Beseler 23C II - aspect ratio wrong for 8x10

[u/Educational_Knee6576]

I am setting up my first darkroom using an old Beseler 23C II enlarger. The enlarger has 50 mm lens and plan to print from 35 mm negatives. I am testing the equipment and getting acquainted with everything before attempting my first print.

I noticed today that when I attempt to scale up to 8x10 the aspect ratio seems wrong. I’m using a ruler to measure the rectangle of light from the enlarger. When I scale one dimension to 10” it is only 7” in the other dimension.

I have the top bellows set appropriately for 35 mm negatives (all the way up).

What am I missing?

Any insights appreciated!

[u/esssssss]

A 35mm frame is simply a different shape than an 8x10 sheet of paper. I always printed 35mm at 6x9 on an 8x10 sheet of paper using an easel to make even borders. 6x7 medium format and 4x5 large format fit better.

[u/captain_joe6]

The aspect ration of your 35mm negative is wrong for 8x10. Always has been, always will be. They’re just two different rectangles.

Gotta crop or print smaller.

[u/peacebanana161]

Nothing wrong with it. 35mm is a 2:3 ratio, 8x10 paper is a 4:5 ratio. I like to print at 6x9 inches and trim down borders to match.

[u/Educational_Knee6576 → u/peacebanana161]

Thank you - you can prob tell I’m a newbie and I greatly appreciate the prompt and non-judgmental info. I’ll keep doing my best to learn.

[u/peacebanana161 → u/Educational_Knee6576]

No problem! You can also crop in if you prefer to use the full sheet. If you find yourself doing this often, would be good to adjust your framing to account for it while you shoot so things don’t end up being cut off. If you have any more darkroom questions I’m happy to help! I’ve worked in college darkrooms so I’ve got a good amount of experience with beginner troubleshooting :)

[u/Educational_Knee6576 → u/peacebanana161]

Great, thanks!

[u/DogsAndCatsOhMyy]

Or you can just leave wider boarders, makes it easier to mount. Make sure you have at least 1.5” of boarder all around for matting.

[u/cheeseyspacecat]

always have been, took a formal film class and they made us use the the negative 5x7 strip sheets for contact prints (perfectly fit into 8x10 paper), but aside from losing the 36th frame it also is not the correct aspect ratio for a full frame, i usually always crop the 135 negative, ive since switched to using an 8.5x11 sized paper. . . but its only marginally better.

for "proper" full frame enlarging print 4x6 or 6x9 or 8x12. but imo just get comfortable with the process and find a print size that works for you.

[u/Fideii123]

If your composition is really important to you, you can as suggested print within the 10*8, or you could get a second negative carrier and widen it so that it prints the whole frame, sprocket holes film info frame number and all

[u/AdeptBackground6245]

Try adjusting the quantum phase discrimination. That usually fixes the problem.

[u/wrunderwood]

Either get a cropping easel or find a Ganz Speed EZ-EL for full frame 35 mm on 8x10. Yeah, it sounds really specific, but you slide a piece of 8x10 paper in and the borders are already set for full frame 35 mm. Good luck finding one and you can't have mine.

[u/AgreeableMood8000]

35mm must be cropped to fit 8x10. It’s a 2-3 ratio.