Enlarger Base Height - Beseler 45V-XL

[Bob Salomon]

Thank you Michael. Your setup and dimensions are in the same ballpark as my rough calculations/estimates. It is good to get confirmation from someone using the same enlarger with an 8' ceiling. One consideration I have not mentioned is that I am 6'-3". The higher I my enlarger base cabinet countertop, the more comfortable I'll be working at the enlarger while standing. Of course, my 8' ceiling is the ultimate limitation. That is why, when I saw William Clift working from a low/sitting position, I became intrigued with that as a possibility. Once I'm finished with the framing of the area where the enlarger will be located, I'll mock-up various mounting heights to see what I think will work best.

Your ceiling isn’t the “ultimate limitation”. Your head height AND YOUR LENS is the ultimate limitation. Check out what WA enlarging lenses can do.

[Salmo22]

Your ceiling isn’t the “ultimate limitation”. Your head height AND YOUR LENS is the ultimate limitation. Check out what WA enlarging lenses can do.

Thank you for the kind correction.

I looked at the Rodagon WA lens selection. The Rodenstock brochure only showed them in 40mm, 60mm, and 80mm focal length. It also states the largest recommended negative size is 6x9 for the 80mm WA. While this would certain help with my 6x6 and 6x7 negatives, it appears they [Rodenstock] does not have a WA offering for the 4x5 negative size. Am I missing something?

[Bob Salomon]

Thank you for the kind correction.

I looked at the Rodagon WA lens selection. The Rodenstock brochure only showed them in 40mm, 60mm, and 80mm focal length. It also states the largest recommended negative size is 6x9 for the 80mm WA. While this would certain help with my 6x6 and 6x7 negatives, it appears they [Rodenstock] does not have a WA offering for the 4x5 negative size. Am I missing something?

The 120 was for 45. Find one of those.

[Greg Y]

Salmo, until my last darkroom build (10 yrs) I always used a stand-up work flow. It was a surprise to me what I found to be the advantages: far less bending over, closer to adjust lens, negative stage at eyelevel, easier to load & unload easel, paper and negatives are on or under countertop so you're doing less work at waistlevel or raising things to eyelevel. Also if your pantry is small you are moving less in a small space. In the end i adapted to it very easily.