I just recently acquired an old Beseler 57 enlarger. I think its model number is MB. It came with a cold light head and a condensor head. I've scoured this forum looking for information and I've spent an inordinate amount of time on Google. Not finding what I want to know.

  1. Does the Beseler brand of cold light require any special stabilizer? If I plug it into the "Light" socket on the enlarger, it barely flickers. If I put it into my Gralab 550 timer, it lights up fine. It does seem to take a while to warm up though.
  2. On my Beseler 45MX, the condensor moves up and down on a bellows assembly. On the 57, it sits directly down onto the negative stage. I can't figure out how to adjust the condensor so it completely illuminates the negative. I wanted to compare both light sources directly so I could see for myself if cold light was really better.
  3. Anybody know where I can get negative carriers for this? It came with a 5x7 glass, a 5x7 glassless and a 6x7. I'd like a 4x5 and a 6x9. If I can't find the real thing, I'm just going to use my mat cutter and make masks to use on the 5x7 carrier.


So far it looks like a very nice setup. As much as I've enjoyed my old Elwood, I think it's about to be retired.