I spent a portion of yesterday aligning an Omega D5 enlarger and three Beseler enlargers. Sheesh! Talk about poor design.
I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. I'd welcome some insights. Let the "Y" axis be a line running left to right and the "Z" axis be a line running from back to front.
From my perspective on the D5 Omega, it's not possible to adjust the lens-stage along either the Y or Z axis without trying to change the angle of the entire enlarger. Moreover, if the Y axis at the lens stage isn't parallel to the Y axis at the negative stage, it's too bad Charlie! For example, the only adjustment for the negative stage is along the Z axis.
As to the Beselers, two 6x9's and the similarly designed 4x5 enlarger with a 45S head, it was possible to align the negative stage in both the Y and Z directions. But, it was not possible (from my perspective) to independently adjust the Z axis for both the lens stage and the negative stage.
So, through different shenanigans, I got the four enlargers aligned to within a smidgen of correct. But frankly, I don't it's really good enough. It's only the best that those particular enlargers would permit.
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