Durst lens board on Meopta Magnifax 4

jonny · 2016-03-16T13:00:40+00:00

Liebe Mitforenten, ich würde gerne ein Schneider WA-Componon 40mm an meinem Magnifax 4 nutzen. Mit der versenkten 50mm-Objektivplatine des Magnifax schaffe...

jonny

Dear fellow forum members, I’d like to use a Schneider WA-Componon 40mm on my Magnifax 4. Unfortunately, with the Magnifax’s recessed 50mm lens plate, I can’t quite get it to focus properly – or only if I compress the bellows extremely tightly, which isn’t practical. So I would need a slightly deeper plate. Durst does offer various recessed lens plates for focal lengths under 50mm. Does anyone know if one of the Durst plates (with an M39 thread) would fit the Magnifax? Or is there another solution? Thanks and best regards, Jo

Renate

The Durst plates have an outer diameter of 78.0 mm, whilst the Meopta plates have an outer diameter of 77.8 mm. The flat Durst plates fit into my Opemus 6. The lens is then slightly off-centre. The recessed tube from Durst requires a 71.00 mm hole, which my Opemus 6 does not have. The recessed tube from the Magifax has a diameter of 58.0 mm and fits my Opemus 6 and, with a bit of tinkering, also my Durst Laborator 1200. The Magnifax tube has a depth of 15 mm and was mistakenly sold to me as a Durst. The Meopta plates fit a Durst enlarger, but are not always light-tight. Best regards Renate

jonny

Hello Renate, Thank you very much for checking the measurements! Unfortunately, the ‘bottleneck’ on my Magnifax 4 (not so much the hole for the circuit board in the stand, but rather the narrowest part of the bellows immediately behind it) has a clear width of only ~63 mm, so the recessed tube from Durst (at least the one for the L1200) probably won’t fit through. Jo

jonny

To sum up the issue or question once more: contrary to my initial assumption, it does work with the original Magnifax circuit board and the 40mm lens; at least during enlargements of images on the base plate to a full-page 50x60 size, there is (just about) enough room to focus. It would certainly be more convenient with a circuit board set deeper into the frame, but it’s not essential!

karlokell

Hello! €

Just to recap on the problem or question: contrary to my initial assumption, it does work with the original Magnifax board and the 40mm lens; at least during enlargements on the base board up to a full-page 50x60 size, you have (just about) enough play to focus. It would certainly be more comfortable with a deeper-set board, but it’s not a must!

jonny

Hello! € <blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="elizabeth_reed" data-cid="19522" data-time="1458739799"> <DIV> To sum up the problem or question once more: contrary to my initial assumption, it does work with the original Magnifax board and the 40mm lens; at least during enlargements on the base board up to a full-page 50x60 size, you have (just about) enough play to focus. It would certainly be more comfortable with a deeper recessed board, but it’s not a must!

€ Do you actually have the Magnifax board with a recess of about 15mm, and not perhaps the Axomat/Opemus board, which looks exactly the same with the same outer diameter but only allows for a recess of about 10mm? If so, then perhaps you could simply shorten the bellows, which, by today’s standards, can be extended unnecessarily far. Then it would be less of a hindrance... (I’ve done this before on an Axomat, where it was quite easy and made a big difference!) € Regards, Karl </div> </blockquote> Yes, definitely the one for the Magnifax. I actually have the slightly flatter one for the Opemus in my collection too :) Meopta apparently offered an even deeper recessed circuit board as an accessory for their own 30mm VG lens, though not with an M39 thread and probably difficult or impossible to find anyway. I hadn’t thought of shortening the bellows yet, thanks for the tip. At the moment it works quite well when I use the AN glass at the top and the smaller KB mask at the bottom. On my first attempt, I’d used the larger KB mask at the bottom; with that, the ‘sandwich’ seems to sit a tad higher up and you actually reach the limit where proper focusing is no longer really possible. But it’s working quite well now. After 30 years of darkroom work, I’ve finally managed my first 50x60 prints :) The 40mm WA Componon seems quite sharp to me. I don’t see any vignetting either (I enlarged at f/8).