Enlarger ready for junkyard, or is it me?

[t65]

Hello all,

This is my first post in this forum and I have to admit I am completely new to all this. I just processed my first two rolls of TX (seems with success!) and now I am looking into printing them by myself. And here my first real problem comes in.

I have an Opemus 4 enlarger I do not know the story of as my brother picked it up for free from some guy without asking any questions or explanations. So I tried to set it up. Fitted the enlarger to the board, lens (Anaret 4,5/50) in its holder, negative in the glassless carriers and switched of the light and the enlarger on. Now the problem: no way in getting a focused image. I can come rather close to recognizing the image by moving the lower sliding support with lens completely up until it tops out by hitting the lower part of the enlarger that holds the tray with negative carriers. But it’s not enough to focus.

I tried to move the head up until it reached its highest position to see if this gave me some playroom. I tried to invert the metal dome shaped ring that holds the lens so the lens would be closer to the negative but this is not possible as the diameter of the dome is bigger than the bore of the sliding support.

I noticed something that does not make sense to me, just from the mechanical side (remember, I have never printed, nor even come close to this stuff before). When looking at the side of the enlarger, I noticed that the slot where the tray with negative carriers is slit in is tapered towards the front. I mean that the front opening is tighter than the space in the rear by 5-6 mm. The upper plane whit the blade springs that push the tray down onto the lower part seems to be perpendicular. But it can be seen clearly that it is the lower part that holds the vertical column for the lens that is inclined upwards. This makes the negative not be in plane with the projection board.

I took the lower part of from the enlarger and placed it on a flat surface and I saw it’s a bit warped. So I reinstalled it but did not tighten completely all screws so it would hang down a bit on the front, trying to maintain the lower and upper planes of the tray slot parallel and thus the negative parallel to the projection board. However, this did not make a difference. I still could not focus the image because the sliding support with lens still had to be moved further upwards than allowed. It still tops out. When saying I could not focus I mean that not even a part of the image is decent. I can hardly recognize the picture at all.

BTW, I am not impressed when placing the head in its upper position. The image is hardly the size of an A4 sheet (24 x 30 cm). How big can the enlarged image become using a 35 mm negative?

So guys, what’s my problem? Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with this enlarger and is it ready for the junkyard?

I would really appreciate your ideas.

Thanks,
Thorsten

Sorry for the length of my post but I just wanted to be as clear as possible.

 

[rduraoc]

I can´t figure out what's wrong with your enlarger (maybe a problem with the lens?), but with my Meopta Axomat 5a with the same lens as yours, anaret 4,5/50, projects a little bit over 30x40cm. Have you checked if you have the condenser lens in the lamp housing? Although it is not between the negative and the lens, maybe it makes a difference.

 

[t65]

I also opened the enlarger and found (from the bulb down) a square flat piece of glass, a round opaque piece of glass, a semispheric lens, a second lens and then again a square flat piece of glass. Besides being enormous dirty, I think all is there that should be.

I just keep wondering about the inclined lower plane of the tray slot. Is this normal, or did it bend because it received a blow, maybe when dismounting it?

Thorsten

 

[Neal]

Dear Thorsten,

Search APUG for "Opemus 4 enlarger" and you will find a thread on alignment.

Good luck!

Neal Wydra

 

[Ondrej1]

Opemus at its default configuration is used for madium format with 75mm (80mm) lens. With 50mm lens you must get the lens closer to the negative, I had the same problem as you I could not focus image.

With my Opemus IIa I removed plate that holds lens, unscrew lens, screw lens in the plate from opposite site and mount the plate in the enlarger "upside down". Problem is that there is too many different lens holders for Opemus (included some really weird-home-made ones) that this might not be possible in your case. If this is the case, try to find original plate that can be mounted on the enlarger upside-down. I would not worry about condenser at this stage.

 

[t65]

When noticing that I had the sliding support topping out while trying to focus, I indeed tried to flip the lens ring in order to get the lens closer to the negative. Like I said, the dome does not permit it. Maybe I have the wrong lens ring for 35 mm and I should be starting to look for a new one now.....

I don't think my first problem is the alignment. At this moment there is really nothing of the image in focus. I can hardly recognize it. I think basic alignment will come in after I have at least a part of the image focused.

Maybe somebody with an Opemus 4 who is printing 35 mm negs can confirm me these two questions?

1. using a 50 mm lens, should the lens ring be used with the dome upwards? That is, with the lens sitting as far as possible inside the enlarger? What is the diameter at the base of the dome?

2. should the lower plane of the slot that receives the tray with neg carriers be parallel with the upper plan where the blade spring sits? Is mine bent?

Thorsten

 

[titrisol]

Maybe the condensors inside the top chamber are misaligned, mis-assembled?

Extend the bellows as much as you can and lift a white piece of paper closer and cloer to the lens, it should show image at a point.
If it doens't I'd guess the condensors lenses are misassembled