Yesterday my new focusing scope arrived ... a lovely, almost new, Micro Sight with 25X magnification.
Just a while ago I grabbed a roll of TX that was sitting around, loaded a frame into the Beseler 23C-II with the dichro head, and raised it to fill a full sheet of 11x14 paper using the 80mm/4.0 Componon-S. First thing is that the difference between the 25X Micro Sight and the 10X Peak is amazing, not just in terms of bigger grain clumps to focus on, but the Micro Sight sure appeared to provide a brighter image through the eyepiece. The lens was set wide open, and stopping down to 5.6 showed a very marked improvement in contrast and sharpness. Moving to F/8.0 didn't show much of a change, but beyond that it was clear that contrast was falling off, and the grain clumps looked a little softer. Moving the focuser around under the projected image sharpness and contrast seemed about equal at the frame edge and center of the image, although I didn't get way into the corners. Using the larger magnification scope seems like it may be very helpful in determining the ideal apertures for the enlarging lens. When I get a little more time, and don't feel so tired, I'll do the same with all my lenses on both enlargers. Might be enlightening. -- Shel Belinkoff mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/ http://home.earthlink.net/~belinkoff/darkroom-rentals/index.html - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
