Zone VI enlarger

[Melvin J Bramley]

I'm considering a used Zone V1 enlarger with VC head.
What are the pluses and minuses of this enlarger?
I wish to replace a Beseler 4x5 with condenser head .

 

[darkroommike]

I don't see any advantages, Beseler is still in business and there is a metric [bleep] ton of used parts available. Add to that the Beseler can use a lamphouse with a bog standard lamphouse rather than some esoteric head for which parts are no longer available (Aristo made the tubes and are gone again). If you do decide to indulge hang onto your Beseler and make sure the Zone VI is working, you want an enlarger, not a project. And, I'll add there are several routes to VC printing with your Beseler.

 

[Neal]

If it was really a great deal and included all the accessories you would have the coolest enlarger among your friends.

 

[GregY]

Melvin, the answer is...it depends. I've been using the Zone VI VC head and peripherals for decades.....on a Beseler frame.
Zone VI had several versions of their enlarger and it depends if you're enlarging 4x5 or 5x7. Apparently the 2nd version was better. As mentioned lens boards and negative carriers can be hard to find if they don't come with the enlarger. Also as mentioned replacement tubes for the cold light head would be hens teeth to find since Aristo is no longer in business.

 

[Melvin J Bramley]

Having the use of a cold cathode VC lamp house is my attraction to the system.
Will it be noticeably better than a condenser lamphouse or would it be no better than finding a good colour head for the Beseler?
I dont think there are any VC lamphouses for the Beseler?

 

[Doremus Scudder]

You can get a "cold cathode" head for you Beseler too. They have problems with fluctuations in output due to temperature. Additionally, they still need to be filtered for VC paper. Hence the stabilizers that Zone VI marketed with their heads. I printed with one for years and it was fine, but found dichroic color heads to be much more convenient.

Dichroic heads or LED color heads are more stable and allow easy filtration changes for VC paper. Unfortunately, the Beseler color heads (including the Beseler/Minolta head) are clumsy and unreliable.

My solution was to mount a Chromega 5x7 dichroic head on my Beseler 45MX... (whatever - can't remember all the letters). The job took a bit of cutting and filing to get the head to fit down flush, but the result is really gratifying, with an even, oversize light source and the dichro filters.

There are other color heads that will fit Beseler 45s. I'd look into those if I were you. The Beseler is a workhorse and, as mentioned, spare parts and repair are relatively easy.

Best,

Doremus

 

[cowanw]

My Zone VI is a VC blue/green head for 8x10
My other enlargers are all colour heads of various sorts. Six in one: Half a dozen in the others. All have two colours of light to change and timer settings

 

[GregY]

Having the use of a cold cathode VC lamp house is my attraction to the system.
Will it be noticeably better than a condenser lamphouse or would it be no better than finding a good colour head for the Beseler?
I dont think there are any VC lamphouses for the Beseler?

Calumet/Zone VI made VC housings to fit both Beseler & Omega.....
Given the absence of cold light tubes since Aristo is gone...a colour head is a great option and i say that because i have both a Beseler w a Zone VI VC head and a Durst 138 with a colour head.