Laser Alignment: Is the Laser Perpendicular?

[DREW WILEY]

Lens collimating devices are available from Edmund Scientific. A less glamorous but effective darkroom version was once marketing by Salthill, and worked great for these kinds of issues. For fine-tuning the lens centering, I had access to high quality industrial lasers at the time, serious stuff. As far as levels go, very few torpedo levels that you get from a hardware store or home center are really sufficiently level unless you test them first against a "real" level. You need something with an actual machined edge like from Stabila, or a true machinists level. Or if you can afford none of the above, just do it by eye with a grain magnified, and always, always, always, a true glass negative carrier, glass both sides.

The Durst L138 system was wonderful, because the centering targets were built in on their later carriers.

Talking Scheimpflug, my very biggest 8x10 enlarger actually has a Sinar P geared lens arrangement, as well as an extremely solid micrometer-driven cast & machined mount cannibalized from an old WWII ship artillery gunsight. I got it for free. A fun project.

 

[aparat]

@ic-racer This is such a great thread and demo! Thank you so much for posting it. I am mad at myself for only discovering it now. I went through a few iterations of a laser alignment tool, trying to get the laser as perpendicular as I could, given the limitations of my skills and tools. I think I got it acceptably straight and, after aligning my Beseler 23C III with it, I am getting noticeably sharper prints. I never thought a precise alignment would matter so much. I used to align my enlarger with a bubble lever, but this laser gadget did improve my prints.

DIY laser enlarger alignment tool by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

 

[ic-racer]

@ic-racer This is such a great thread and demo! Thank you so much for posting it. I am mad at myself for only discovering it now. I went through a few iterations of a laser alignment tool, trying to get the laser as perpendicular as I could, given the limitations of my skills and tools. I think I got it acceptably straight and, after aligning my Beseler 23C III with it, I am getting noticeably sharper prints. I never thought a precise alignment would matter so much. I used to align my enlarger with a bubble lever, but this laser gadget did improve my prints.

DIY laser enlarger alignment tool by Nick Mazur, on Flickr

That is fantastic!