Small but strong LED Panel for Durst 138 in Europe

[Paola & Lucian]

We tried out one of these round LED panels, 170mm, 12 Watts. Great light but not very strong. There are stronger but bigger ones and it is impossible to pass them through the side door of the light head. Unfortunately we have the version with a small door. 17mm is the maximum size for this little door. Anyone knows about where to buy in Europe (220V) small but strong LED panels? Thanks for helping. Paola & Lucian

[D-tach]

I remember somebody using one of these in his Durst 138S. Is the door really 17mm or 17cm? :)

http://www.rosco.com/litepad/litepadHO.cfm?menuReturn=litepad

[Drew Wiley]

Thank you for that Rosco link. I printed a copy of the tech specs. I'm looking for something like this as a slip-in focus light for my big color enlargers, to save using the real-deal hot dichroic halogens when simply composing and focusing the image. Don't know if this kind of thing will have enough lumens or not for that kind of use, but custom sizing is appealing; and it seems more seriously made than all these cheapo-looking import thin panels. I couldn't find any actual spectrogram, and being green deficient, I'm kinda skeptical of how versatile they'd be as a substitute for a cold light head with VC papers. I also couldn't spot the actual lumen rating.

[vinny]

Having used most of the litepad products, I'm not sure the one shown would have the output needed. They do require color correction (for motion picture use anyway) as do almost all led fixtures.

[D-tach]

Thank you for that Rosco link. I printed a copy of the tech specs. I'm looking for something like this as a slip-in focus light for my big color enlargers, to save using the real-deal hot dichroic halogens when simply composing and focusing the image. Don't know if this kind of thing will have enough lumens or not for that kind of use, but custom sizing is appealing; and it seems more seriously made than all these cheapo-looking import thin panels. I couldn't find any actual spectrogram, and being green deficient, I'm kinda skeptical of how versatile they'd be as a substitute for a cold light head with VC papers. I also couldn't spot the actual lumen rating.

I bookmarked the thread with the gent that used them - I'll paste it here


I tried the ROSCO LITEPAD OH, this LED light tile seems to work. They come in different dimensions, so you can pick one that fits the drawer in which the Durst's 138S heat absorbing filter is held.
The light isn't 'hard' nor diffuse, but with the ROSCO spot accessory, that is a kind of Fresnel lens foil, the light looks more like the traditional light coming from the original bulb AND it is intenser. Exposure times are about the same.
But don't forget to put a full CTO and a 1/8 minus Green filter beneath the light source, just to correct the light from 5200°K to 2800°K what is about the same as a bulb, and to eliminate the LED's greenish cast.
I have done it with my Cromega D3 4"x5" enlarger to, just put a Rosco Litepad above the condenser…

I timer switch the LED tile, that works on 12V, via an electromagnetic switch, commanded by the timer, between the transformer (230V —> 12v) and the LED tile. So I only switch the 12V line, not the 230V transformer feed.
The original Rosco transformer is some kind of an ballast with a power capacitor in it, so when disconnected from the net power, the LED light tend to 'glow' for an short while.

PS: sorry if the technical terms are not correctly spelled, English is only my third language...

Here's a link to a diagram with the light outputs - above was a post from 2013 and it seems they now also have a tungsten version with minimal green cast (at least the website says)

http://www.rosco.com/litepad/litepadHO_tech.cfm?menuReturn=litepad

[koraks]

Try an outlet like miniinthebox; they sell a wide range of led products. You may diyenlarger something that fits in your enlarger. There's a few posts on constructing a led light source for the durst 138 (Google) which may be helpful for you as well. I just ordered a bunch of green and blue leds for a vc light source myself!