Beseler 45 chassis questions

Joe Dahlgren · May 1, 2009

Hi,
Anyone out there know Beseler 45 enlargers?
I have a beseler 45 chassis that is different from the other one that I have which is an MX.

The bottom bellows are as large as the top bellows, 8 inches square. The MX that I have has a tapered bellows on the bottom stage. Also the numbers on the elevation scale go to 27 inches. The MX I have goes to 22 inches.
Is there a reason for this?

I notice that on my MX the square lensboard plate hole, where the lensboard attaches to is 2.5 inches square. On the other enlarger with the large bottom stage bellows, it is 3 inches square. Just wondering if anyone knows the difference between the two. I just bought it for the 45S head that was on it.

Also does anyone know of a link to a manual for the 45S color head?
I have a pdf of the Beseler 45MXT manual if anyone needs it let me know.
Thank you

dpurdy · May 1, 2009

I have a 45 MCRX probably from the 60s, it is a grey one. The bottom bellows tapers a bit and the scale on the side goes only to 22 inches.

dwdmguy · May 1, 2009

Sounds like the 45 MCR, I just purchased one.

fotch · May 2, 2009

Is there a listing anywhere that has the various models/age of the various 45's? My first one (all purchased second hand) has the struts out front so I think it is the first one made. I acquired a later one, black with struts in the rear, then another one that is blue. All have the tapered bellows.

dwdmguy · May 2, 2009

Try this:

http://darkroompro.com/

fotch · May 2, 2009

dwdmguy said:
Try this:

http://darkroompro.com/

I tried this once before and found that 75% (3 of 4) of the Beseler 45 manuals won't load and the message is file corrupted. I sent the web contact and email. Hopefully it will get corrected, I would like to see the files.

Thanks

RJS · May 2, 2009

The tapered lower bellows is an earlier model. One can purchase (I did) the newer, square bellows for my Beseler, which then enabled me to align the lens board with the negative stage and the baseboard. Alignment was not possible with the tapered one. From side to side was iffy, and fore and aft moved the negative stage also. It was expensive, but worth it to me. Purchased, I think, from B&H.

holmburgers · Jan 31, 2011

(This thread died and was buried, but lives to rise again!)

Perhaps a stupid question, but what is the purpose of the bellows above the negative stage. It seems that you'd always want that as close to the negative as possible, but perhaps not??

And indeed, playing around with it last night with a 6x6cm carrier and 75mm lens, I got noticable light fall-off when the top bellows was well extended (logically enough), but I had the same issue when the top bellows was all the way contracted. This seems totally counter intuitive. There seemed to be a sweet spot where there was no light fall off and it was between fully up and fully down.

If anybody can clear up what's going on I'd really appreciate it.

ann · Jan 31, 2011

with a condensor head the upper bellows is changed to place the light at different heights to the negative carrier.

with a cold light head, the bellows always sets close to the negative stage.

On many there is a guide along the side to indicate the height of the bellows for various negative sizes

holmburgers · Jan 31, 2011

Ok, well I have a condenser head with a typical tungsten enlarger bulb.

Is the purpose to minimize heat when close contact is not needed? Could a general rule be to have it as high as possible without light fall off?

Why would I be seeing light fall off when the condenser is close to negative? Perhaps I misinterpreted what I saw...

MattKing · Jan 31, 2011

The condensers are lenses.

As such, they will focus the light over different areas, depending on the distances between the condensers, the light source, and the negative stage.

I would guess that the focal lengths for the condenser lenses are close to the distances involved, so moving them results in large swings.

Ian C · Jan 31, 2011

A pair of condenser lenses works in unison to concentrate the light into a converging conical projection of fixed angle.

We raise or lower the condenser set so that the light is concentrated into an evenly-illuminated circle that is only slightly larger than the diagonal of the opening in the negative carrier.

In this way we get the brightest evenly-illuminated projection at the print. The Beseler 23C and 45M condenser enlargers have a convenient upper bellows to allow easy focusing of the circle of illumination by turning an elevation knob to continuously vary the condenser distance above the negative to suit the format.

holmburgers · Jan 31, 2011

So the condenser makes a "V" shape, that is, the light exiting the lowest condesner lens is at maximum diameter and converges beyond that point?

I'll have to experiment some more it sounds like.

fschifano · Jan 31, 2011

Ian C said:
A pair of condenser lenses works in unison to concentrate the light into a converging conical projection of fixed angle.

We raise or lower the condenser set so that the light is concentrated into an evenly-illuminated circle that is only slightly larger than the diagonal of the opening in the negative carrier.

In this way we get the brightest evenly-illuminated projection at the print. The Beseler 23C and 45M condenser enlargers have a convenient upper bellows to allow easy focusing of the circle of illumination by turning an elevation knob to continuously vary the condenser distance above the negative to suit the format.

That is exactly correct. If you were to set the upper bellows to the largest size negative, that is fully compressed, you will get even illumination for a 35mm or larger negative. However, the image cast onto the baseboard will not be as bright as if you had set it to match the film format you are using. With a diffused type light source, be it a cold light like the Aristo units or a dichro color head, the light source should always be placed as closely as possible to the negative carrier.

holmburgers · Jan 31, 2011

Ok this makes sense, but I still don't understand what I saw with my 6x6 carrier. I suppose it could've been my lens' fault; though it was a 75mm, so IDK.

Thanks guys and gals

David Brown · Jan 31, 2011

From the actual manual:

The condenser assembly, which can be used with other illumination systems, houses the heat absorbing glass and the lenses which focus the light rays to produce Beseler's exdusive "Cone-of-Light" illumination. Also incorporated in this assembly is the color filter cornpartment and its filter holder, designed to hold 6" color printing filters, variable contrast or neutral density filters.

The position of the negative stage relative to the condenser lenses is important when using the condenser lamphouse. The negative size indicator and negative stage lock can help you position and hold in place the setting to match your negative.

There should be an indicator on the right rear of the head, although it is missing on many machines (it's missing on mine.)

You can easily make one from thin metal, plastic, wood, even cardboard. Here are the indicator mark measurements for the different size negatives, all from the LOWER of the two screw holes:

4 x 5--one inch up
3 /14 x 4 1/4--2 3/16" up
2 1/4 x 3 1/4--3 1/4 " up
2 1/4 x 2 1/4--4 1/4" up
35mm--5 3/4" up.

Keep in mind that the precision required here is not very great. Actually, you can enlarge all the smaller sized negatives with the head set at 4 x 5, although that doesn't make greatest use of the enlarger's light intensity. If in doubt, just fudge a bit on the side of a bigger negative.

holmburgers · Jan 31, 2011

Thanks David, that's great info. I'm pretty positive I don't have said indicator, but I'll look. Though, I definitely understand the basic concept now.

grahamp · Feb 1, 2011

The indicator screws into the right side rear at the base of the upper bellows. Since it has to be removed to fit large colour heads like the 45S, they are often missing. You can see one here http://grahampatterson.home.comcast.net/~grahampatterson/grahamp/darkroom/jpg/beseler2.jpg and this shows why it is often missing: http://grahampatterson.home.comcast.net/~grahampatterson/grahamp/darkroom/jpg/DSCN0740.jpg.

holmburgers · Feb 1, 2011

Thanks Graham; indeed, last night I looked at it and saw evidence of "what used to be"!

One more question has creeped up... what does the filter holder for between the condensers look like? I've got the opening, but no holder. It's not a big deal, I'm going to take 6" Ilford filters, cut out the required curve and make a holder out of matboard, but to get an idea of the holder would be helpful. I'll do some searching, but if someone knows of a link....

Ian C · Feb 1, 2011

The filter drawer is thin sheet aluminum that has been formed to hold the filter. Both the 23C and 45M enlargers are similar in this respect.

Part #18 here. Youll have to increase the magnification to see it properly.

http://www.beselerphoto.com/img/exploded.45mxt.body.gif

holmburgers · Feb 1, 2011

Thanks Ian, that's perfect.

And I'm going to get back to your PM shortly.

stevepom · Oct 17, 2011

Negative size indicator missing also

David,
I am also missing the indicator for my 45mxt. The distances you quoted; are they from the hole on the top bellows top mount to the screw holes on the movable top bellows bottom mount? If so, each location has 2 screw holes. Do you know which hole on each?
Thanks a bunch,
Steve

Beseler 45 chassis questions

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