Graflarger

[Wayne Crider]

Last year I bought a Graflarger and am now just getting around to the point where I want to use it. I am unsure tho about the lightbulb used, and wanted to ask if there anything I should be aware of from a contrast, filter or paper point of view. Thanks for any help.

[Donald Qualls]

Assuming your Graflarger is the same cold light unit as the ones I've seen, you may find the response of multi-contrast papers is rather non-linear -- you mightl have to use very soft filters (and long exposures) to get "normal" contrast, asuming your light is bluish. A few cold lights have greenish light and will reverse that, but most of the older ones, like a Graflarger, will be bluish because the graded papers that were more common when they were made was much more responsive to blue.

You'll probably also find (or so I've been warned relative to my Zone VI cold light) that the light output is very inconsistent with changes in temperature; you'll have to warm up the light for ten or fifteen minutes before beginning to print, and turn it on periodically to keep it warm even when not actually printing for a bit (as, for instance, when toning and/or fast-drying a print for evaluation). Even at that, you may find exposures difficult to control (again, so I've been warned).

I haven't yet had the opportunity to print with mine, and can't afford the stabilizer or closed-loop timer for it, so I don't know how big the effect will be -- but I'm on the lookout for a cheap/free set of condenser glass for an Omega D2V...

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'll concur with Donald's post. If you are really committed to VC paper, you may want to have Aristo upgrade it to a V54 lamp, and you'll get more even grade spacing.

Exposure will drift with temperature, so if you have a large batch of prints to do, you don't want to expose them, say 50 at a time, and then develop them all at once, or you'll find that they get progressively darker. It's a good idea to let the lamp warm up for a while at the beginning of the printing session, and then time the exposure with a metronome, or alternately cover the easel with a black card, set the timer for an extra 30 sec. or so, and remove the card to begin the exposure after a 30 sec. warmup period.

[Wayne Crider]

I turned on the lamp, and although it looks green to me, I suppose it really is blue. On startup the light flickers ever so slightly, but discernable, so it appears that if must be left on for this to stop as I have found out. Does the manufactuer replace the bulbs or must it be done thru a repair shop; And who?

[Donald Qualls]

Well, assuming you'll be using a camera lens (the main reason for a Graflarger is to use a 4x5 camera as your enlarger, after all), you could just make your exposures with the shutter in the lens and leave the light on for the entire printing session -- this would both keep the tube warm and avoid the startup flicker. The Graflarger/camera combination is probably less prone to light leaks than a common enlarger anyway, and though camera lenses aren't ideal for enlarging, they will work (and were used for this purpose for decades before enlarging became common enough to support a market in specialized lenses).

It's very possible your lamp *is* green -- the Graflargers date back so far there may have been fewer choices in cold light phosophors than there were even when multi-grade papers started to become common in the 1970s. One way to check how the color is really balanced would be to hold #1 and #3 multigrade filters, consecutively, under the lens with the lamp fully warmed up, and carefully and accurately measure the light cast on the same location on the baseboard or easel (with the lens fully retracted and all other variables controlled, ideally). With Ilford multi-contrast filters and (I think) with the newer style Kodak Polycontrast set, the #1 and #3 should have the same exposure time on multigrade paper, if the light has the same blue-green balance as tungsten light of the correct temperature. You'll probably find substantial difference in an older cold light unit -- if #3 is shorter, you have more blue, if #1 is shorter, you have more green.

None of this to say that multi-grade printing won't work with an older cold light -- Alexis Neel, on photo.net, insists it does, and works well, once you calibrate your printing process. It's just that a one grade change in filter may produce more or less change in contrast than a one grade change in graded paper would, depending where you are in the filter range and what color your light is. You might also find it hard to get to the end points of the contrast range -- #00 or #6 (or even #0 or #5) might be inaccessible to you, if there isn't enough of the proper color in the light from your tube.

Hopefully, David will check back on this thread; I haven't any idea how to contact Aristo about getting a replacement tube for your unit. I'd like to know, too, since a V54 to fit my Zone VI head would be very welcome (though probably out of my current budget).

[David A. Goldfarb]

Yes, the light should be greenish. I wouldn't enlarge through a camera lens unless it's necessary or you like the effect, say, of enlarging through old lenses (and I know someone who does). I used a Graflarger, because I didn't have room for a 4x5" enlarger (until I found one that fit my space). I have a 4x5" enlarger now, but I've hung onto the Graflarger, because it wasn't that expensive and I might want to travel with it at some point.

You can find info on upgrading the tube at www.aristogrid.com. They can do it for you, or you can order the lamp and do it yourself or have someone else do it. I think they charge around $100-150.

I print mostly on graded paper, so I haven't upgraded the tube in mine, but I have a V54 tube in my Omega D-II, and it's definitely better for VC paper.

[Wayne Crider]

Thanks all for the help. I think I'll find a better lens for the camera so I can use the Graflarger and then consider an upgrade.