BEOON loupe problem

[atatexan]

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Just received a complete BEOON from the U.K. Everything good except the loupe. The larger lens secured with a retainer ring is cloudy, translucent but not clear. Glass cleaner briefly "opens it up" but fog reappears. Can it be polished? Are replacements available?

[stuny]

This "Other" section is within the photo category, so I'm moving this thread, but leaving a redirect within "Other."

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[a.noctilux]

BEOON loupe to focus .

It's normal that the groundglass (if plastic !) is "cloudy" to show the image of copying slide/negative.

If it was clear, the image wouldn't be seen.

 

In use, adjust to eye by sliding the optical part in/out to see at best the small circle in the middle of the groundglass.

This groundglass would be in same distance as film/sensor when replaced by the M body.

 

So for copying, the slide/negative will be focused on the groundglass with the loupe.

[atatexan]

Thank you very much for clarifying (literally and figuretivel!) the loupe question I had.

[wlaidlaw]

Now I will know as well when I pick up my BEOON in October. I remember my father using a crackle black paint Leitz device to get perfect focus when enlarging but that was quite different from the BEOON Loupe, which I assume is the one pictured below. My father's one had an angled mirror, a ground glass focus screen and a viewing tube coming out at an angle to the side of the vertical tube. I have looked in my various Leica books but I cannot find a picture of my father's one. There are lots of listed enlarger accessories but no pictures and only a very brief note as to what they did in my Laney book, which is the only one with a section on the Leitz enlargers. 

 

Wilson

 

 

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[atatexan]

I am fairly certain you are talking about the Visoflex system. 

[a.noctilux]

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Wilson, something like this ?

 

 

 

image from mir.com

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/RF-Nikkor/Leica_RF/Leica_visoflex1.htm

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Everybody,

 

What Wilson is describing is a high magnification "grain focusing" device used on an easel when making prints in a darkroom. This is used to more precisely focus an image projected by an enlarger.

 

It is NOT the finder pictured in Wilson's Post #5 which is a vertical magnifier for a copying device.

 

Also NOT the finder pictured in a.noctilux's Post #7 which is a 45 degree finder for a Visoflex I.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited July 18, 2017 by Michael Geschlecht

[wlaidlaw]

Hello Everybody,

 

What Wilson is describing is a high magnification "grain focusing" device used on an easel when making prints in a darkroom. This is used to more precisely focus an image projected by an enlarger.

 

It is NOT the finder pictured in Wilson's Post #5 which is a vertical magnifier for a copying device.

 

Also NOT the finder pictured in a.noctilux's Post #7 which is a 45 degree finder for a Visoflex I.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

 

Michael, 

 

Yes absolutely right. The loupe pictured in my image above is part of the BEOON kit. It is not the chimney 5X magnifier for the Visoflex, which I also have. That is a metal object painted crackle black and quite different from what I am assuming is an all plastic loupe from the BEOON (I have not taken delivery of it yet) . My father's loupe as Michael says above, was for super accurate focusing on the table of an enlarger and particularly useful when enlarging 1950's Tri-X, where the grain made it difficult to focus direct on the table. I know it was Leitz and was kept in its red Leitz cardboard box. Does anyone know the telegraphic or numeric code for that item? Google has failed to find it, as have both Laney and Von Hasebroeck. Here is a picture of the Bestwell version. The Leitz version was more sophisticated with a vertical tube above the mirror and variable diopter on the eyepiece. It was all metal and painted the typical Leitz crackle black. I certainly remember it from the early 1950's, so it may well have been pre-war. 

 

Wilson

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[wlaidlaw]

Has anyone got a manual for the BEOON, which they could make a .pdf file?

 

Wilson

[a.noctilux]

Wilson, look here post #30:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/230886-m8-and-beoon/page-2

 

The most used of darkroom focussing mag. is Scoponet (but not Leitz ) :

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/SCOPONET-MAGNIFICATION-ENLARGER-FOCUS-SCOPE-/282536989378?hash=item41c88452c2:g:kvgAAOSwZ4dZHEXL

[wlaidlaw]

Wilson, look here post #30:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/230886-m8-and-beoon/page-2

 

The most used of darkroom focussing mag. is Scoponet (but not Leitz ) :

http://www.ebay.fr/itm/SCOPONET-MAGNIFICATION-ENLARGER-FOCUS-SCOPE-/282536989378?hash=item41c88452c2:g:kvgAAOSwZ4dZHEXL

 

Many thanks for that link. I have started a new thread suggesting that a manuals library be put together on the Wiki to collect in one place, the many manuals that are scattered across the forum and as yet unscanned, in folks' drawers. I would even say to Andreas that I would be prepared to put my head above the parapet and be the editor/librarian for this, if he wanted. For example I have now put the BEOON manual all together as a pdf, rather than 4 separate JPEGs, as I have the professional version of Acrobat, which does this very easily. 

 

I think the Leitz grain focusing device may be quite old and rare, given that Leica introduced auto focus enlargers at an early stage, where one of these would not be needed. 

 

Wilson

[atatexan]

I found a source in the UK that makes copies of obscure camera manuals. Bought a copy of the BEOON manual. Assuming the copy is good, I am happy to have a professional digital copy made for inclusion in the library Wilson wants to establish for the forum. Will advise once the manual arrives.

[wlaidlaw]

Just to update folks, Andreas, our Forum-meister, is enthusiastic about the idea of a searchable library of Leica documents. However please do not send me screeds of files just yet. We have to work out the best way to do this. It is likely that this will not be within the Wiki but will be a separate facility for forum members. I will be investigating potential software formats and packages. Andreas suggested that Wordpress may have a suitable product. 

 

Wilson

[Michael Hiles]

Terrific idea. I can contribute a Focomat 1c manual when the time comes.