Opemus 5 and Nikkor EL 50mm f/2.8 - diameter too big to fit!

[lilserenity]

Hiya,

I have had an Opemus 5 for about 2-3months and been getting on fine but only had a Belar 50mm f/4.5 which has been fine enough.

This week I got a 50mm El-Nikkor f/2.8 - the N variant. The lens board is 39mm fitting (not the older 25mm)

I have just tried to screw it in but the actual physical diameter of the lens is too broad to fit into the lens board itself and it won't screw in as it physically can't get close enough. Gnnghhh!

I have tried vainly I know, to flip the lens board over as if I was mounting an 80mm lens but to no avail (surprise!) as even though it screws in this way around, it never attains focus (which you'd expect!)

Does anyone have any ideas apart from me selling this Nikkor lens? I'd really rather not

I'm worried when I get an 80mm lens I will have the same issue as I have my eyes on an EL Nikkor f/5.6 80mm.

Many thanks,
Vicky

 

[Jerry Thirsty]

Does your lens board look like this one?:

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Meopta-Anaret-4-5-80-Enlarging-Lens_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ300277267467

Yes, they were designed way back when Meopta enlarging lenses were quite small, and don't work with most modern lenses that I know of. I'd actually designed myself a straight-sided one, but never got around to machining it. And then I came across a cheap Beseler 23CIII, and didn't go any further with it. I think I've still got the blueprint, if you want to track down a machine shop that could make one for you, but it may well be cost prohibitive.

As far as an 80mm lens is concerned, I wouldn't think you'd have the same problem if, as you say, you'd be mounting it on the back of the cup.

 

[Trond]

Hello,

You can get a lensboard with 39mm threads from fotoimpex.de. They have many parts for Meopta enlargers.

Trond

 

[lilserenity]

Does your lens board look like this one?:

http://cgi.ebay.com.my/Meopta-Anaret-4-5-80-Enlarging-Lens_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ300277267467

Yes that's pretty much the one.

Yes, they were designed way back when Meopta enlarging lenses were quite small, and don't work with most modern lenses that I know of. I'd actually designed myself a straight-sided one, but never got around to machining it. And then I came across a cheap Beseler 23CIII, and didn't go any further with it. I think I've still got the blueprint, if you want to track down a machine shop that could make one for you, but it may well be cost prohibitive.

As far as an 80mm lens is concerned, I wouldn't think you'd have the same problem if, as you say, you'd be mounting it on the back of the cup.

Good point re: the 80mm. As I see I have a couple of options here, I can either try tracking down a suitable lens board, or I can sell the 50mm Nikkor (or attach it to my spare Axomat 5) and get an 80mm Nikkor as I planned and use that to print my 35mm's -- althought that will limit the print size I can go to.

D'oh -- and I had this Nikkor sitting on my coffee table for 5 days before even thinking I better check it fits! I made sure the thread on the Opemus 5 was 39mm which it is, but never thought that the physical fatness of the lens would cause issues!

Thanks,
Vicky

 

[lilserenity]

Hello,

You can get a lensboard with 39mm threads from fotoimpex.de. They have many parts for Meopta enlargers.

Trond

Thanks Trond, I might give them a go. The issue isn't so much the lens thread size as that is fine, it's the lens board's convex/concave design is just curved a little too much and the lens is fatter than the diameter of the convex section of the lens board, meaning I can push the lens far up enough to get it to screw in.

I also see that www.thedarkroom.co.uk might be an option as looking at fotoimpex's site, I have a bit of a problem in that mein Deutsch ist nicht gut!



Vicky

 

[Trond]

The issue isn't so much the lens thread size as that is fine, it's the lens board's convex/concave design is just curved a little too much and the lens is fatter than the diameter of the convex section of the lens board, meaning I can push the lens far up enough to get it to screw in.

Ah, I see what you problem is.

I've never seen a flat lensboard for these enlargers. I'm using a Hanza 50mm 2.8 (which despite its odd name is a very good lens), and it fits in the lensboard that you have. Alternatively, you can try find a Meopta lens, an Anaret for example, which is a four element tessar design. The Anaret 80mm I have is very sharp.

Trond

 

[srs5694]

The issue isn't so much the lens thread size as that is fine, it's the lens board's convex/concave design is just curved a little too much and the lens is fatter than the diameter of the convex section of the lens board, meaning I can push the lens far up enough to get it to screw in.

If the problem is just with the "deep" end of the lens board, perhaps you could take the lens board and lens to a machine shop to have them custom-build a new one with a sharper curve in that end of the board. OTOH, that might cost as much as or more than a new lens. I'm not sure what high-quality lenses would fit. Based on the sizes of my own lenses, the Russian-made Vega-11U would probably fit, but it's not quite as sharp as the Nikon EL-Nikkor f/2.8 (at least, my Vega isn't quite as sharp as my Nikon).

 

[kozesluk]

to sum it up (i have opemus 5 and some el nikkors) - 5.6/80 will work fine with every types of lensboards on Op5
for bigger 35mm film lens (say 4/40, 2.8/50, 2.8/63) you need another lensboard made by meopta - it's not so shallow but it has nearly 52mm internal diameter (and 39mm thread) so these bigger lens will fit inside. try to contact some meopta dealers....
with my friend we had the same problem (with the same lens) and solved it this way (but we're from czech republic, so meopta is, so it was easy to obtain it from second hand store for $2).

 

[Larry.Manuel]

Enlarge the lens board hole? With a file?