Is this Beseler 23 missing parts?

[BeselerOrNot]

Building a BW darkroom, looking for an enlarger. The old Beseler 23's seem rater attractive because of their robust condition. So I stumbled upon this

specimen and I wonder if something is missing? I mean, normally between the filter compartment and the upper bellows goes a "condenser housing", but with color head there's no need for condenser, right? But why is the bellows disconnected? Pictures from internet show it assembled both with and without condenser, which is conusing:

I will contact the seller of course, but he inherited this and may not know much.

Optics, negative carriers don't bother me much as they could be bought and shipped. But the main frame I have to pick up, shipping would be a killer.

Beseler is not the only option of course. For ex. I am also looking at the Philips PCS 2000 offer. However for indexing I am considering attaching a digital camera, as it was done in this post, so the solid heavy construction is a plus.

So, is this a hard pass, or worth looking at?

 

[Ian C]

Photos 2 and 3 show a 23CII with its condenser unit attached.

The first photo shows the enlarger missing the cylindrical condenser unit. Instead of the condenser unit, it could instead be used with one of two different sized mixing chambers it you want to use it as a diffusion-only light source.

There are two configurations:

1. Condenser. This requires the Conic Light Integrator mounted to the light port on the bottom of the color head and the Condenser Unit installed in the gap in the photo you posted.

2. Diffusion. This requires the Hex Cell Diffuser mounted to the light port on the bottom of the color head and either the medium format mixing chamber or the 35 mm mixing chamber in the gap shown. You can use the medium format chamber for medium format or 35 mm negatives. If you use the 35 mm mixing chamber, you’ll get shorter enlarging times as it concentrates the light over a circle not much larger than the 35 mm negative. But it won’t work properly for medium format negatives.

Here's one at a reasonable price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124263045612?hash=item1ceea799ec:g:-WEAAOSwLY1ewCBf&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8BxiJ7YXVY/uCWa8ZChCGZVRPdz4qho8sFykfZrS7Jcw/OW0cWaWJxd7Uyd92TNIItBUUnOrzCe/tebozWYS9GKx9bmtN3ux9rceBYSSnNMJa1AbK49mP0C4ys0HajgsQ1NGqe/5KglhWvIliRIuwdilN4BbqOS7CrTnP3c6XJ8XNCSaJD373v+du4OxOATYnM8z4gsstt7MzlE5tixzdAGYWxP/PpPbeP/pjgLvdKOzCNuwJczz+bnrIv180ZgreOqkYekouGd50KxHSyfiM1lo/NRGtAXTdYmOScdCEBB1Ycpfz3K3566zm4BrTgOcAA==|tkp:Bk9SR_iy7veHYw

Here is the manual for the older Dual Dichro head. The one you show is the newer Dual Dichro-S head. The only difference is that the Dual Dichro-S has a small non-transformer power supply and voltage stabilizer unit built into the head. No external power supply is needed. You will need an enlarger timer to use it.

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

Note the photos and descriptions of the Hex Cell Diffuser and the Conic Integrator. You can examine the bottom of the color head to verify which unit is installed on it now. It must have one or the other. Otherwise, the enlarger is not usable, likewise for the condenser unit of one of the mixing chambers. You can only use the condenser unit or one of the mixing chambers. It’s impossible to use both simultaneously. I think that Beseler labeled its mixing chambers as “diffusion units.”

The condenser units are common—easy to find. The diffusion units are fairly scarce.

This is the 23CIIXL manual. The “XL” means extra-long column.

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_23C_II.pdf

It might make sense to look around for a ready-to-use enlarger with all components, lens, timer, and negative carriers. A 6 x 9 cm glass carrier would be a huge plus.

 

[BeselerOrNot]

Oh, the mixing chamber is not a part of the color head! Makes sense, better put that color filter before it. Thanks!

 

[mshchem]

Who has the negative carriers, lens boards, mixing chambers, timer etc etc?? Better to find one complete. People save the small parts to sell on eBay at high prices.

 

[Rick A]

The last Beseler Dual Dichro head I had mounted directly on top of the condensers, they must be lowered all the way down to the 6x9 - 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 position for use.