VersaLab Laser Parallel Alignment Tool

[neil poulsen]

I just used (finally) the VersaLab laser alignment system that I purchased from Bob Mann.

Very sweet; it worked beautifully. If you're picky about alignment (I'm not, or haven't been. :)), this device is the way to go. It's elegant and simple to use.

A pane of glass is laid flat over the open format frame of a negative carrier. (The device comes with two different sized panes for negative carriers up to 5x7. One can order the glass pane for aligning 8x10 negative carriers.) Position and turn on the laser device. The glass (even though it's clear) reflects the light back down onto the device's target area.

If the negative stage is out of alignment with the enlarger base, an off-center, easily seen red dot appears on the target. Alignment amounts to adjusting the negative stage until this red dot disappears into the small hole from which the laser is emitted.

The tool comes with a simple rubber band device that elastically holds one of the panes against the filter thread of the enlarging lens. Follow the same process to align the lens stage, and the enlarger becomes aligned.

[Peter De Smidt]

Yes, it's a very handy device.

[neil poulsen]

A couple more points about this device . . .

Since this device doesn't rely a level, one isn't thrown off, if the enlarger base isn't itself level. There's a Beseler level that's adjustable. But even using this adjustable level, one needs to align in multiple directions, and thereby probably make multiple adjustments to the level.

There's a very simple, five-second check to determine if the laser device itself is still in alignment. (Mine passed.)

[David Karp]

Live mine. I purchased it soon after they introduced it. It's a great tool.

[Jerry Bodine]

. . .Since this device doesn't rely a level, one isn't thrown off, if the enlarger base isn't itself level. There's a Beseler level that's adjustable. But even using this adjustable level, one needs to align in multiple directions, and thereby probably make multiple adjustments to the level. . .

There are very likely some inexpensive enlargers that do not provide adjustments in multiple directions, but nevertheless this tool will get it as close as possible and will identify which adjustments are lacking by design.

[neil poulsen]

Do either the Beseler or Omega 4x5 enlargers have fully adjustable lens and negative stages?

I remember that the negative stage of a D5 is adjustable. I also recall having difficulties adjusting the lens stage. But, that was years ago.

Not sure about Beselers.

[LabRat]

The VersaLab is an OK checker, much better than the camera store bubble level devices, but only gives the user some information basically on-axis, but does not reveal what needs to be done to the total enlarger alignment system...

For instance, alignment issues are usually not merely because a stage is out, but something in the system... A usual suspect is where the column bolts to the baseboard... The wood underneath has started to dent, and when tightened, might find several seating angles to rest in... So if you aligned the neg stage, then the lens stage will be off (and you're SOL if it is non-adjustable!!!)... Very small differences there cantilever into major errors on the column angle...

Then there's stuff like how flat is your baseboard, and is there a different height from on-axis, to where the easel will sit near the edges (baseboard "waves"???), or how flat is the neg stage seating area, is there error when controls are operated, are the stage rails/stages seating correctly, etc... The "checker" only tells you basic axis alignment, but you are on your own to find the problem (with not much information)...

For a more serious alignment, one should consider finding a used tall machinist's height gage (with a blade measuring attachment that is longer than the neg stage)+ some long precision straight edges + precision scales and, a machinist's square + (maybe) digital angle finder (for tilted columns) and maybe a slab of old flat marble, plate glass or a really flat piece of metal, etc... Used, these will cost less than a new VersaLab, and have many applications outside the lab (like your camera's set-up alignment, wood/metal shop, framing, etc...) And will give you better than .0001" resolution... And you can check different carriers, easels, how it changes with different weight light heads, etc... How is a topic for another post...

Do you REALLY need perfect alignment!?!!! You say your old Besmega down in the lab has worked fine for the last 50 years, so why now!?!!! (A stage of that might be 1/16" off and it does not bother you...) But not only will you get grain sharpness corner to corner, sometimes there is a slighty barely visible unevenness of contrast/exposure as this varies a little with the slightly changing focus, and all carefully corrected can give you a crisper/snappier print!!! (And more printing "look" options..) And color can be more saturated/crisper...(Sometimes a night/day difference like you bought the superaposomething enlarger lens...) It seems to bring out the "sweet spot" of the enlarger lens...

Steve K

[Jerry Bodine]

Neil- My 5x7 E-series Omega (circa '50s) is fully adjustable; I'd guess all Omegas are. No experience with Beselers.

[tgtaylor]

The negative and lens stage on the Beseler MXT are adjustable. My routine is to first level the baseboard and then the easel with a 6-point check using a torpedo level. If everything is level (which it always is), then I level the negative stage followed by the lens stage with the Versalab. I mount the enlarger lens is adjustable lensboards which makes precise leveling a snap.

Thomas

[Robert Bowring]

I also finally bought one to align my old Omega DII. Have used it for years and had always aligned it using a small torpedo level and never had a problem. When I checked the alignment with the Versalab for the first time I was surprised how close I was using the level. It was almost perfect but no adjustment of the negative stage or lens stage would get it perfect. Then it dawned on me that maybe the column/baseboard was somehow out of whack. I made a shim out of thin cardboard and put it between the column and the baseboard and it worked. Everything lined up.

[Jim Jones]

Steve gives a valuable analysis of enlarger alignment in post #7. We should also consider this: the main objective of enlarger alignment is to focus the negative precisely on all four corners of the image. If the negative, lens mount, and easel are not parallel, the image might be distorted. However, it takes a badly aligned enlarger to noticeably distort the image. Since the main objective is to focus the negative on all corners of the image, adjust the enlarger until this happens. It's that simple, and that cheap. It works on all adjustable enlargers. Non-adjustable enlargers can be aligned by shimming appropriate surfaces. Levels and other alignment systems rely on baseboards being perfectly even and on the lens axis being perpendicular to the lens mount or barrel. These systems are artificial attempts to circumvent the logical way to align enlargers.

[LabRat]

The other thing I forgot to add is that if an enlarger column is (for example) leaning forward, and if the lens + neg stage was adjusted to compensate for it, there would be a slight shift to the optical axis (as the head is now a little tilted) so there would be a little offset from the lens position that might create an error when using a laser align system...

Steve K

[ic-racer]

The main objective with enlarger alignment is to project a non-distorted image. One way to accomplish this is to make the negative stage and the easel parallel. This can be checked by measuring the diagonals of a projected perfect square or rectangle. Establishing focus on all 4 corners of a negative is accomplished by adjusting the lens stage and there are many ways to do this. Making the lens stage parallel to the negative is a start. Making the lens barrel/filter ring perpendicular to the negative is better. Making the lens optical axis perpendicular is getting there. Establishing sharp grain on all 4 corners with a grain focuser is the final goal.

One trick I use is to shine the laser into the lens and observe the circular diffraction pattern falling back on the device. When the pattern is symmetric, the physical axis of the lens is parallel to the beam.

You can also tell if your beam is out of whack, the feet are not right, or if the plastic case is warped (make sure the top screws are slightly loose) by rotating the device and observing the pattern:
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A = device feet on a surface parallel to the reflecting plane
B= device feet on a surface not parallel to the reflecting plane
C= device feet on a surface parallel to the reflecting plane but device beam is not perpendicular to surface on which the feet contact
D= B and C

[tgtaylor]

Which is why one takes care not to purchase an enlarger with a bent chassis, an easel that isn,t perfectly plumb, or a warped lens board. But that wasn't the question.

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

The best way is to align everything collimator-style. Salthill once made a kit of semi-silvered mirrors to simulate this technique; but you could find something better in an industrial optics supply source. I borrowed and expensive survey laser from work and carefully mounted it, then bounced that beam back and forth
through the semi-silvered mirror into a concentric bullseye pattern until every plane aligned. That was equivalent to aligning an enlarger column the length of
three of four football fields, at least. Ridiculous overkill, but it was a fun way to do it. My big pin-registered vac easel is exceptional flat and so firm that I can
stand on it without deflecting the surface. But do the drought, my floor slab has shifted a bit, so I should double-check everything. Will just use a decent carpentry
level for that!

[Peter De Smidt]

Yes, there are more precise ways to align your photo enlarger, but a Versalab is very fast, easy to use, and good enough for most purposes. If you have to go further, the Versalab is very useful to get in the ballpark before using more precise methods. For instance, I used mine for setting up my dslr scanner for scanning at 5x magnification with a Nikon APO 5x Measuring Microscope lens. The Versalab allowed me to get very close quickly. After getting close with the Versalab, I used a high resolution chrome on glass target at the corners and the middle of the frame, compared results at 100% on my screen, and adjust the system to give as equal results across the frame as possible. This latter method was more accurate, slightly, but it was much more effort, and for scanning at, say 1x, it wouldn't be worth the added trouble, imo.

[ic-racer]

One an also use the Versalab to align the front and rear swing and tilt detents on one's view camera (if it has center detents that are adjustable).

In fact I even used the Versalab to mark the hole in a new pickguard to match an existing hole in my 1937 Gibosn.
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[B.S.Kumar]

I took out the Versalab I had bought some years ago, and found that the large glass piece is broken. Can I simply use another similar sized piece, say from a picture frame? Is the thickness critical? The instructions say that it is a "plain, un-mirrored glass".

ic-racer: Would you mind explaining how exactly one would align the standards of a view camera? Positioning it looks difficult...

Thanks,
Kumar

[jose angel]

BSKumar, you can use almost any glass you like (don`t use matte ones!). The ones from picture frames are cheap and widely available. You only need a perfectly flat surface to reflect the laser beam; and use it over any surface to be aligned.

[B.S.Kumar]

Thanks, Jose.

Kumar