Beseler 45MXT Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by:

ecarme
( Professional)

Review Date
October 29, 2009

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Review 1 of 5

Price Paid: $0.00 from From Friend

Summary:

I own two of these enalrgers now and have owned at least one for more that 15 years. Beseler 4x5 Enlargers are by far the most user friendly enlargers ever made. They are also very versatile. I have three heads for mine. A color head, Condenser head and a Coldlight head. I also have all of the negative carriers for it as well. The lense boards are easy to pop in and out and changing formats is a snap! With the Condensor or Coldlight head you can tilt the head back for wall projection, (It won't tilt back with the color head attached). You can easily make 16x20. enlargements right on the baseboard and used parts like negative carriers and lens boards are easy and inexpensive to buy.

Strengths:

Easy to operate. Lots of parts and accessories still avaliable at reasonable prices.

Weaknesses:

None that I can think of

Similar Products Used:

Omega D2 Omega D5 Fuji C45

Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by: Tiffany Willis
(Intermediate)

Review Date
March 9, 2002

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 2 of 5

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:

I really love this machine. I have used many differnt brands of enlargers at the school I attend but this is one I will fight to get to its easy to use and easy to to mulitple task with. If I were to start my own darkroom this would be the first thing I would buy

Strengths:

I love the motorized chassis it makes it a breeze to adjust your print size quickly. i like to easy to use color adjustment knobs, it makes it very simple to do color corrections. And I also love stablity, it has to be a tough machine to put up with some of the dumb students that come and go everyday into the lab and just dont have any respect for these costly machines. I know that the rest of the enlargers we use in the lab have to be aligned once or twice a semester(4 semesters in a year); where this giant is only aligned, MAYBE once a year. So that should tell you something

Weaknesses:

it doesn''t have a rotating head to do wall projections but if you don''t need that then this is a great piece of machinery

Similar Products Used:

Omega Beasler 23 Durst

Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by: Melvin Bramley
(Intermediate)

Review Date
July 15, 2001

Overall Rating
2 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
3 votes

Review 3 of 5

Price Paid: $400.00 from Private purchase

Summary:

I will keep this enlarger only untill a good deal on a European or Japanese enlarger comes along. "MY" Beseler is just too finicky!! I expect to go into my darkroom & make prints without worrying if the alignment is OK. I could do this with the Durst.

Strengths:

Versatile, Will not be outdated.
Many options available

Weaknesses:

Goes out of alignment all to easily.
Poor design of negative carriers.
Light leaks

Similar Products Used:

Durst M301
Beseler 23c

Customer Service:

Not required. This unit is so basic adjustments & repairs can be made without assistance.

Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by: DAN
(Intermediate)

Review Date
December 1, 2000

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Review 4 of 5

Price Paid: $1100.00

Summary:

I BOUGHT ONE OF THESE BECAUSE BOTH COLLEGES THAT I WENT TO HAD THEM IN THEIR DARKROOMS, AND IF THE 45MXTS CAN STAND UP TO VIRTUALLY THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS ABUSING THEM THEN I WANTED THAT KIND OF ENLARGER FOR MY OWN DARKROOM. IT IS SOLID, HEAVY AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO VIBRATION. IT IS AN OLD DESIGN, BUT ONE THAT IS A PROVEN WORKHORSE. NOTHING FANCY, JUST RUGGED. A BUDDY OF MINE TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE WAS IN THE MERCHANT MARINE, THEY HAD ONE ONE HIS SHIP, WALL MOUNTED. I GUESS "ROBUST" IS THE WORD.

Strengths:

SOLID CONSTRUCTION
ADD-ONS READILY AVAILABLE

Weaknesses:

FOCUSING IS COARSE BUT ACCEPTABLE

Similar Products Used:

OMEGA D5

Customer Service:

NONE

Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Rating
Reviewed by: Chad Puerling
(Expert)

Review Date
October 30, 2000

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Review 5 of 5

Summary:

A solid performer with smooth operating controls.
This is one massive piece of machinery.
A great enlarger to buy used. You can save a lot of money and since its design hasn't changed much in a long time, parts are easy to come buy.
For just being a couple of flat pieces of metal with a hole cut in them, the negative carriers and lens boards are expensive.

Strengths:

Well built and fully adjustable.
Handles film up to 4x5.
The motor makes this a breeze to use when changing print sizes. I can't imagine using this behemoth without it

Weaknesses:

Setting up this enlarger is a big task but once done, it's solid. Don't plan on moving this giant.

Similar Products Used:

As a teacher I've used a lot of enlargers and this is one of the best.
Beseler 23C series
Omega 45 series
Omega C76
Meopta Axomat II
Nikkor color enlarger

Customer Service:

Never used.

Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.