Newbie needing advice, again!

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

It’s me again that Newbie who is trying his hand in LF. I am still in the accumulating stage. So far I have a Toyo 4x5 and a Hasselblad both with 150 lenses. Hasselblad is not so clean. I do not have a darkroom set up yet.

I went out of town for some work and mentioned LF to someone, next thing I know there is someone selling a lot of stuff
Could you please help me out and tell me what is worth a hoot and what is not.
There was boxes of stuff, I will not be able to look at it until I get home in about a week.

Anyways here goes with some of the stuff.
Bessler model 23 ??? Comes motorized with a color head. 35mm, 6x6, and 4x5 neg carriers. Lots of trays, reels and drums, a rotator for the drums (not JOBO) another brand?

3 different focusing loupes for printing. Safe lights, many timers, light board.
paper light boxes, a dark box and a bag also for loading film.

3 Enlarger lenses which appear to be pristine
EL-Nikkor 1:4 50mm
2 Rodenstock Rodagon 1:5.6 80mm and a 1:5.6 150mm

Also got a Crown Graphic, looks really nice, came with
Schneider Kreuznach Xenar 1:4.7 135mm

Here’s some I need help with
!st is an old brass lens, comes apart into 2 pieces….??? Convertible???
Neither of these have a shutter.
Kodak Anastigmat f 4.5 8 ½ inch 5x7 does not have any other f stops???
Bausch and Lomb 8 ¼ inch f 4.5 1:1 Mag (only goes from f 4.5-5.3-6.3-8) ???


Honeywell Pentax 3 ½ degree spot meter, I do not see any movement when I press the button???
A couple of other light meters and boxes of little darkroom things. My truck is loaded and I can’t unload until I get home.

What use are the Kodak and Bausch lenses without a shutter? The brass Kodak is f 4.5 only. Sell? Trade? Mount in a shutter and lens board and use on my 4x5?

Is a 3 ½ degree Pentax worth fixing? Or could it be that I do not know how to work it? Is it the one I need to be using?

Any recommendations would be appreciated,
Bill

[Ari]

The Beseler sounds more like a 4x5 enlarger, given the motorized head, and the fact that the 23 is a medium format-only enlarger.
You're all set up for an enlarger, including lenses and carriers for 35mm, 120 and 4x5 formats.
The CG is a good camera to use with all those shutterless lenses, so keep that stuff unless you decide that it isn't your cup of tea.
Others can comment specifically on those lenses.
The meter may be dead, or might need a new battery; I think if it can be fixed for under $50, and you're into using a spot meter, then it's worth it.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Thanks, I remember the conversation being about a Model 23, but I went out and looked, it's a 45 MCRX. I upgraded the thread, and reposted it.
The CG has a shutter/lens Synchro Compur-P. Would I have to mount the other 2 lenses in different lens boards with their own shutter? I just picked these items up and I just got off work. Just starting my research, I will have a lot of reading to do. I have not found out how to work the Range Finder function on the CG yet??? How far do you extend the bellows?
Thanks,Bill

[John Kasaian]

The Beseler 45 is a sweet enlarger and those enlarging lenses are top notch in my book. Brassies are worth something to experiementers, but generally not much unless theyare of the "portrait" soft variety. That Kodak lens should have an aperture. If not something is likely missing and it won't be worth much. The Bausch & Lomb sounds interesting and you may want to play with it and see what it can do.BTW, CG's don't have focal plane shutters---those are the Speed Graphics so I you want to use your barrel lenses on a CG you'll need a lens cap for a "hat."

[Old-N-Feeble]

I had a 45 MCRX with dichroic color head MANY years ago. It was a darned fine enlarger... built like a tank and rock steady. You'd be hard-pressed to find better lenses than you've got too!!

I don't know how much you paid for that haul but you've got a LOT of good stuff there.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

The Kodak says f 4.5, and that is it! At wide open it's 4.5 and there are no blades or anything to close it down. It comes apart into 3 pieces 2 of which have glass.
The Bausch and Lomb is a mystery, kinda looks like a large 35mm camera lens, it's not but it has that look. I hope the enlarger is OK, the motor worked. It looks promising, under that inch of dust. I read about the CG and SG today, now I'm a lot more sure of what the controls are. I was surprised at the drop down front end and how that can be used to give you a poor man's back tilt. All in all the camera looks great.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Didn't pay much at all. Question: I've read about polycontrast papers and color heads....IS IT TRUE??? does it work? Is it the best way to go??? Would Ansel approve?

The lenses look great, I washed them under running water and dish soap to get the dust out and they cleaned up fine. I've never done that before but these were so dusty they needed it.
Wouldn't do that to one with a shutter though.

I hope when I clean up the enlarger that it works. I looked on ebay and got mixed results on the value??? Well at least there is inexpensive parts available.
Question is what head should I use, what light source? Cold vs incandescent vs color head???

[Old-N-Feeble]

Not only would AA approve of using a good dichroic color head for polycontrast but digital "hybrid" photography would have been his ultimate wet-dream. AA was an innovator and he would have LED THE WAY!!

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Howdy Old-N-Feeble, good to hear form you again,
Do you scan your negatives? And if you do WHY? You already told me you do not mind having negatives and prints dripping at your place. DO you think that a digital print matches a light process print? Do not think that I am passing judgement, I do not know enough to have an opinion. I've never knowingly seen a B&W print that was taken with film, scanned, and then processed digitally. Photoshop blows me away.
What type/brand of polycontrast paper and developer, while your at it, 4x5 film, should I be buying? and how much? What I am reading has a lot of experimentation/calibration for a specific film/developer/paper/developer. AA has some old general recommendations in his books, I was thinking of starting out following his advice. Including his toner.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Bill... If I gave you the wrong impression I apologize. I haven't shot photos for fun in many years and the only photography I've done at work for the last many years is digital. I'm way out of practice in LF photography.

When I do start up again then my workflow will be hybrid. I once loved wet darkroom work but I also love the control of fine-tuning that Photoshop offers. That stated, it doesn't seem that I'll be buying a pricey scanner or a fine wide format printer due to cost of the better ones. Those images worthy of the cost (if any) will be professionally drum-scanned, I'll edit as I see appropriate, then any large scale printing will be outsourced.

Others here are more practiced at LF art photography than I. I'm just an out-of-practice grouch.