Help, Bright Secondary Ring of Light Coming from Enlarger

lightxmyfire · Feb 3, 2025

Hi all,

I've been lurking on here for a long while and this is my first post. I just picked up a used Beseler 23C-II enlarger; that appeared to be in great shape, and a couple of lenses for it, a Fujinon-EX 90mm F5.6 for doing 6x6 and a SK Componon 50mm F4 for doing 35mm.

The issue I'm having is that with the lens board and a lens in the enlarger I'm getting this bright secondary ring of light around the main area like a halo. It happens with both lenses, and I can almost make the halo meet the main light area by adjusting the condenser adjustment all the way down but it never fully goes away. Adjusting the focus doesn't change anything. See the pictures below, Ive also included a close up of the lighting area without a lens in the lens board and it seems like the halo isn't there.

I've been going to a local darkroom to do my printing and I've never seen an enlarger do this even before adjusting the condenser to meet the negative size I'm planning to print. I've inspected for light leaks around the board or the lens, I've looked inside the condenser housing and I didn't notice anything majorly wrong (I don't know what I don't know of course). What could this be? and How can I fix it?

Thanks so much,

Matt

Componon Lens

Fuji Lens

No Lens

Condenser Adjusted

ic-racer · Feb 3, 2025

Is this showing in the prints?

lightxmyfire · Feb 3, 2025

I haven't tried printing with it yet! Still need to get negative holders and a few other things for the home darkroom. I was just testing equipment as I got it and had never seen this before.

MARTIE · Feb 3, 2025

It's probably light escaping around the edge of the condenser (or diffuser).
It will have no influence and should be solved when the negative holder is in place.

xkaes · Feb 3, 2025

lightxmyfire said:
I just picked up a used Beseler 23C-II enlarger; that appeared to be in great shape,

I agree with what has been said.

Do you have the user manual? You need that to make sure this used enlarger has been set up correctly, and that you use it correctly. The previous owner might have done something to it that you are not aware of.

ic-racer · Feb 3, 2025

lightxmyfire said:
I haven't tried printing with it yet! Still need to get negative holders and a few other things for the home darkroom. I was just testing equipment as I got it and had never seen this before.

Most of my enlarger do something simlar. The only issue I have had is when making large borders. The mask blades of the easel don't cover the whole paper and this spillover can fog the border that is supposed to be white. What I do is place a large cardboard cutout over the mask blades.

lightxmyfire · Feb 4, 2025

Hey all!

Thanks for the feedback!

@xkaes , That is a good point, I do have the manual and I haven't checked or re-done the alignment process yet, planning to do that next. It appears from referencing it everything is in order as far as I can see with out fully disassembling the condenser housing, though maybe there is something that was added or removed by the previous owner that I can't see. I don't exactly want to dig into that part of the enlarger for fear I might mess something up.

@MARTIE , that's hopeful, I'll will certainly check it again as soon as I get a negative holder in.

@ic-racer It's good to hear that this is may be a normal condition. Like I said I currently go to a local community arts center to use their darkroom and I hadn't seen similar enlargers (they have a couple 45C-III XL's) do this in the same conditions, no neg holder; lens and lens board installed and turned on to pre-check everything is working, so I got concerned that something was off with mine. Thats a good call on the cardboard for the easel. We'll see what fresh challenges I run into once everything is set up haha

I'll do some more testing and messing with it and report back.

Thanks again Y'all!

xkaes · Feb 4, 2025

I don't think mis-alignment would cause that sort of "problem". and I think it will disappear once you actually use the enlarger making a print, but whenever a used piece of photographic equipment is bought it's a good idea to give it a complete "check-up". I've been surprised, many times, at what previous owners did -- or didn't do -- to things (enlargers, cameras, lenses, etc.)

Ian C · Feb 4, 2025

The Beseler 23C, CII, and CIII with condenser heads project a circular pattern. The projection of the thin band is cut off by the negative carrier to give a reasonably uniform illumination. So long as you use the correct lens, negative carrier, and condenser distance for the given format, you should have a uniformly illuminated projection

I find that my 23CII enlargers with condenser unit installed require “fine-tuning” the condenser position for uniformity. After I’ve installed the lens and set the condenser height to the format in use, but without a negative in the carrier, I project white light onto the focusing sheet. Then I adjust the condenser unit up and down until I see the most uniform illumination.

Sometimes best uniformity happens with the format indicator at, or close to, the indicated format. In other cases, the format indicator must be set somewhat higher or lower than indicated. Then I install the negative, focus and stop down the lens aperture by one or two stops to reduce the radial light falloff that always occurs with the aperture wide open.

The weak, thin circular band of light that I see in the photos 1, 2, and 3 of post #1 should be well outside of the image area of the projection with the negative installed in its carrier and the correct lens installed. Thus, the thin ring as shown is of no consequence.

lightxmyfire · Feb 5, 2025

xkaes said:
I don't think mis-alignment would cause that sort of "problem". and I think it will disappear once you actually use the enlarger making a print, but whenever a used piece of photographic equipment is bought it's a good idea to give it a complete "check-up". I've been surprised, many times, at what previous owners did -- or didn't do -- to things (enlargers, cameras, lenses, etc.)

Once again good point! Maybe I will take a closer look inside the housing and make sure the condenser stage is 100% in order. I did notice when giving the exploded diagram another look the other night that my condenser housing seems to have two metal tabs with a hole through them one on each side of the housing, that aren't in the diagram. I don't know what those could be for or if they're interacting with the condenser in problematic way yet. See photo here ... maybe these are one of those odd previous owner things haha

xkaes · Feb 5, 2025

One on each side. They might be there to attach the light source to something else. I have no idea. It's been a long time since I used a 23C -- and there are different versions. That might make a difference. I hope some 23C experts solve this puzzle.

Ian C · Feb 7, 2025

Those are the mounting brackets and screws for attaching a dichroic color head. They’re shown as items 3 and 4 of the first photo in the following link to the manual:

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_DualDichro23_head.pdf

They were included with the color head.

lightxmyfire · Feb 9, 2025

Ian C said:
Those are the mounting brackets and screws for attaching a dichroic color head. They’re shown as items 3 and 4 of the first photo in the following link to the manual:

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_DualDichro23_head.pdf

They were included with the color head.

Thank you! This is super helpful!

I was wondering if it had had the color head on it in the past because it did have the shaft extension on the condenser knob.

Now I'm wondering if maybe my extra ring of light is the result of something being re-assembled incorrectly when that head was taken back off. Looks like Im definitely gonna be opening that head to check.

Progress!

Thanks again!

lightxmyfire · Feb 9, 2025

Ok, so I took off the "condenser" housing and this is what I found ...

I'm guessing based on the manual that @Ian C sent over that this is the diffuser and not the condenser?

It seems I was sold a 23C that was fully set up for the Dual Dichro head with the Dichro head removed and the rest of the enlarger not returned to the original set up. The additional balancing spring was on the housing as well.

All very interesting. Can the enlarger be used as a diffusion enlarger like this or are there additional steps to using it this way? or conversely should I track down a condenser housing to use it as a condenser enlarger?

All the help is much appreciated!

Ian C · Feb 10, 2025

The photo in post #14 is the diffusion unit. Externally, the diffusion unit and condenser unit are the same size and shape.

The fact that the mounting brackets for the dichroic-filtered color head are mounted on the lamp housing of the enlarger is evidence that at one time a dichroic color head was used.

The enlarger is misconfigured.

You need the condenser unit installed. The enlarger won’t work properly with the diffusion unit when the conventional lamp holder is in place.

The diffusion unit is only usable with a dichroic color head plus the Hex Cell Diffuser mounted on the light port on the bottom of the color head.

There are several condenser units available on eBay. One is mislabeled as a “diffusion unit.”

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313

xkaes · Feb 10, 2025

The good news is that you can sell it on EBAY which will help defer the cost of a condenser.

This may not solve the original problem -- I bet it does -- but we found a BIGGER ONE!!!

Like I said in Post #5: "The previous owner might have done something to it that you are not aware of."

lightxmyfire · Feb 10, 2025

Ian C said:
The photo in post #14 is the diffusion unit. Externally, the diffusion unit and condenser unit are the same size and shape.

The fact that the mounting brackets for the dichroic-filtered color head are mounted on the lamp housing of the enlarger is evidence that at one time a dichroic color head was used.

The enlarger is misconfigured.

You need the condenser unit installed. The enlarger won’t work properly with the diffusion unit when the conventional lamp holder is in place.

The diffusion unit is only usable with a dichroic color head plus the Hex Cell Diffuser mounted on the light port on the bottom of the color head.

There are several condenser units available on eBay. One is mislabeled as a “diffusion unit.”

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313

Ah, yeah the diffusion unit not working without the other parts is what I feared, good news that the condenser unit isn't so hard to find or expensive to replace. Also good to know that if I ever feel like getting the Dichro head this is already 99% set up for it. Thank you!

xkaes said:
The good news is that you can sell it on EBAY which will help defer the cost of a condenser.

This may not solve the original problem -- I bet it does -- but we found a BIGGER ONE!!!

Like I said in Post #5: "The previous owner might have done something to it that you are not aware of."

haha yeah you hit the nail on the head there! and now I know what I didn't know when I inspected before purchase! Its been a learning experience at least! haha and I might hold on to this diffusion unit in case I want to set up the Dichro in the future! The condensers don't seem to be too pricy. We'll see!

Help, Bright Secondary Ring of Light Coming from Enlarger

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