Hello all,

Actually, I've got two questions:

1) I'm looking to purchase a standard cold light head for my used 4x5 Beseler. I've been a bit overwhelmed searching through the cold lights at B+H's site bec ause there's not a lot of detail supplied with each of the products listed. I'v e noticed that many of the lights are listed as 220 Volt, to which I do not have access in my apartment. For anyone "in the know", would the Aristo w/ V54 lamp and Beseler collar (adapter) do the trick? I realize I may be asking a questio n which has an obvious answer, but I'd like some piece of mind from the members of this forum before taking the dive. A simple "yes" will do.

2) I'm a bit hazy on the beauty of the variable contrast cold lights. Is it t he ability to perform "split printing" in a single exposure? Perhaps I don't quite understand the art of split printing but can't the exact p rint quality be achieved by using a cold light with vc filters (even if two expo sures are necessary)? To a degree, I understand the vc cold light's ability to fine tune exposure separately in shadows and highlights, but I guess I just don' t understand how one can justify the $700 price difference between using a stand ard cold light head w/ variable filters and using a vc cold light head. The mai n reason I'm asking of course is that I'm intrigued by what the vc cold light ca n offer. Admittedly, I haven't even seen the side by side difference between a condeser light source print and one made via cold light, let alone the differenc e between standard cold light head and vc cold light.

Thanks in advance for any responses. Greatly appreciated. Love this forum!

Kevin