Beseler 45 MCRX Enlarger Lens Attachment

[nmillard]

Hello.
I just bought an old Beseler 45 MCRX. My wife took off the lens to inspect it, and the thread ring inside the housing spins when we try and screw the lens back on. Has anyone had this problem? Is it supposed to do that? How can I fix it or do we have to take off the housing everytime to replace the lens?

If anyone has any knowledge , we are stumped. Thank you.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

Some enlarging lenses (like my Nikors) are designed to be repositioned by rotating them once mounted so that the witness mark will be somewhere near the little plastic cylindrical illuminator that you often find on Beseler lens boards. This way, you can read the f-stops in the dark. Usually, the lens will stop in several positions with click stops, but will stop completely before it's rotated all the way around. This is presumably so you can tighten down the jamb nut that holds the lens in place on the lens board. Perhaps this will provide a clue as to what's happening?

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, just take off the lens board and you will have access to the lockring. Push the lensboard toward the back, its spring loaded, (usually done by grabbing the lens, or lens hole in your case) and the front of the board can drop down off a little shelf and come off.

Jon

[Gene McCluney]

Hello.
I just bought an old Beseler 45 MCRX. My wife took off the lens to inspect it, and the thread ring inside the housing spins when we try and screw the lens back on. Has anyone had this problem? Is it supposed to do that? How can I fix it or do we have to take off the housing everytime to replace the lens?

If anyone has any knowledge , we are stumped. Thank you.

The Beseler lens mounting system requires you to pre-mount your lenses each on a separate square lensboard, rather than replacing lenses on a single lensboard. See post above for how to quickly remove the lensboard from the enlarger. Once all your lenses are mounted on individual lensboards, lens change is almost instant in its quickness.
These lensboards can still be purchased, or you can make them yourself from a variety of materials.

[Nick_3536]

Or you could buy a 39mm LTM threaded board and just screw in your 39mm mount lenses. Avoiding changing boards for almost all lenses.

[Brian Ellis]

Or you could buy the Beseler gadget that allows three lenses to be mounted on the same board and you just rotate it to change lenses.

[Bob Salomon]

Or you could buy the Beseler gadget that allows three lenses to be mounted on the same board and you just rotate it to change lenses.

But you will sacrifice alignment with a turret.

[nmillard]

Thank you so much for all your input. I actually figured it out. I didn't realize the lens board came off. I had been using a old P&N enlarger that just screwed right in to the housing.
Thanks again. Happy New Year.
Nate

[Alan Rabe]

In case anyone is interested. The Beseler 45 series are a b__ch to align. There is a lens board available that provides optimal alingment for the lens. This is the link. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...list&sku=15669. I have two, one for each of my lens. They make a very dificault task very easy.