Omega / Beseler-Minolta 45A compatibility

[WhiskeyRig]

I can figure out how to use it later but if I have an Omega 3 enlarger (I can do b&w) is there anyway a Beseler\minolta 45a color system controller\enlarger light system will work at all to make color prints? I may be way off on this and I know they are different companies but they maybe it works. Thanks in advance for your help.

[esearing]

It would like come down to whether it fits or not, or if you could fashion an adapter out of plywood, mat board, or metal. If you dont move it around alot you might be able to get away with it sitting on top unattached. KHB photographics in Canada might know for sure.

[xkaes]

You don't provide us enough information about your enlarger. Do you have a A-3, B-3, D-3 or E-3?

The Beseler/Minolta head will fit on some, but not all, and in any case, you'll have to make some sort of adapter -- as mentioned. That should not be very difficult, and it's possible that Omega made an adapter for your model -- but that would probably be very difficult to find.

Have you read about the pros and cons of the Beseler/Minolta head? While they are easy to find, it may or may not be the best color head for you -- for a variety of reasons.

The WEB's Most Complete Guide to Beseler 4x5 enlargers (https://www.subclub.org/fujinon/enlargers.htm)

[Kino]

Yes, the flash tubes are very hard to come by; not manufactured any more and are expensive. It uses strobe flash tubes to sequentially expose the paper through the RGB filter matrix; very unusual.

It's probably not the best head to start with, as it prints with RGB lights (additive) rather than the usual CMY filters (subtractive). 99.9% of all color printing literature tutorials use CMY nomenclature, so it would be doubly taxing to convert this information to RGB AND learn color printing at the same time.

I have one. It's neat (when it works), but I worked in RGB lights in motion picture printing, so I am more familiar with that concept than the other.

[Drew Wiley]

Beseler offered two different additive colorheads. The first was the relatively weak Beseler-Minolta xenon flashtube system. The second was the Beseler U additive head which used pulsing RGB halogen, along with feedback control connected to a CMY logic control panel - a remarkable device until it throws a schizophrenic tantrum and needs electronics psychoanalysis. Most owners have love/hate relationships with these. Either design can be adapted to fit an Omega chassis; but don't expect Beseler to help you in the least in terms of parts or maintenance issues. The 750W additive halogen unit uses three readily available EVW bulbs. The flashtube system is much harder to finds replacement bulbs for.

It would be smarter to buy a conventional 4X5 single bulb subtractive CMY colorhead, whether Chromega or an adaptable Beseler model.