Misalignment between lens axis and baseboard V35 issues

Building my first darkroom...

ISSUE: Despite the easel being level the enlarger is projecting an image that is not perfectly rectangular. (clearly seen in the last image).

Beard easel = 20x30inch
Leica V35

Image 1. Easel not level
Image 2. Underside of the easel: This is the reason for easel not being level. Is this normal for beard easels?
Image 3. Using blue-tac the easel is now level-ish, is there a better way than this?
Image 4. Using blue-tac the easel is now level-ish, is there a better way than this?
Image 5. The right hand side of the test Negative is square with the beard easel
Image 6. The left had side is clearly not square. (Here you can see that the easel blades at the top of the photo are much closer to the projected negative that at the base of the easel blade. )

Can anyone shed some light on what is going on?
I'm a little stumped to why the image is not being projected straight square and true.

Thanks in advance.

Jamie

I read your post, examined the photos, and initially failed to notice the small detail you referred to. By blowing up photos 5 & 6 and comparing the right side of photo 5 to the left side of photo 6, I now see what you’re referring to.

The angular narrowing of the left side of the projection might be explained in one of two ways.

1. Something is masking the right side of the negative to project the angled side as seen at the left of photo 6. This seems unlikely, but should be considered.

2. If no such masking is present, then the lens axis is skewed relative to the baseboard so that the projection is distorted. Essentially, the projection distance is greater at the upper left corner than at the lower left corner [note: I exchanged "upper" and "lower" in the sentence to correct the statement from its original form]. That gives a varying magnification of the image. Closer areas are magnified less. Farther areas are magnified more.

The small amount of adjustment obtained by adding tape to the contact pads of the easel is too small to account for the problem as shown. Since you’ve adjusted the easel so that its top surface is parallel to the baseboard, the problem is clearly not connected to the easel.

Given the depth of focus above the image plane, you can make a crisp, well-defined print as is. If you want to eliminate the angular distortion (too small in this case to matter for most photos), you’ll have to adjust whatever is causing the misalignment between the lens axis and the baseboard.

Thanks Ian, and apologies for the less than perfect overview, Im glad you managed to understand the issue I am currently facing and describe it more accurately for others.


1. - Nothing masking so defiantly misalignment between the lens axis and the baseboard.

Does anyone have experience with the V35 that would be able to shed some light on the issue.
The enlarger has never been used (by me) and currently does not auto-focus correctly, So I will have to re-calibrate the focusing, I was told by the seller that it was in good order and did focus correctly, However when I received the enlarger I had to take off the column and baseboard and reattach so I think I may have messed something up.

Removed the easel.

...alined the projected image with the left hand side of the bace board.
the right hand side is out by at least 5mm or 13/64ths inch.

I believe the V35 has adjustable masks in the negative carrier that are adjusted by little knobs on the front of the carrier. If so, these might be misadjusted for your film. They may also be distorted to cause the apparently tapered image.

Thanks Jim for your excellent suggestion, alas no, not the masks as you describe, they are all retracted and are not having any influence on this column to base misalignment.

Does anyone know if Leica are receptive to questions?

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Jamie A Cowan said:

Does anyone have experience with the V35 that would be able to shed some light on the issue.
The enlarger has never been used (by me) and currently does not auto-focus correctly, So I will have to re-calibrate the focusing, I was told by the seller that it was in good order and did focus correctly, However when I received the enlarger I had to take off the column and baseboard and reattach so I think I may have messed something up.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your problems - are you aware that the column height is adjustable? - using the knob at the top of the column, after the lock has been released.
My understanding is that at its lowest setting, the enlarger should then be in focus for paper placed directly on the V35 base plate. If you're using an easel, then the column should be lifted accordingly.
The other possibility is that your V35 has suffered like mine and there's been "adjustment" of the focus cam setting in the enlarger head. What lens are you using? Is it the 40mm WA Focotar as designed for, and supplied with the V35? One of my lenses had been mis-assembled, and it took me some time and cunning to re-assemble it correctly.

You might find this web-page useful: https://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/v35.htm

Best wishes,
Malcolm Stewart
Milton Keynes

Nothing needs to level or plumb to gravity. The lens axis needs to be perpendicular to the negative and the baseboard. If those two conditions are met, by definition the baseboard will then be parallel to the negative. If the baseboard is a little off, that is usually OK for big enlargements.

Thanks @ic-racer Racer, I think I have got my head around that now.

@Malcolm Stewart. I am using the leica 40mm. (...However I have no way of knowing if it is the original lens, it may have been swapped out and replaced at some point).

My column is raised to the appropriate level for my easel (60mm)

If we assume for argument sake that the focus had been messed with, would that issue have the ability to distort the image in the way I'm seeing?

I think it would be more likely a column issue rather than a lens issue (...but tbh i have no idea).

Would a focus issue just be vertical, rather than the twisting distortion I have?


Anyone know if this would be able to be used on a V35? Also is it worth 200+ dollars?



...thanks in advance