RED LED for safe lighing in drakroom

[smithdoor]

Has any ever use a RED LED for safe lighing in drakroom

Dave

[AtlantaTerry]

Has any ever use a RED LED for safe lighing in darkroom (sic)

Dave

Just because a red LED is red it does not mean that it is the correct spectrum.

Make some tests.

[jeroldharter]

RH Designs uses red led's in their lanyard safelights.

[Leigh]

LEDs (any monochromatic variety) are very pure, emitting energy over a very narrow band of wavelengths.

Red ones should be safe for use with graded (only sensitive to blue) or variable-contrast (sensitive to blue and green) papers.

Of course no safelight is safe with panchromatic film, although red might be OK with ortho emulsions.

- Leigh

[Keith Fleming]

I tried out some cheap LED holiday lights as a safelight, and they did not work well. I think the problem was that what I had were white lights with "red" plastic covers over each bulb. In any event, the conventional wisdom is good: run a test.

Keith

[Tin Can]

I bought 10 red 1 watt LEDS some time ago for $30, they work great, but I forgot where I bought them. They do have a tight 'red' spectrum that works great with MG paper and X-Ray film. I put 2 at the 8' ceiling and I have no problem in trays 4 to 5' away.

I got them from one of the biggest online LED suppliers, I now have a lifetime supply.

[rbultman]

Randy Moe, do they screw into "normal" bulb receptacles? Would you mind posting a photo of one? I have a thought to build my own but not if I can buy something at a reasonable price. Thanks.

[Tin Can]

This is it. Get a candelabra adapter at Home Depot.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-decorative/led-night-light-bulb/448/1499/

Nothing to build, use it bare bulb, aim it at white wall or ceiling and use the bounce.

Study up on light wavelength and power, this bulb is 630 nm, 1.2 watt.

I never turn them off, they use such little power.



Randy Moe, do they screw into "normal" bulb receptacles? Would you mind posting a photo of one? I have a thought to build my own but not if I can buy something at a reasonable price. Thanks.

[John Kasaian]

I used a short string of red led Christmas lights in my dark room (not red covered clear leds) and they worked just fine. Add Bing Crosby singing Christmas carols and it gives the place a downright festive atmosphere! :D

[ROL]

I strung up a 100' length of LED XMAS lights in my DR one season, controlled by the "stage" lights foot-switch (off when safelight was on). Not quite as festive as I imagined, so they were demoted to XMAS tree lights (Bing trumped them).

[Tin Can]

The ones, I recommend are not red paint coated, nor red plastic, they are clear plastic and the LED emits true red spectrum.

[ROL]

This is it.

I prolly ought to get some of these, just for show, as the uninitiated are so very often disillusioned when visiting my lab. Not the dim red glow they expect from the movies, just a disappointingly, relatively bright warm amber.:(

[Tin Can]

Since I live inside my darkroom, they make great nightlights and I wake up to the red glow of a campfire. Primal.



I prolly ought to get some of these, just for show, as the uninitiated are so very often disillusioned when visiting my lab. Not the dim red glow they expect from the movies, just a disappointingly, relatively bright warm amber.:(

[rbultman]

This is it. Get a candelabra adapter at Home Depot.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-decorative/led-night-light-bulb/448/1499/

This is awesome. Thanks for the link. 630nm ought to be high enough and the energy well below the filter cutoff wavelengths published at least by Ilford.

[ndrs]

I use two 3W and one 1W DIY ones in my darkroom. Parts are from China via eBay, mounted in old bulb bases. On top of that construction goes a translucent Kodak film canister. LEDs are either 630 or 660 nm. Perfect for real work, not so perfect according to 10 min @ 1 m test.
102520

[konakoa]

Has any ever use a RED LED for safe lighing in drakroom

Dave

I use a long strip of red LEDs as a safelight in mine. They're small little things, called a "SMD" type that run on twelve volts DC. Useful as they're made on a flat ribbon and aren't bulky at all like a traditional light bulb. They come as long strips that can be cut with scissors to any length. Simply connect a twelve volt AC wall adapter and they're good to go. I mounted these to a strip of wood baseboard and hung it on the wall below the ceiling of my darkroom. The light bounces off the wall and ceiling for very smooth and even light. I'm also using a specially made dimmer for LEDs so I can set the brightness from full on (very bright indeed) to quite dim.

No filters, no housings, nothing special to the LEDs other than they're 626nm red. I've run the official Kodak safelight darkroom test and mine tested good to twenty minutes.

[jeroldharter]

This is it. Get a candelabra adapter at Home Depot.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-decorative/led-night-light-bulb/448/1499/

Nothing to build, use it bare bulb, aim it at white wall or ceiling and use the bounce.

Study up on light wavelength and power, this bulb is 630 nm, 1.2 watt.

I never turn them off, they use such little power.

Looks like the amber bulbs (595 nm) would work and be more pleasant than red.

[Leigh]

Looks like the amber bulbs (595 nm) would work and be more pleasant than red.
I use a Thomas Duplex yellow (amber) sodium-vapor safelight.

It's very easy to work with, since it corresponds exactly to the peak sensitivity of the human eye.

The amber LEDs should be the same provided they're true monochromatic yellow, not a combination of red and green.

- Leigh

[polyglot]

Survey of good/bad LEDs in this thread (http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/121023-survey-paper-safe-red-leds-safelights.html).

[konakoa]

Looks like the amber bulbs (595 nm) would work and be more pleasant than red.

The amber LEDs I tried from superbrightleds fogged VC paper in less than a minute. I agree with Leigh, amber colored light (old Kodak OC filters and the Thomas Duplex) is much easier on the eyes. Worked for a number of years with both of the previous. Yet the amber LEDs just didn't test as safe. They do have a spike of green in them. You'd have to filter the amber to make them safe for b&w paper. Red LEDs needed no filtration.

[Rick A]

Tho I like working under amber safe lights, red is my preferred. My paper of choice and ortho products dictate the red in my DR. I turn on my OC when using Ilford paper, mostly I use Emaks, Varikon, and Forte papers, so I'm in the red.

[natelfo]

I have also thought about using LEDs, but for the last 3 years, I have been using a red CFL party light bulb. It's quite bright, cheap, and does not fog my paper even after 10 minutes, but the only paper I have tested it with is Ilford MG RC and FB papers. These are readily available at local hardware stores, Walmart, etc. THe particular brand I have is Feit.

[SergeiR]

i use regular led + red gel filter - no problem on papers, collodion, liquid emulstion , xray film.