Just picked up a 45MX and a car load of accessories. It has a cold light and normal head. I know there is a learning curve for beginners but which head if any requires less learning. Is this pretty straight forward putting it all back together? It also came with a Seal 210M dry mount press which will most likely be put up for sale since I probably will not use it along with a mat cutter.
Did the cold light come with a stabilizer of some kind? If not, getting consistent light can add to the learning process. Also, negatives enlarged with a cold light usually require more contrast. Thus, I would say the regular head has a less steep learning curve. Assembly is straight forward. I believe I once found a manual online for mine.
I assume the "normal" head is a Beseler condenser head. Can you confirm this? I also assume the cold light head is not Beseler. Can you tell us the name? What else did you get and why won't you use the press?
My understanding is that the cold light head doesn't work with VC paper. I got one with my 45 MXT, I'll never use it.
A few decades ago, Darkroom Techniques (?), did a review of several cold light heads and VC papers. As I recall, their conclusion was that different heads -- due to their different color of light produced (usually bluish) -- created different contrasts with different papers. In short, they are usable with VC paper, but you really need to run your own tests with your specific paper(s) to determine the final contrasts -- and maybe use more filtration than expected.
No, the P45 phosphor emits green and blue (about balanced for #2 contrast), so it can be used with filters ...Originally Posted by xkaes
Steve K
That's the key word -- "ABOUT". And that's why Darkroom Techniques took the time to run their tests. Not because they simply had just run out of things to do. They knew that there probably would be differences between brands of cold light heads when mixed with brands of paper. And that's exactly what they found. They didn't say cold light heads are completely incompatible with RC paper. They said that different heads produced different amounts of contrast on different papers -- and that might be important for shutterbugs to know, and check out themselves (because they didn't test all cold light heads and all papers).
xkaes-- good to know. Though I will surely never experiment. It just looks like a dead end with modern materials.
Do you actually use this stuff???
Steve K
AND I even take pictures with my trusty Toko Tone which makes 14x14mm images on 17.5mm film.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks