Enlarger table height

[Tin Can]

A good start would be telling us your exact enlarger

There are many variations

Some tilt for wall projection

other hang on a wall

some just sit

I'm looking at a Beseler 4x5 enlarger. I think I want to make prints around 14x17.5 or whatever is most economical near that size. I also want to be able to do hopefully 20x25 when I can justify the cost of bigger prints.

Ceiling height, counter height, enlarger lens focal length and print size are all factors I need to look at.

First, how big can a Beseler 4x5 enlarger go in a vertical configuration with the standard baseplate? Second, what enlarger lens focal length will work from probably 8x10 up to 20x25. Is there a particular lens I should be looking for?

I have a shed that is well insulated, air-conditioned and essentially light tight that I want to use for my darkroom. It has decent ceiling height but I'm not sure it's 8'. What should I do to make it work as well as possible without huge ceiling height and hopefully without low counter height?

[MILC Toast]

I'm not an expert on enlarger identification and the pictures don't have many clues. It's the type with a "n" shaped truss with two horizontal bars carrying the enlarger head, not wall mounted but with a tilting head for printing on walls. I don't think it's the newer(?) type with the screw adjustable lens holder plates. I think it's a simple condenser light source.

Probably not what I would want for color prints but I'm assuming good enough for B&W.

So how tall are those and how tall do they get when set up for 4x5 enlarged to 20x25 with a preferred enlarger lens?

I just want to make sure it will fit in my shed and do what I want with reasonable ergonomics.

[Tin Can]

The tilt is for LARGE prints projected on a wall

I have one that also allows the wood table top be removed allowing the enlarger to project at a lower level

IF you have the special steel table

I have both methods

[Tin Can]

Get a manual and read it

These are still in production!

[ic-racer]

I'm looking at a Beseler 4x5 enlarger. ...
Ceiling height, counter height, enlarger lens focal length and print size are all factors I need to look at.

Counter height will be the ceiling height minus the enlarger height. For example a Beseelr 45MXT is about 55 inches.
With that enlarger, a 135mm lens will do 6x enlargements (30 inches across) and 150mm will do 5x enlargements (25 inches across). Take your pick.

[MILC Toast]

55" sounds about right from the picture I've seen. If I get a 150mm enlarger lens and want to try a 25x20" print, how high does the condenser light have to go over the top of the frame?

If it's 0", I think I can set my table height near 36" and fit under the ceiling. If it's maybe 6", I can probably find a 32" cabinet or something. If it's 12" I'm probably going to have to be very careful about making that stack fit without limiting me to less than 25x20".

Going back to focal length, there is about 150mm (let's call it 6") from the back of the lens to negative and to get 5x enlargement it should be 30" from the lens to the print surface. So how tall is a Beseler 4x5 enlarger from the negative holder to the top of the condenser light?

If my math is right, I think 18" or so from negative holder to top of condenser would work easily for me because the stack would be 54" and I could almost have the frame touching the ceiling.

[BKP]

I'm 6'2" My D-5 XL is wall mounted. My counter height is 41". My two drop down positions are at 35 and 25 inches. I prefer to stand. Getting up from sitting and kneeling bothers my knees these days. Even standing and leaning forward for long periods gets to my back. 41 works for me. Years ago, at a place I worked at, they had a SS sink that's front wall would contact my hips when leaning forward. I had to modify that. There was a luminescent tape that sure came in handy for safety in the darkroom. Personal ergonomics and safety are important. bk

[MILC Toast]

I just heard from the enlarger seller so I should be able to pick that up the next time I'm going that way.

Thanks for the info.

[MILC Toast]

So I picked up my enlarger and it slid in to the back of my rental Nissan NX2000 box van with about 1/4" clearance under the door latch. It was a perfect fit and the van got good gas mileage which was important since I had to go to California.

Any way it came with a lens for 35mm and 16mm installed in it, I'm not sure on the specs, and a 135mm Componon in a Beseler box. It doesn't say anything beside 135mm 1:5.6 Componon but the glass looks clean and the aperture moves smoothly.

I'm still not an enlarger identification expert but I'll figure out exactly what I have once I start working on getting my darkroom up and running.

I heard the Componon is good for 2-20x enlargement so that's 8x10 to 6' 8"x 8' 4" but I think my shed and my budget will limit me to much smaller (I doubt I'll ever do anything much bigger than 20x25 just for framing issues). I should have measured the plastic trays because that is probably the first limit I'll run in to beside the easle.

[Tin Can]

I use slosh method if trays are too small

Use 2 hands with clips and I can do up to 14X36"