Meopta opemus 6 focusing problem

Hi from Greece...

I bought a meopta opemus 6 enlanger and a rodagon 50 f2,8 lens.
I have focusing problem.The lens almost goes inside the enlarger when trying to focus, but it's not enough.

Could someone help?
Thanks
Vagelis

Hi Vagelis,

have you already turned around the lensboard?

Greets from Germany,
Bernhard

Thanks... I'll test it...

You need to have the lens mounting ring reversed, that is the lens in the dip in the ring for 35mm and the oppisite way for 120, They are very good enlargers, I use one myself for both 120 and 35 mm and they are well built and will give a lifetimes service with a modicum of care,
Richard

Yes, you have to reverse the mounting ring

At least this will save you some money ..... always good before really going into bankruptcy

Greetz,

Роберт

I've got a Meopta Magnifax 4a which I think is fairly similar. I've found that the bellows are quite stiff and to reach focus with a 50mm lens I have to give the lens mount a gentle upward push whilst I'm turning the focusing knob to get it to the focus point. As others have said, you do also have to make sure that the lens mounting ring is orientated so that the lens goes up closer towards the negative carrier.

And my enlarger timer was made in Greece...!

Hi. To OP (or anyone else with any ideas) - I have an opemus 5 and just bought a rodenstock rodagon 2.8 50mm for it as well. The M39 thread fits fine, but the actual case of the lens hits the rounded recessed part of the standard opemus lens board when you try to attach it in the inverted position necessary to get focus in 50mm and so it seemingly cannot be mounted.

Did you get this to work? I am struggling to work out what to do short of getting a custom lens board made up, if that's even feasible.

Really annoyed actually cause it seems like a great lens!

octofish said:

recessed part of the standard opemus lens board when you try to attach it in the inverted position

Click to expand...

Are you using the flat or recessed lensboard?
The recessed lensboard is recessed up into the bellows and the lens screws in so it hangs down, so you can see the aperture markings. Is that how you are doing it?

Hello,

octofish said:

Hi. To OP (or anyone else with any ideas) - I have an opemus 5 and just bought a rodenstock rodagon 2.8 50mm for it as well. The M39 thread fits fine, but the actual case of the lens hits the rounded recessed part of the standard opemus lens board when you try to attach it in the inverted position necessary to get focus in 50mm and so it seemingly cannot be mounted.

Did you get this to work? I am struggling to work out what to do short of getting a custom lens board made up, if that's even feasible.

Really annoyed actually cause it seems like a great lens!

Click to expand...

I ran in this problem years ago, too, "big" enlarging lenses cannot be fitted into the reversed board, because of its "bell" shape. The solution is to use a "plan' lens board, and then, the lens is closer enough to get proper focus. I have to check it, but I believe I recycled a Durst lens board for this on my Opemus. If you have a retaining ring for M39, your plan lens board don't even need to be threaded.


Best regards,


Raphael

To test if this, the idea of Raphael (making a flat plate lens mount), is possible try making a mounting ring out of thick matt-board (cardboard) or thin plywood. This probably won't be aligned well enough to print with, but will at least allow you to see if the focussing is about right.

That's a great idea MartinP! I've been putting off looking into to get one made up, because I have a sneaky suspicion it will be very expensive. If a flat one would work, that will make it a lot easier/cheaper to source one.

Raphael - I would be very interested to know whether you are in fact using a Durst board, because that may well be easier to find. I have had no luck with finding a meopta one. I'm told they existed (once) but haven't had any luck finding one yet.

Thanks for the tip on the retaining ring also. I didn't know these existed, but don't seem difficult to find, or particularly expensive.

Thanks guys - I have hope again!

Hi Octofish,

octofish said:

Raphael - I would be very interested to know whether you are in fact using a Durst board, because that may well be easier to find. I have had no luck with finding a meopta one. I'm told they existed (once) but haven't had any luck finding one yet.

Thanks for the tip on the retaining ring also. I didn't know these existed, but don't seem difficult to find, or particularly expensive.

Thanks guys - I have hope again!

Click to expand...

I checked, in fact, it's not a Durst one, I reused a flat mounting board from a Polish made enlarger lens (Janpol color from PZO factory, for the connoisseurs ).
As it's a 42 mm threaded, I used too a step down M42-M39 ring (a few buck from a russian dealer) to mount the Rodagon (or a Schneider componon), et voila !
A bit complicated, I know, but it is working well, as the PZO mounting board has exactly the same diameter as standard Meopta board.
Maybe a kind of East european standardization here

Please let me know if you want further explanations, I can even post a snapshot here.

I am told too that plan Meopta mounting boards once existed, I believe they are even sold by dealers like Fotoimpex, but it seems no longer available.

In all case, the suggestion from Martin to test before buying anything is good. I know it's working with an Opemus 6 like mine, but you should check too with the Opemus 5, if ever focus stroke is shorter for this model.

Best regards,

Raphael

So I can confirm that a flat lens board is still not enough to get focus with a rodagon 2.8 on a meopta opemus 5. NEARLY. But not quite. I made one out of card and a retaining ring, and no joy.

So I guess I'll see if I can get a recessed one made up. Or sell the lens.

This is a very sad day.

I once had an Opemus 5 and now use an Opemus 6 for colour. I was wondering why they had increased the diameter of the concave/convex mounting plate between the models and this problem with the Rodagon, and 'fat' lenses in general, might be the reason.

Is the problem with the stop-down lever, or with the actual lens-body itself? I have no idea if your particular Rodagon has the pre-set aperture lever or not, but it could be the widest part - it could also be far enough away from the mounting ring that the width isn't a problem. Perhaps the stop-down lever can be removed, if that's the bit which is too wide.

It's the lens body itself. The part immediately after the screw thread where it goes out wide.

The thing I noticed is that it's also quite long compared to my meopta anaret-s. I'm wondering if this means it needs to go currespondingly further in the up direction to focus. This might make it even harder. It's really a matter of millimeters from getting focus with a flat board. If it was a touch shorter, I wonder if it would work.

Oh well. It doesn't!