Condenser Head Advantage?

[Doremus Scudder]

None of us has answered OP questions.

Okay, I'll have a go at it:

Condenser enlargers, by nature, yield more print contrast for a given negative. If you've got a flat negative that you really need to get that extra bit of contrast from, then use the condensers. (This is the primary reason I have my condenser head still...)

BTW, most condenser heads are really "condenser/diffuser" heads; i.e., there are optical condensers, but the light source is fairly large and diffuse to start with (frosted bulb) and the light is only partially collimated. Point-source heads require precise focusing of the source and condensers in relation to each other and work best at one aperture... a bit of a PITA in my opinion.

Because of the more directional (less diffuse) light source, focus depth at the negative is a bit more. That doesn't mean we should be less careful focusing, because the extra focus comes from the light source, not the lens, but there is a bit more leeway, especially if you don't use a glass carrier. That said, it is precisely this characteristic that tends to show up dust and defects more with a condenser enlarger than with a diffuse light source, so the trade-off is keeping things cleaner/spotting more.

Many maintain that grain/local contrast is enhanced with a condenser set-up. That may be so, but condensers do not yield inherently sharper prints than a diffusion source; that's a function of the enlarging lens, not the light source. And, contrast can be adjusted with development and/or different contrast grades so that a print made from a condenser enlarger is virtually identical (and indistinguishable) from a diffusion enlarger.

With today's preponderance of VC papers, dichroic light sources seem most convenient for many of us. I believe this is another reason why condenser heads have fallen a bit out of favor. It's certainly easier for me to dial in a bit more or less contrast than swapping filters.

That said, when using graded papers and two developers, there's a certain simplicity and low-tech satisfaction to using a condenser source; good viewing, no fiddling with anything but the aperture, etc. I imagine it's next in line to contact printing with a bare bulb.

Best,

Doremus

[John Kasaian]

I can warm tortillas on my Elwood. Quesadillas for lunch! Yum!

[bob carnie]

I use condenser enlargers for everything other than portraits.... I cannot explain the reason other than the prints just seem right done this way.

When using 8x10 film I am committed to diffusion- these prints look super sharp to me.

[Ken Lee]

Around 45 years ago I purchased a Beseler enlarger with condenser head and made a print of a photo of a waterfall. Compared to the contact print, the high tonal values in the waterfall were blocked.The tonal curve took a sudden upsweep once the negative reached a certain density.

Having the limited finances of a teenager, I tried spray-painting the inside of the condenser head white, in an effort to get a more linear tonal scale to match the contact print. The result was not appreciably different.

I then printed the negative at Fred Picker's darkroom in White Plains NY and immediately got an 8x10 print whose tonal scale exactly matched the scale of the contact print, with no sudden cutoff of linearity. That's when I decided to go ahead an purchase a "cold light head" as it was called then, a diffusion lamp.

Fred documented my experience and included before and after versions of that photograph in his book Zone VI Workshop. You can read about it there.

I have never felt the need to repeat the test.

[Luis-F-S]

Ok, so there you have it Neil. Other than bob's comment that they just seem right to him, and I suspect that bob is a much better printer than most of the folks on this forum, I don't think anyone else has exalted the condenser head's virtues. I know when I was printing with the condenser head on my Durst, I could not wait for the Aristo cold light head to come in. Before that I used an Omega F with a 12x12 Aristo head with a Metrolux and a Beseler MX enlarger with Fred's stabilized cold light head. The Aristo heads were all I used since then, until I got the dichroic heads on the LPL & Devere. However, if all you have is a condenser head, then by all means print with it, and just adjust your negative density and contrast for the light source, and............L

[Drew Wiley]

Gosh, who knows how many thousands of times this debate has been undertaken over the decades. But in terms of what kind of equipment 99% of darkroom workers actually use, condenser illumination is just about as common as birds that still have claws on their wings and teeth in their beaks.

[mmerig]

Gosh, who knows how many thousands of times this debate has been undertaken over the decades. But in terms of what kind of equipment 99% of darkroom workers actually use, condenser illumination is just about as common as birds that still have claws on their wings and teeth in their beaks.

Well, count me as part of the 1%.

[bob carnie]

Thank you for the kind words, Luis , but I have been on this forum long enough to know and meet some pretty incredible printers..

Now if you ever want to get rid of the big boy Deveer Uncle Bob is your first call...

I think in answering the OP's question I would have to say Condenser enlargers seem crisper to me than diffusion when I view prints on the wall.. I know that word is almost as bogus as saying the prints look like they have more snap.
I also feel that diffusion prints seem more Blended in tonality than condenser prints...

so there you have it - snappy, crisper- vs blended

I do know that with a condenser enlarger you can get into a whole lot of whoop ass if the negative is not completely centered to the lens, condenser, bulb and is something I am always
fighting with when using my enlargers.

[Mrportr8]

The real advantage is improved separation of values in highlight areas with a diffuse light source. With a condenser source the highlight areas block up more readily in a normal or push processed negative. Any advantage/disadvantage depends on your control over processing and your interpretation of the ideal print.

[Sal Santamaura]

...is anyone aware of darkroom applications or types of photos where condenser heads have a distinct advantage?

Sure -- making prints of dust, scratches and grain.