Strange enlarging issue

[mouren]

Hi folks, I am having a weird problem with my enlarger and trying to enlarge 35mm using a 50mm lens.

I have an LPL7451, and a Nikkor 50mm f2.8.

I cannot for the life of me get any where close to a focus using this lens for 35mm film. I put the carrier in, and the image that comes out is very blurry. I tried to focus, when the bellow extends, the image gets even blurrier. When I turn it the other way, retract the bellow, the picture looks like it's focusing, but very soon, I run out of room to pull the below in any further.

I ended up using my 80mm lens instead.

I thought 50mm lens was meant for 35mm film? Right now, it feels like to me, the lens is just bit too far from the negative.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[bsdunek]

Do you have the correct lensboard? I'm not familiar with your enlarger, but my Durst has different lensboards for 50mm and 75-80mm lenses. One would not work for the other.

[MattKing]

Have you seen KHB's page on your enlarger?:

http://www.khbphotografix.com/LPL/LPL7451.htm

I note that there are "reversible" lensboards - it may be that you need to reverse yours to use it.

In my experience, KHB is both knowledgeable and helpful.

[mouren]

Yes, you are absolutely right(I think for now, as I am at work, and I can't test it.) I just looked it up LPL has a reversible lensboard. I must have attached it the wrong way.

Thank you!

[Michael R 1974]

Hi folks, I am having a weird problem with my enlarger and trying to enlarge 35mm using a 50mm lens.

I have an LPL7451, and a Nikkor 50mm f2.8.

I cannot for the life of me get any where close to a focus using this lens for 35mm film. I put the carrier in, and the image that comes out is very blurry. I tried to focus, when the bellow extends, the image gets even blurrier. When I turn it the other way, retract the bellow, the picture looks like it's focusing, but very soon, I run out of room to pull the below in any further.

I ended up using my 80mm lens instead.

I thought 50mm lens was meant for 35mm film? Right now, it feels like to me, the lens is just bit too far from the negative.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

I have a 7452, which is functionally the same. They usually come with reversible lens mounts. I use a 50mm lens for 35mm negatives, and to use a 50mm lens you need to reverse the lens mount. The lens mount for these enlargers should look like a sort of bowl-shaped thing, so with a 50mm lens make sure the "bowl" is pointing upward, so that the thread plane that accepts the lens ends up being recessed a little into the bellows assembly (ie closer to the negative stage).

[mouren]

Great. Thank you.

[yeknom02]

I had a similar issue with the same lens in a Beseler 23C. The solution was to buy a recessed lens board, even though the consensus was that I shouldn't have needed one. Whatever does the trick is good enough for me, though!

[bdial]

This is one of the very cool features of this enlarger, the lens mount/board works either way, as a recessed board or what would amount to an extended board. Just invert and screw the lens into the other side.