The Beseler 23c 35mm Negatrans, your thoughts, the good and the bad, please.

[randyB]

I've never owned or used one. What are your experiences with it? Any quirks? Things to watch out for? I am aware of the bad O-rings with age.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I used one briefly when I worked in a lab back in the day.
My observations:
They don't hold negatives particularly flat.
The o-rings slip, stretch, & crack.
Not a big fan of them.
YMMV, of course.

 

[Dave Ludwig]

Unless you are printing every negative and time is a factor it may serve a purpose, but I also agree with everything Ansel says.

 

[mshchem]

They work fine, IIRC there's even a built-in mask for half frame. Definitely designed for production work. I would have a regular carrier first. I always worry about dust.

 

[john_s]

The 120 version is a bit better because above the negative there is glass which is lifted when moving frames, then you lower it and it flattens the negative.

 

[Ian C]

The basic design idea of the Beseler Negatrans film carrier is flawed. It depends heavily on wishful thinking.

If you require your projections to stay uniformly focused across the entire area during exposure, there is no substitute for keeping the film restrained between two flat sheets of glass in a glass carrier.

Glass carriers are simple, and work as intended.

It isn’t difficult to fashion a simple carrier using two sheets of thin window glass joined by a cloth tape hinge along the back edge. A thin black paper (or other suitable material) spacer mask between the top glass and the top surface of the film prevents Newton rings without the expense of anti-Newton-ring glass. All twelve edges of each sheet should be smoothed before assembly with silicon carbide abrasive paper so that the edges won’t damage films or cut fingers. (Twelve edges if you count the corners).

I’ve made a number of these for folks who had a hard time finding the original glass carrier, or for enlargers for which the maker never supplied them. The ones I made for the Beseler 23C give the same results as the expensive Beseler glass carrier and cost only a few dollars to make.

The Beseler carriers are slightly more expensive:

8074 standard glass carrier

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4678-REG/Beseler_8074_Universal_Glass_Negative_Carrier.html

8072 ANR glass carrier

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...072_Universal_Anti_Newton_Glass_Negative.html

 

[xkaes]

They work fine, IIRC there's even a built-in mask for half frame.

And IIRC, some had this and some didn't.

 

[MattKing]

The purpose of the Negatrans was and is to support relatively high speed volume printing of relatively small prints.
It speeds negative handling - particularly of uncut rolls.
Think 5x7/5x5 proofs, or quick 8x10/8x8s for newspaper use.
With care, you can use one in good shape for other purposes, but it really is designed more as a special purpose accessory carrier than for general use.

 

[darkroommike]

I used one in the 70's (and acquire both the 35mm and the 120 models years later at a swap meets). If you had a need to quickly change from negative to the next, it was a useful tool, especially if you had a contact sheet. With a little practice you could expose a lot of prints in a hurry and then batch process them. "Almost" automation. less useful if the negative density was all over the place. And yes the negatives don't lie flat but you use it to make small prints and have to stop down quite a bit to get useful exposure times so not a big issue. The rubber O-ring does eventually stretch, slip, or dry out and crack but it is easy to change. I also have the 120 film model, it differs from the 35mm model in that there is a removable glass pressure plate to keep the medium format negatives flat, you have to remember to flip it up when advancing the film and then plop it back down before making the exposure.

 

[randyB]

Thank you for the replies, so far. They give me a clue as to what to expect. I purchased one on the auction site but the seller mis-identified it, the one I received is for the 4x5 enlargers. I can make it work on my 5x7 enlarger by carefully centering it in the negative gate. I am inquiring about the Negatrans because I have a upcoming project to print several hundred family history negs and the thought of using a regular carrier (of which I have several) is depressing. Please feel free to continue chiming in with your comments. RandyB

 

[GregY]

let me check my darkroom, i have one but can't remember if it's 120 or 135

 

[darkroommike]

Thank you for the replies, so far. They give me a clue as to what to expect. I purchased one on the auction site but the seller mis-identified it, the one I received is for the 4x5 enlargers. I can make it work on my 5x7 enlarger by carefully centering it in the negative gate. I am inquiring about the Negatrans because I have a upcoming project to print several hundred family history negs and the thought of using a regular carrier (of which I have several) is depressing. Please feel free to continue chiming in with your comments. RandyB

Any Negatrans can fit any Beseler and even an Omega D-series. Only difference it the base configuration. The ones for the 23C have a ring and the ones for the 45-series have four locating pins. Just make an adapter from a thin piece of "aircraft" plywood, MDF, etc.

 

[randyB]

Any Negatrans can fit any Beseler and even an Omega D-series. Only difference it the base configuration. The ones for the 23C have a ring and the ones for the 45-series have four locating pins. Just make an adapter from a thin piece of "aircraft" plywood, MDF, etc.

I don't see how I can make this fit. The spring, lift cam and lift bracket are in the way.

 

[randyB]

So, I decided to do a little research, which I should have done from the beginning. The Negatrans for the 23C enlargers is shaped noticeably different on the back side to make allowances for the offending bracket, spring and cam. Now I know. I shall keep looking for one at a reasonable price.