
I did some 120 film last nite and was getting vignetting but then switched from the 50mm lens to 105 that solved that.
(still waiting for manual so working things out)

2- Theres a BIG unmarked lens also in the junk drawer she gave me, condenser lens but have no idea what its for.

Thanks!
ez

 

[walbergb]

I don't have the DGA head but I do have the Dichro S head. They look similar, so I assume they are similar (see manual). The condenser chamber is replaced with the diffusing chamber and the lamp house is lowered to the 2-1/4"x 3-1/4" position. It must stay at that position. Use a 50mm lens for 35mm negatives and an 80mm lens for medium format (focal lengths are approximate).

With the lamp house installed, an extension piece is needed to reposition the knob so it clears the lamp house. Not necessary since you don't want to move the lamp house anyway.

As a side note, you may find that your exposure times increase significantly over a condenser head on this particular model. I have come to the conclusion that it is because of the simplistic design of the diffusion chamber. The light enters the chamber and bounces around. Since the top frosted "glass" is the same size as the bottom "glass," it only makes sense to me that if light can get in through the top, it can also get out through the top. This results in less light hitting the paper and thus longer exposure time. Beseler does make an after-market mixing chamber. I haven't tried it, but I do plan to modify my existing mixing chamber.

 

[ezwriter]

I don't have the DGA head but I do have the Dichro S head. They look similar, so I assume they are similar (see manual). The condenser chamber is replaced with the diffusing chamber and the lamp house is lowered to the 2-1/4"x 3-1/4" position. It must stay at that position. Use a 50mm lens for 35mm negatives and an 80mm lens for medium format (focal lengths are approximate).

Are u saying my head should be at 2 1/4by 3 1/4 ?Because now its way off, near 35mm.


Looked at the manual for your Dichro. the big lens i have extra looks like the Diffuser lens. Dont know what its for tho.

I used very short exp times, like 3, 4 secs at f/8 , with some Magenta at 150 the contrast was pretty great.
thanks foryour quick reply!

 

[Rick A]

The DGA head does not get adjusted. It gets set (IIRC) at the lowest setting and the knob removed. The DGA head is fastened to the chassis , not allowing for movement. This setting works for all formats from 35mm through 2-1/4x3-1/4. The knob can be replaced if you want to revert back to a condenser head.

To change format, merely change lens, 50mm for 135, 80mm for 6x6, 105mm for 6x9, or whatever lens you use for a format.