View Poll Results: Omega D2 or Bessler 45 MXT

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  • Omega D2

    9 31.03%
  • Bessler 45 MXT

    20 68.97%
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Thread: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

  1. #21

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Wassenaar, NL
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    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    Quote Originally Posted by esearing View Post
    The only issue I have had with Beseler 4x5 is the way some heads sit on top. There are 4 1/4 inch high posts between the lens stage and head. You may need a ring or special fitting to fill this gap. Some heads designed for beseler have protruding mixing chambers that span the gap down into the enlarger so no sideway light leak. Some require a special bracket. You can fill the gap with craft plywood with a cutout for the head to lens stage.
    Yes that’s true. Thus far I cover the head to lens gap with a black cloth and I placed my Beseler a good deal away from reflecting walls. Stuffing up the gap with black foam strip did not help much thus far. Apart from that I have not seen any odd flares on my prints.

  2. #22

    Join Date
    Dec 1999
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    Forest Grove, Ore.
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    4,675

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    Quote Originally Posted by kaiserschmarrn View Post
    I bought the Beseler. . . . I gave both enlargers a push at the top. The Beseler showed no perceptible movement, but the Omega swayed/vibrated a bit, and that brought me back to my university days, seeing that the Omegas there did that as well . . .
    Any enlarger with a long, single column like the Omegas will need to be tethered at the top. Even though my D2V had a relatively short column, I tethered the top. Ditto with the Zone VI enlarger that I have currently. In fact, Zone VI made a kit for this purpose,.

  3. #23

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    Madisonville, LA
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    2,412

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    Never felt a need to attach the top column of my 45 LPL, though my 810 Devere is attached at the top. The Durst 8x10 base of the SM-183 did not require it. L

  4. #24
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
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    18,337

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    ALL enlargers ideally need to be braced with a wall attachment. I have a vertical enlarger where the baseboard alone weighs close to 400 lbs, and I still have it seriously attached to an ample wall support beam. My Durst L184 and 138's are tiny compared to that; but I have all of them firmly anchored top and bottom too. It's not all that hard to do, and should be considered standard practice except with horizontal enlargers designed to be moved on floor rails.

  5. #25

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Newbury, Vermont
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    2,260

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    IMHO...very sturdy enlarger support - anchored directly to concrete basement slab, is better than wall attachment. Why? Because walls vibrate when utilities (furnace motors, etc.) kick in. I'd noticed this awhile back after having anchored my D-2V to a wall, and when the furnace started up I could see the negative grain giggling about. Again...IMHO.

    Oh...and - Omega vs Beseler? Omega...hands down for personal use. Beseler in a production or educational environment. Will expand on this when I'm feeling a bit more awake.

  6. #26

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    I notice two odd things with this enlarger. Maybe most concerning is that as the head gets nearer the top, the motor starts slowing down. I also think that it is odd that to get the head to raise and lower with the motor, the condensor is on, because the unit is plugged in Do you just plug the main power cord into your timer and accept that the condensor is going to be on?

    Danny

    Edit: I found the "counterbalance" adjustment and now the head goes up without laboring. The only problem is that there are no viable threads in the short outer tube, but the screw catches on the inner tube when the inner tube rotates under spring pressure.
    Last edited by kaiserschmarrn; 11-Nov-2020 at 05:13.

  7. #27

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    I just looked again. It is a Componon-S. The last decent lens I bought was in the early 90s, maybe. It was a Rodenstock Rodagon of something like 75-80 mm. It was all I could afford then. I look forward to getting a lens to cover 4x5 and to eventually get a view camera. It will be great to use one again.

    Danny

  8. #28
    wclark5179's Avatar
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    Oct 2009
    Location
    Minnetonka, Minnesota
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    137

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    1. No. Digital photography has won the photography ball game.

    2. I used Omega D2 in high school and college. Extra curricular activity. For my analog darkroom I have an Omega B-22 and it covers all of what I want to do with film photography. I bought a Chromega head decades ago that I now use with VC paper. I just dial in the contrast I want. The B-22 works with my medium format negatives.

  9. #29

    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Newbury, Vermont
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    2,260

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    Last post reminded me of the first question. A point to consider regarding "getting set up" with digital vs analog, is that of relative expense. These days, it is quite possible, in the realm of analog, to embrace the "state of the art" for just a few hundred dollars - while to do the same with digital, well...it is quite possible that you would need to sell your house!

    Another consideration - reflecting on the "ball game" analogy mentioned above, is that the digital "ball" is still very much in play...with its "state of the art" constantly evolving. On one hand this is very exciting. On the other hand, well...good luck with ever moving back into that house!

  10. #30
    Tin Can's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
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    22,383

    Re: Some Darkroom questions, mostly on enlargers

    Tin Can

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