Beseler large format enlarger not level

[MingMingPhoto]

hi everyone,
I have this beseler enlarger that was given to me and I'm seeing now that it is not level.

It seems like it's super unlevel actually. How would I go about leveling this enlarger? it seems to be coming from the tracks, not the more common re leveling points

 

[GregY]

hi everyone,
I have this beseler enlarger that was given to me and I'm seeing now that it is not level.

It seems like it's super unlevel actually. How would I go about leveling this enlarger? it seems to be coming from the tracks, not the more common re leveling points

Find the model # and look for a manual online. Enlargers are more or less like a mechano set. There are many places to level them that can go out of adjustment.

 

[MingMingPhoto]

thanks. I ended up jsut taking a hard look and figured it out.

But would you mind eltting me know - are there any very useful tools? like for example a grain focuser that like vry big durface so yo ucan see if the enarger is level without moving the grain focuser? or are there some techniques you can put me on to?

 

[MingMingPhoto]

Please let me know if you know of any, preferably simple, ways of leveling an enlarger! Anythings you guys may have learned over the years.

 

[GregY]

There are many parts that need to be level....& then level in relation to one another. The enlarger head needs to be level....then the negative stage.... then the lens stage..... then the baseboard below the light. There is a laser aligning tool...but i've never owned one. I use a few small carpenters and bullseye levels. The only piece i use is an 18" piece of 1/4" glass that i put in my negative opening and then measure the distance from each and to the baseboard......both ends need to measure the same

 

[MingMingPhoto]

Would you mind explaining your method in clear detail? I have 0 expertise. And if you wouldn’t mind actually direct linking the products necessary so I get the right ones please

 

[GregY]

Would you mind explaining your method in clear detail? I have 0 expertise. And if you wouldn’t mind actually direct linking the products necessary so I get the right ones please

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/157407-REG/Versalab_PARALLEL_Parallel_Alignment_Gauge.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnNacBhDvARIsABnDa68cYZeYL9LGYXg1itAubzChWYEOgE9rL-ZvBtE9S2zG2FwoFjj0QAgaArmzEALw_wcB

the negative stage of the enlarger is typical about 4"......by putting a long rigid object....(18-20") piece of glass in the place the negative holder goes......& measuring the distance from each end to the baseboard.....you see if the negative stage is level,

 

[Jim Jones]

There are gadgets that are advertised to make enlarger alignment simple, but they are unnecessary and sometimes not as good as just aligning the baseboard, film carrier, and lens mount until the four corners of the image on the baseboard re perfectly sharp with the enlarger lens wide open. Some enlargers have adjustments to make this easy. Others may require shimming of the baseboard, lens mount, and film holder.

 

[gone]

I worried over this too before realizing that it doesn't need to be level. It just needs to be level relative to your print easel. The enlarger could look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and as long as your print surface leans the same way, no worries.

But it simplifies things a little if you start w/ a level surface. I just use a straight edge metal rule, and 4 small bubble levels (you could get by w/ just one or two, but you have to move them around more often).

I take the ruler, press it flush to the metal surrounding the front of the enlarging lens, and lay one bubble level on top of the straight edge. Then I make sure the print easel is the same as that. You can use anything to shim it. Next, I take the straight edge and press it on the same place of the lens, but at a 90 degree angle from the first time. Then I shim the print easel to match that. Everything should be OK then, but I double ck things w/ the 4 levels at each corner just to be sure.

There is a sizable amount of DOF once you stop the lens down to working aperture that will cover most any errors.

 

[bernard_L]

Alignment between the film carrier and the lens stage is more critical than beweeen either of these and the baseboard (or easel). How much more critical? in proportion to the respective distances.

 

[koraks]

{Moderator note: Merged threads on the same issue}

 

[MingMingPhoto]

There are gadgets that are advertised to make enlarger alignment simple, but they are unnecessary and sometimes not as good as just aligning the baseboard, film carrier, and lens mount until the four corners of the image on the baseboard re perfectly sharp with the enlarger lens wide open. Some enlargers have adjustments to make this easy. Others may require shimming of the baseboard, lens mount, and film holder.

Would you mind explaining a little further? for example how can you tell the four corners are level? Are you putting an image in and simply checking for grain? I have a 45MCRX. It was given to me and the wheels were on level on the tracks, but I was able to fix it. But there are a lot of moving parts and I feel as though leveling it must be done a specifc way otherwise it doens't seem logivcal to make something that needs to be leveled so often but is so dififcult. like how do i reall make sure everyhting is level, and which parts need to be level. yo usay the film plane and the lens plane (make sense) and also the lens plane, film plane and easle. that's all right?

 

[MingMingPhoto]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/157407-REG/Versalab_PARALLEL_Parallel_Alignment_Gauge.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnNacBhDvARIsABnDa68cYZeYL9LGYXg1itAubzChWYEOgE9rL-ZvBtE9S2zG2FwoFjj0QAgaArmzEALw_wcB

the negative stage of the enlarger is typical about 4"......by putting a long rigid object....(18-20") piece of glass in the place the negative holder goes......& measuring the distance from each end to the baseboard.....you see if the negative stage is level,

I see, and then I'd do the same for the lens plane and that's all?

 

[MingMingPhoto]

I worried over this too before realizing that it doesn't need to be level. It just needs to be level relative to your print easel. The enlarger could look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and as long as your print surface leans the same way, no worries.

But it simplifies things a little if you start w/ a level surface. I just use a straight edge metal rule, and 4 small bubble levels (you could get by w/ just one or two, but you have to move them around more often).

I take the ruler, press it flush to the metal surrounding the front of the enlarging lens, and lay one bubble level on top of the straight edge. Then I make sure the print easel is the same as that. You can use anything to shim it. Next, I take the straight edge and press it on the same place of the lens, but at a 90 degree angle from the first time. Then I shim the print easel to match that. Everything should be OK then, but I double ck things w/ the 4 levels at each corner just to be sure.

There is a sizable amount of DOF once you stop the lens down to working aperture that will cover most any errors.

What do you think about this object Greg says I should get https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...hWYEOgE9rL-ZvBtE9S2zG2FwoFjj0QAgaArmzEALw_wcB

Do you think this would work more efficently than the ruelr method? please keep in mind I'm running a community darkroom (lol it's working out despite my ignorance), so I jsut wantto be able to easily fix the enlargers (only thre of them, and yes we ahve ventilation)

 

[MingMingPhoto]

Alignment between the film carrier and the lens stage is more critical than beweeen either of these and the baseboard (or easel). How much more critical? in proportion to the respective distances.

So the further the lens is the form the easle the more critial right?

 

[bernard_L]

So the further the lens is the form the easle the more critial right?

That is not quite what I wrote. At a given enlarger setting, say the lens board is 60mm from the film holder, and 300mm (5x more) from the easel (just round numbers, and I know, in the real world, it is not a thin lens); then a misalignment of 0.2° film/lens has about the same effect on edge sharpness as a 5x larger (1°) misalignment easel/lens.

That was comparing two misalignments at one enlarger setting (magnification).

Now you raise another point: comparing criticality at different magnifications. Same film/lens angular misalignment will produce same loss of detail measured in film plane irrespective of magnification. But the blurring circle will be magnified on the easel proportional to...you guessed it: magnification.

Note that I've made simplifications and approximations: not only thin lens, but also change of effective f-number when the lens, at the same displayed f-stop, moves away from film plane at lower magnificaitons. And maybe some other approximations as well.

But for practical purposes: be the most careful with the film/lens alignment; align one directly to the other, not each one to the easel (cumulative errors).

 

[snusmumriken]

thanks. I ended up jsut taking a hard look and figured it out.

But would you mind eltting me know - are there any very useful tools? like for example a grain focuser that like vry big durface so yo ucan see if the enarger is level without moving the grain focuser? or are there some techniques you can put me on to?

The simplest tool is to take a piece of over-exposed and developed film (i.e. as black as it can be) and scratch a grid of fine lines right across it on the emulsion side using a pin or the tip of a knife. Put this in the negative carrier (emulsion down) with the lens at full aperture, and try to focus all the lines at the same time. The lines will be much easier to see and to focus crisply than the details of a normal negative. This should give you a clue as to which direction things need to be straightened. I had to insert shims of cardboard (from a breakfast cereal packet) under one edge of my negative carrier, and after a long trial period I finally glued them (two thicknesses) in place, where they have been for about 20 years. Note that - depending on your lens - the outer field may not focus crisply at full aperture, and you may not be able to see whether this improves when the lens is stopped down. So ultimately you will need to do a test print of your scratched grid with the lens stopped down.

If you want more technical tool, Ralph Lambrecht describes how to make a laser alignment tool (similar to the commercial one in Greg's post #7) in his book Way Beyond Monochrome. I tried to do this, but failed - you really need precision metal-working machinery to align the laser in the first place! I think I managed fine without it anyway.

I don't know Beseler enlargers, but I have the impression that they are quite well engineered. My experience with a lesser enlarger was that even when the thing was aligned at a moderate height, it was out of alignment again if the head was raised to the top of the column, because the column drooped under the weight. In the end I dispensed with the enlarger baseboard, bolted my enlarger foot directly to the bench, and fastened the top of the column to the wall via a threaded rod, allowing adjustment until everything was aligned and rigid. That solved my problem, but with luck you won't need to do this!

 

[Rick A]

 

[Mal Paso]

I bought a 45MCRX a few years ago to replace the one I lost. It came out of a working darkroom so I was surprised to find the right to left alignment seriously off. Close inspection showed the entire carriage to be off. The rack and pinion was off right to left by one gear tooth. I removed the lower stop pin, ran the carriage down off the rack, then back up making sure the gears engaged the racks at the same time. That brought the alignment within range to use conventional adjustments.
Don't know how many years the enlarger was used with that alignment off.

 

[craigclu]

I used every device and method over the years but never felt totally confident in my results. I finally broke down and got the VersaLab device some years ago and never looked back. My only regret was not doing it sooner. Why go through the effort of extreme camera support of a top shelf optic, careful technique/development, good enlarger optics and then have a wonky enlarger screw it up? It's a long trail to excellence and one step in the journey and all the time spent can result in moderate results via misalignment.

 

[logan2z]

Here's a DIY laser alignment tool that looks interesting. I've never built it so can't comment on how well it works, but it could be a fun project.

 

[MingMingPhoto]

The simplest tool is to take a piece of over-exposed and developed film (i.e. as black as it can be) and scratch a grid of fine lines right across it on the emulsion side using a pin or the tip of a knife. Put this in the negative carrier (emulsion down) with the lens at full aperture, and try to focus all the lines at the same time. The lines will be much easier to see and to focus crisply than the details of a normal negative. This should give you a clue as to which direction things need to be straightened. I had to insert shims of cardboard (from a breakfast cereal packet) under one edge of my negative carrier, and after a long trial period I finally glued them (two thicknesses) in place, where they have been for about 20 years. Note that - depending on your lens - the outer field may not focus crisply at full aperture, and you may not be able to see whether this improves when the lens is stopped down. So ultimately you will need to do a test print of your scratched grid with the lens stopped down.

If you want more technical tool, Ralph Lambrecht describes how to make a laser alignment tool (similar to the commercial one in Greg's post #7) in his book Way Beyond Monochrome. I tried to do this, but failed - you really need precision metal-working machinery to align the laser in the first place! I think I managed fine without it anyway.

I don't know Beseler enlargers, but I have the impression that they are quite well engineered. My experience with a lesser enlarger was that even when the thing was aligned at a moderate height, it was out of alignment again if the head was raised to the top of the column, because the column drooped under the weight. In the end I dispensed with the enlarger baseboard, bolted my enlarger foot directly to the bench, and fastened the top of the column to the wall via a threaded rod, allowing adjustment until everything was aligned and rigid. That solved my problem, but with luck you won't need to do this!

What a NIGHTMARE. I'm glad you got it solved though

 

[MingMingPhoto]

Thank you for all your replies guys! I'm going to invest in the laser aligner tool. Any specific model recomendations?

 

[btaylor]

I wasn’t aware that there were options other than the Versalab unit commercially. I have one and I love it- it is so quick and easy to use which means I check alignment more often, which is a good thing. As a cheapskate I was unwilling to drop the $250 for a new one and kept an eye out on eBay and forums until I found one for about half. The thing is they rarely show up on the used market, I think partly because once you get one you would never sell it unless you were getting out of optical enlarging altogether.

 

[bernard_L]

Here's a DIY laser alignment tool that looks interesting. I've never built it so can't comment on how well it works, but it could be a fun project.

Very skeptical.

• Alignment of tool itself is... aspirational. Relies on assumption that nominally parallel surfaces in a room are indeed parallel. That is not my experience when covering walls with wallpaper. Plus, local bumps, etc. Plus, an alignment tool is supposed to be one notch above the target accuracy for the dvice (enlarger) itself. Or you'll just contaminating the enlarger with the errors of your tool.
• Alignment of the enlarger. Nothing about the lens stage?? If it is not parallel to neg stage and baseboard, alignment is not good. In fact, Neg//Lens is the most critical.