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robk331
14-May-2017, 16:02
Hi All,

My Zone VI VC head looks to have given up the ghost. Any suggestions on a replacement? I'm aware of Heiland's LED head. Any other options out there? I tried Modern Enlarger Lamps and they aren't taking special orders right now.

Thanks

Rob

denverjims
15-May-2017, 07:41
robk331,
After finding Modern no longer in production and with my wife unwilling to sign the papers to 2nd mortgage our house in order to afford a Heiland, I designed and built an LED diffusion lighthead for my 4x5 Omega D5 as a direct, bolt-on replacement for its condenser head. Having used it for about a month, I'm finding it working out pretty well.

Note: it's designed to use 6x6 filters (Ilford Multigrade, Rosco, etc.) to obtain contrast grades rather than any dialed-in, infinitely variable method; so it may not be the kind of thing you are looking for.

I plan to post in the DIY section of the Forum when I get some time to put together a good, understandable description, but I'd be willing to share some information with you, individually. If you think this might help you, PM me.

Regards, Jim

Duolab123
15-May-2017, 18:53
robk331,
After finding Modern no longer in production and with my wife unwilling to sign the papers to 2nd mortgage our house in order to afford a Heiland, I designed and built an LED diffusion lighthead for my 4x5 Omega D5 as a direct, bolt-on replacement for its condenser head. Having used it for about a month, I'm finding it working out pretty well.

Note: it's designed to use 6x6 filters (Ilford Multigrade, Rosco, etc.) to obtain contrast grades rather than any dialed-in, infinitely variable method; so it may not be the kind of thing you are looking for.

I plan to post in the DIY section of the Forum when I get some time to put together a good, understandable description, but I'd be willing to share some information with you, individually. If you think this might help you, PM me.

Regards, Jim

LEDs are super cheap. start looking on ebay and buy direct from China. White light and under the lens contrast filters seem foolproof. I have a type 2 with the vc head. The only thing than makes it workable is a Metrolux timer. Im thinking of experimenting with some Leds. The Heiland looks pretty cool, the splitgrade came out in 2000ish, pretty high end then. Maybe you could arrange a green array and a blue array, each with a separate timer. Split print everything:-)
Best Mike

denverjims
16-May-2017, 14:28
I have put a post up in DIY of my build.
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?139056-LED-Diffusion-Lighthead-for-Omega-D5

Regards, Jim

jp
16-May-2017, 17:48
LEDs are super cheap. start looking on ebay and buy direct from China. White light and under the lens contrast filters seem foolproof. I have a type 2 with the vc head. The only thing than makes it workable is a Metrolux timer. Im thinking of experimenting with some Leds. The Heiland looks pretty cool, the splitgrade came out in 2000ish, pretty high end then. Maybe you could arrange a green array and a blue array, each with a separate timer. Split print everything:-)
Best Mike

I'd like to do a green+blue array but it hasn't been a top priority of course. I'd put each array on a gralab 451 timer and it'd be pretty easy to operate.

robk331
16-May-2017, 18:22
Awesome, thanks!

Duolab123
17-May-2017, 19:47
I'd like to do a green+blue array but it hasn't been a top priority of course. I'd put each array on a gralab 451 timer and it'd be pretty easy to operate.

This sounds like a great idea.

J.B. Harlin
19-May-2017, 06:57
Here is what I have done with the 8x10 Zone VI VC Head. . .
http://jbhphoto.com/blog/2016/07/02/leds-vc-printing/

denverjims
19-May-2017, 19:52
Nicely done, JB!
Regards, Jim

J.B. Harlin
20-May-2017, 08:46
Nicely done, JB!
Regards, Jim

Thanks! My wife just closed the darkroom door for a day of printing some new 4x10 negatives. . .:D

robk331
25-May-2017, 13:55
Thanks for the replies. I think building an LED head is a little beyond my skills, so I'm contemplating getting Heiland's LED head. Has anyone had a chance to use one of these? The price-tag is a bit eye-watering but it looks like it's the only viable solution for me.

Eric Woodbury
25-May-2017, 16:46
I'm about to tackle this problem, too. Not for a Z6, but to replace a coldlight on the CB7. There are some very simple building blocks for LED light sources at ledsupply.com. I will use the Cree XP-E2 green and royal blue in the 3-up configuration. These I will mount to the heatsink kit that holds 30 LED stars max. LEDs are $4 ea and the heatsink kit $25. Don't use white LEDs. I'm going to build my own power supply/driver, but ledsupply has a lot of different supplies available with various controls. I have designed the driver and I'll post the design schematic and lightsource detail when done.

Duolab123
25-May-2017, 19:04
I'm about to tackle this problem, too. Not for a Z6, but to replace a coldlight on the CB7. There are some very simple building blocks for LED light sources at ledsupply.com. I will use the Cree XP-E2 green and royal blue in the 3-up configuration. These I will mount to the heatsink kit that holds 30 LED stars max. LEDs are $4 ea and the heatsink kit $25. Don't use white LEDs. I'm going to build my own power supply/driver, but ledsupply has a lot of different supplies available with various controls. I have designed the driver and I'll post the design schematic and lightsource detail when done.

Fascinating

robk331
23-Jul-2017, 17:45
Just a quick update. I ended up buying the Heiland LED cold head and I have to say I'm really impressed. Yeah, it's pricey but I couldn't find any other options stateside. It's very easy to use, a real improvement on the Zone VI VC head.

Duolab123
24-Jul-2017, 18:16
Just a quick update. I ended up buying the Heiland LED cold head and I have to say I'm really impressed. Yeah, it's pricey but I couldn't find any other options stateside. It's very easy to use, a real improvement on the Zone VI VC head.

Very nice!

Payral
25-Jul-2017, 01:23
Just a quick update. I ended up buying the Heiland LED cold head and I have to say I'm really impressed. Yeah, it's pricey but I couldn't find any other options stateside. It's very easy to use, a real improvement on the Zone VI VC head.

+1 Yes it's what I did.

Charlie Strack
2-Aug-2017, 19:12
I'm thinking of building a VC LED head--has anyone doing this considered just having on/off switches for the blue and green LEDs. Contrast would be adjusted by varying the on time of each color? Seems much simpler to me than dimming the LEDs.