Enlarger alignment

jeroldharter · Nov 16, 2008

Just curious: which 4x5 enlargers are considered the easiest to algn and stay aligned? Which are the worst for this also. Thanks.

Phillip P. Dimor · Nov 16, 2008

My Omega DII holds it fairly well. It's not too bad to align. Though there is no lens stage alignment, just negative stage.

Without my 90degree laser pointer... I would be lost.

On the upside, I believe they are easier to align than a Beseler 4x5, particularly as you don't find Omega D's with warped columns. The Beseler with it's parallel bars can be prone to twisting if abused or transported very roughly.

Then again, there are these rollers on the Omega DII that develop flat spots over time. You can replace them with bearings and acrylic tubing pieces from mcmaster carr.. but these flatspots actually cause the head to tilt forward or backward as the head travels up and down. Pain in the ass.
I love my enlarger though. It works swell.

Claire Senft · Nov 16, 2008

I have a 40 year old Durst S45. This is a floor standing enlarger. It is not built to be easy to align. It is built to stay in aligment. I also have a Dust AC800 which is not floor standing but is built to maintain fine alignment with no provions for adjustment.

Of course if it is hit hard enough anything can go out of alingment but these 2 enlargers are very well constructed.

I had a Beseler 4x5 mx series that was a tremendous pain in the ass to align and to stay in alignment.

df cardwell · Nov 16, 2008

Durst L1200 stays aligned.

Beseler & Omega, different story.

Price was an issue 20 years ago. Today, they are all essentially free.

Mark Fisher · Nov 16, 2008

I have a D2V and found it a pain to align the lens stage. It can be done, but it was not designed to be easily aligned. The good news is that once it is done, it is done so long as you don't abuse it.

I also have a Leitz enlarger that needed alignment....that was much worse to deal with than the D2. At least the D2 is all out in the open and easily modified.

Phillip P. Dimor · Nov 16, 2008

Mark, did you tap a third (and/or fourth?) hole in the lens stage and use a neoprene gasket/mousepad? I've heard of it being done but haven't tackled it.

I do agree, there are two or three ways of aligning everything on a D2/DII, except the lens stage.
I'd love a Durst 138/S45. Those are sweeeeet.

Larry Bullis · Nov 16, 2008

The industrial strength Dursts are built somewhat like Bridgeport milling machines. I have a 659 that I got surplus at the U of Washington auction, still covered with cosmoline. In other words, a 60 year old brand new enlarger. I haven't used it yet, but expect I will put it in my darkroom trailer when I get that going. I don't think the D3 or the Beseler will stay in alignment on the road; at least not the kinds of roads I like.

The 659 is max 6x9, but Durst made much bigger ones, too. I've printed on their 5x7's and 8x10's. The 659 was the top of the line; autofocus, with a rather strange turret arrangement for two lenses (105mm and 50mm). The old Dursts keep the film flat, too. No popping. Of course, Newton's rings can occasionally be a problem.

Peter De Smidt · Nov 16, 2008

I have a De Vere 504 floor-standing enlarger. The head and negative stages stay in alignment very well. The baseboard needed to be stabilized a bit, though.

Mick Fagan · Nov 17, 2008

I too have the DeVere 504 free standing enlarger, the alignment adjustments on this enlarger are about the best I have ever seen and used. Once set, unless you shove it on it's side, it doesn't appear to move at all.

I have used a friend's Laser alignment thingy, first time about 6-7 years ago, checked it late last year and it was almost in perfect alignment.

The baseboard is able to be adjusted up or down, in all four corners and is quite accurate even when dropped down to the different stages which go almost to the floor.

The alignment goes off ever so slightly when the table is at the floor and no amount of fiddling is going to get it accurate at the normal level and the same when dropped to the bottom. This is checking with a Laser alignment tool, all other methods told me it was 100% accurate. The accuracy of the Laser beam appears to be better than my hairline scratched negative, which is what I normally use.

I have used the old Durst industrial enlargers and they are also built to be precise. The 4x5 Beseler enlargers needed alignment every couple of months in the labs where I worked 22 years ago. They were working two shifts a day 5 and sometimes 6 days a week and were treated quite harshly. The DeVere enlargers never went off song, by comparison.

LPL 4x5 enlargers have a bit of a problem as the one I owned had no possibility of alignment adjustment, it was factory set and that was it. This was the original 7451 (7540?) Other LPL 6x6 and 6x7 enlargers were also unadjustable, so I don't think any of the LPL enlargers are adjustable outside of the factory. I think they are sold as Saunder enlargers in the USA.

Mick.

dpurdy · Nov 17, 2008

You used to be able to get an adjustable lens board for alignment with a Beseler. Don't know if that is still made. I have an older style Beseler 45 MXT and it's alignment is perfect.. or at least it focuses perfectly.
Dennis

Matt5791 · Nov 17, 2008

Interesting stuff.

So how do I get hold of one of these laser things.....? And how do I use it!

Thanks for any advise,

Matt

Chuck_P · Nov 17, 2008

Mick Fagan said:
LPL 4x5 enlargers have a bit of a problem as the one I owned had no possibility of alignment adjustment, it was factory set and that was it.

I have the Saunders LPL 4550XLG (7452) and have had no problems with it. It came factory aligned, perfectly I might add. It's an awesome enlarger.

Martin Aislabie · Nov 17, 2008

Matt5791 said:
Interesting stuff.

So how do I get hold of one of these laser things.....? And how do I use it!

Thanks for any advise,

Matt

Matt, I got mine from Fred Newmans View Camera Store - Dead Link Removed

The instructions are enclosed and easy to understand.

Martin

galyons · Nov 17, 2008

Mick Fagan said:
I too have the DeVere 504 free standing enlarger, the alignment adjustments on this enlarger are about the best I have ever seen and used. Once set, unless you shove it on it's side, it doesn't appear to move at all.

snip

Mick.

Ditto on the DeVere! Intuitive to align and stays aligned.

Cheers,
Geary

Phillip P. Dimor · Nov 17, 2008

I use a lazerspot, got it off ebay for under $20. They have lazerspot II's, they look fancier but I'm pretty sure they do the same thing.
There are other laser levels that offer a 90 degree beam, these would work too.

I have to admit that I print very irregularly and align my Omega DII every time before I print. It's always a little off, probably because I also use my enlarging space as a workspace and bump into the table.

With the laser level, it takes me under 2 seconds to align the negative stage and you positively know when it is aligned.
Without it, it took me 2 hours with a bubble level and I never knew if it was spot on.

RJS · Nov 17, 2008

Some years ago Fred Picker of Zone VI sold a lensboard arrangement for the Beseler 4X5 that worked quite well. I was a pice of 1/4 neopred sandwiched between two lensboard and held together by three screws in a triangle. This made the lensboard easily adjustable. The negative stage as built adjusts both side to side and front to back. A bit time consuming, but when done with a laser a la Versalab it works quite well.

Chazzy · Nov 17, 2008

Phillip P. Dimor said:
I use a lazerspot, got it off ebay for under $20. They have lazerspot II's, they look fancier but I'm pretty sure they do the same thing.
There are other laser levels that offer a 90 degree beam, these would work too.

I have to admit that I print very irregularly and align my Omega DII every time before I print. It's always a little off, probably because I also use my enlarging space as a workspace and bump into the table.

With the laser level, it takes me under 2 seconds to align the negative stage and you positively know when it is aligned.
Without it, it took me 2 hours with a bubble level and I never knew if it was spot on.

What are you using for a mirror, and how are you attaching it?

Denis P. · Nov 17, 2008

Phillip P. Dimor said:
Without it, it took me 2 hours with a bubble level and I never knew if it was spot on.

Two mirrors can be used for the same purpose - much cheaper and easily obtainable, even in the most remote corners of the planet
No batteries required, either.

And also a lot faster than 2 hours... (Besides, I find levels difficult to use with an enlarger for anything even remotely precise.... not too many level surfaces, I guess....)

I use the same mirror trick for alignment - not that my Magnifax needs it that often. About once a year, just to be sure....

Two mirrors - one on the baseboard, the other with a small hole (or just scratched silver backing) that you can see through. Put the one with the hole in the negative stage and look from above on to the mirror on the baseboard. Mirrored surfaces should be facing each other, of course - so you shuld see your eye looking from the "hole" reflected below - with an infinite number of ever smaller reflections....

You can also use a marker to draw a kind of "target" around the hole in the upper mirror - an "x", like in spotting scope...
If you don't feel like taking off the enlarger head, you can fix the upper mirror in the neg carrier, so that it protrudes to the side.
Easier done than explained, I'm afraid...

The method is also explained elsewhere on the Web - that's where I got the idea from....

Denis

Phillip P. Dimor · Nov 17, 2008

I use a 4x6 piece of glass with a piece of mirror taped on 4 sides to the glass. The glass goes where the negative carrier goes.
I don't place it in a carrier, I just rest it on top of the negative stage. I actually use a mirror from an old 35mm slr junker.

ic-racer · Nov 17, 2008

Omega D5500 has a nice set of adjustments to align the lens to the negative carrier. The column is aligned to the baseboard by shimming it (per the shop manual). I, however, made an adjustable false top for my baseboard to get it perfectly aligned. I have had good results with the laser, but there are many ways to achieve alignment. Sometimes using two methods to check each other is a good idea.

ZoneIII · Nov 18, 2008

I have found my Omega D2 to be very easy to align but my Beseler 45V-XL not so easy. I noticed that another poster here mentioned that they have a hard time aligning their lens stage with the D2. I have a tip. Remove the ring that the lens mounts to. Then cut a donut of the material that mouse-pads are made from and punch holes in it that align with the screw holes in the ring. Then reassemble the ring onto the cone with the rubber donut in-between the two parts. Then screw it together using Allen heads or, better yet, thumb screws. Now, to align the lens stage, you simply turn the screws. Works beautifully! I use a laser alignment tool

LOL! I see that someone else mentioned my solution here. Great minds think alike. I wonder if he read it in a thread I may have written previously.

ZoneIII · Nov 18, 2008

I have found my Omega D2 to be very easy to align but my Beseler 45V-XL not so easy. I noticed that another poster here mentioned that they have a hard time aligning their lens stage with the D2. I have a tip. Remove the ring that the lens mounts to. Then cut a donut of the material that mouse-pads are made from and punch holes in it that align with the screw holes in the ring. Then reassemble the ring onto the cone with the rubber donut in-between the two parts. Then screw it together using Allen heads or, better yet, thumb screws. Now, to align the lens stage, you simply turn the screws. Works beautifully! I use a laser alignment tool

LOL! I see that someone else mentioned my solution here. Great minds think alike. I wonder if he read it in a thread I may have written previously.

I'll attach a picture of one of my cones with this modification.

ZoneIII · Nov 19, 2008

Sorry for the double post. I didn't think I had already posted it when I stopped to take a picture of the modified Omega setup.

A fine point: You can, of course, use three screws. That will allow you to do total adjustment in the two planes necessary. But the lens rings are originally screwed on with two opposing screws so it's an easy matter to simply drill two more at 90 degrees to those. I did modify one of my lens setups using three screws and it works fine but I found that I like the four-screw setup better.

With either two or three screws, it works so well that I wonder why Omega didn't think of it. I thought of it the very first time I used the enlarger decades ago.

jeroldharter · Nov 22, 2008

Thank you all for the feedback. I have two Beseler enlargers, a 45VXL and a 45MXT. Each has its own issues with alignment.

In a way, it is unfortunate that there is so much used gear out there because nobody is going to design a better enlarger. Too bad there is no APUG designed enlarger.

mealers · Nov 22, 2008

I've never had to align my LPL 7452, as Mick said its factory set. But I am just about to get a wall bracket made so some comments on this thread have been very interesting to me.
I'm expecting all sorts of trouble when I first try aligning the enlarger collumn so I think its best to invest in a laser level. Just what sort of laser level should I look at getting?

Enlarger alignment

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