Printing 6x7, small

fiddle · Jun 7, 2018

Hello all,
I like small prints, 5x7's . I wanted to ask what lens mag i might use on a Beseler 23c so I have a bit more space when printing 6x7 negs, compared to my Nikon 80mm I use now for bigger prints. I dont have much head room, so cant go crazy, Not sure if there is a limit on lens magnification and the bellows throw on the Beseler?
Thank you..

tedr1 · Jun 7, 2018

5x7 prints from 6x7 negs is a magnification of about 2.5x. This is in the normal range for most common enlarging lenses. Rodenstock lists the standard lens for 6x7 negs as the 90mm focal length, I'm not sure about Nikon.

When printing small the difficulty I encountered was that the low height of the head above the paper interfered with my hinged paper easel, perhaps that is also what you refer to "a bit more space", you can try a longer lens, say 105mm, I think this would work with the head higher up.

MattKing · Jun 7, 2018

I regularly use a 105mm lens to print postcards from 6x7.
I have also successfully used a 150mm lens, before the edge separation on my 150mm Rodagon got as bad as it is.
Don't worry too much about using a longer lens at a magnification ratio slightly outside of its optimum range - small enlargements don't present nearly as much a challenge as large ones do.

Fritzthecat · Jun 8, 2018

fiddle said:
Hello all,
I like small prints, 5x7's . I wanted to ask what lens mag i might use on a Beseler 23c so I have a bit more space when printing 6x7 negs, compared to my Nikon 80mm I use now for bigger prints. I dont have much head room, so cant go crazy, Not sure if there is a limit on lens magnification and the bellows throw on the Beseler?
Thank you..

I use a 135mm on my D-6 for printing 6x6 negatives smaller than 8z10. I know what you mean by "head room", nothing like smacking a forehead on an enlarger while trying to focus.

Lachlan Young · Jun 8, 2018

Use a 135 or 150 as everyone's saying above. Pretty much any decent 4 or 6 element from Schneider/ Rodenstock etc will do just fine up to a 4x off 6x7.

fiddle · Jun 8, 2018

Thanks all!!

Printing 6x7, small

fiddle

tedr1

MattKing

Moderator

Fritzthecat

Lachlan Young

fiddle

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency