Heiland VC LED Head - Experiences?

[John Layton]

My Zone VI (type 2 5x7) VC head is beginning to falter, and as a fix or replacement option remains a moving target, I’m seriously considering biting the bullet, cutting to the chase, and purchasing a Heiland LED VC head…with either the plain or split grade controller.

But I need a bit more info…and some user reviews would really be helpful at this point. From what I can gather by googling…the Heiland unit is well conceived, well built, and reliable, with a light output which is bright, even, consistent, and very useful in terms of its soft to hard contrast ranges. Any comments to the contrary?

But my primary question concerns which of the two controllers I should consider (there is a third, which utilizes an iPhone or iPad, but I have no interest in this). While most of my “serious” LF work I now print using the split grade process, I’m still not sure if I want the specific controller for this…as it seems a bit too “automated” for the way I prefer to print.

The problem I’m having with the Heiland website is that it really does not provide adequate photographs/illustrations/overviews of the controllers in question…which is why I’m posting this in hopes that others here might give me a bit more “real world” info.

Also…should I buy this unit directly from the factory - or from one of the listed U.S. distributors? A related question…any experiences having these units serviced?

At any rate…if there are any Heiland LED VC head users out there who could chime in, that would be great! I know I can contact Heiland directly…but I really want to hear from users.

[Phil Hudson]

I use the Splitgrade controller with the Comfort module but not on the LED head. The controller itself is easy enough to use (the comfort module simply makes accessing the functions a bit more intuitive). I appreciate the speed of getting a reasonable straight print using this semi-automated method. Often the final print I want is some way from the system's standard interpretation of my negative but I still like the speed of a good starting point and prefer the splitgrade method of printing itself (ie separate yellow and magenta filtration/exposures).

[Payral]

I already use a Heiland LED VC Head on my Zone VI TYpe II enlarger with the standard controller. It's perfect. All cold light advantages with a LED very bright output. You will never print as before. You can change brightness from 00 to 20 (two full stops) by 1/10 icrements. You get really contrast from 00 (or 0 with some papers) to 5 with also 1/10 increment. Like that I always use the best lens aperture and I change light intensity to get a comfortable exposure time. I will never go back. You can see it there:
http://payral.pagesperso-orange.fr/labo.html
I hope it will help even if my english is far from perfect.

[koh303]

Official release from Ilford RE Heiland LED heads:
162893
FYI CatLABS is the US Heiland dealer.