Beseler Turret opinions?

[craigclu]

I picked up a used 45MXT yesterday with 3 lenses. I hadn't thought about it until I picked it up, but it has the 3 lenses mounted on a turret rather than separate lens boards as I'm accustomed to on my 23C's. I won't have my new darkroom layout done for awhile and will continue using the 23C's in the mean time until I have the room for the 45 and aligning/testing, etc but was curious about whether I'm likely to be happy with the turret and wonder if it's an alignment nightmare?

Also, it appears that there's a part missing for attaching the standard lens boards. I had assumed that the unit would have a spring-loaded mount as the 23 series has for this duty. Am I correct and need to find one of the original mounting inserts to use my normal 4X4 lens boards?

 

[craigclu]

Oops, I found another box of odds and ends which contained an original manual for the base enlarger and I see how the lens board mounting is accomplished and that I will need to find the original style adapter. My goal was to have the light source options between the enlargers to pick from and be able to interchange my favorite optics as needed.

 

[jeroldharter]

I think that a limitation of the turret is that some lenses, like the Schneider Apo-Componon 150 mm enalrging lens that I use, are incompatible.

 

[gchpaco]

If your lenses work with the turret, it is useful. I've run into problems in the past with an Omega turret where I could not simultaneously use the turret and use the 150mm lens I wanted, and a different situation where I could use the lens in the turret but couldn't rotate the turret around with the lens mounted.

If it works, more power to you, but at this point I suspect they only really work for 35mm and some 120, and so I've stuck with boards for my Beselers. One nice thing is that the 45 and 23C boards are cross compatible (just about the only thing that is, ahem), so you only need to mount them once.

 

[Changeling1]

The turret will not let you use Fred Picker's (Zone V1) lensboard adjuster adapter. It allows the lensboard to be properly aligned for uniform sharpness across the print. I was surprised to see one of the adjusters (old new stock) go for more that $100.00 on the auction site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=120119748376&rd=1&rd=1

Of course, the Beseler turret itself is a popular item also and I've seen them sell for $75.00 + on the auction site.

A Beseler tech. told me that the latest and greatest 45 MXT didn't really need the Zone V1 accessory.