Identifying Aristo Cold Light Head

[Henry Perkins]

Recently I found a good buy on the Aristo Cold Light Head for my Beseler MCRX, hoping it was the V-54 lamp, because the seller was not able to answer this question. It has D-2 stamped on a label, it's round, weighs a bit over 8.5 lbs, 5 inches tall, the lamp has seven lines of glass as opposed to nine lines of glass (LO vs HI output). There are two cords, only one of which is three-pronged. The light emitted is "blue-ish," but clearly more of a brighter white than the Zone VI which is really blue. Talked email with Louise Kessler at Aristo who said I would have to test the light to determine whether the lamp is a V-54. How do I do that in the most straight forward manner? I would like to use it with VC papers/filters, without having to buy graded papers.

[Ari]

Henry,
Run a print with no filter, one with #1, #3, and so on. You should see a difference in each print, and use of a filter with this head requires roughly double the exposure time as one without filter. Remember that the cold light by itself is about a #2 filter. My guess is once you put a filter in there the print will show up nearly white; I doubt that it's a VC head.
I have the same enlarger and bought the same cold light head, D-2, and it was not a VC lamp. I bought the proper lamp from Aristo and it has worked fine after I revamped my set-up somewhat.
Good luck,
Ari

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I believe you have a single grid light source. I am inclined to think you don't have a V54 as I believe it would appear almost violet in color. I think one of the power cords is for pre-heating the grid, but I could be mistaken as it has been a long while since I had a D2.

[Dennis]

I think I have both heads you are referring to. I have the Arista VC cold light and the regular Arista cold light. The one I most use is called the Arista VCL4500 and has both a green and a blue florescent tube interwove together and controlled with a control box that varies the brightness of the individual tubes. That light is very dim and seems bluish green in color. The other head is much more neutral in color and much brighter and has no controls other than on and off. The two cords being one for the inside bulb heater and one for the back of the enlarger timer. The three pronged one would plug into a wall socket. OR at least that is where I plug it in.
Dennis

[CatSplat]

The two cords being one for the inside bulb heater and one for the back of the enlarger timer. The three pronged one would plug into a wall socket. OR at least that is where I plug it in.
Dennis

So you plug the three-prong into the wall and the two-prong into the enlarging timer? That's what I've been doing with the one I've got, but since I don't have the manual it's good to know I'm going about using it correctly.

[Henry Perkins]

[QUOTE=Ari;489705]

"Henry,
Run a print with no filter, one with #1, #3, and so on."

Reply: I plan to do that tonight.

"My guess is once you put a filter in there the print will show up nearly white;"

Reply: I ran two prints last night, one with #0 filter and the other with #4. The exposure times seemed really long with both filters, but especially with the #5 filter. Actually, I got about what I would have expected, based on my limited experience with a condensor head. I have not run a print with no filter at all, yet.

I will let you know more after I finish the testing tonight, but it sounds like this might be a V-54 head? Based on the fact that I got some reasonable results from my two prints done?

Thanks for your help.

[Henry Perkins]

I believe you have a single grid light source. I am inclined to think you don't have a V54 as I believe it would appear almost violet in color. I think one of the power cords is for pre-heating the grid, but I could be mistaken as it has been a long while since I had a D2.

Louise Kessler of Aristo, via email, told me a V-54 lamp would look "Aagean Sea Green," whatever that means. This one emits a bluish but bright color which might be said to have a little green mixed in.

At any rate, I also have the Zone VI cold head light which has only blue light and should be used with graded papers. I do appreciate the Zone VI for what it is, because I also have the compensating timer. Zone VI also has a sensor inside the head which gives feedback to the compensating timer regarding variations in brightness and intensity of the light and varies the exposure intervals accordingly. I would like to be able to use the Zone VI system with the Aristo lamp, so that I can use the compensating timer which also allows variations in the strength of the light which also varies the exposure times. Seems to me this would be handy in dodging and burning, etc.

Thanks for you reply to my post.

[Merg Ross]

Henry, it sounds to me that you probably have the older Aristo D2 lamp which required a cc filter for VC papers. I have the V-54 lamp and it is indeed green and does not require additional filtration for VC papers. As I recall, a 40y cc was necessary for the earlier Aristo lamp when using VC papers, a combination that works fine.

[Henry Perkins]

Last night I ran a series of prints of the same image with my new Aristo Cold Light Head, using the Ilford filter set. One was with no filter. Another with #1, one with #3, and finally with a #5. I was able to do the whole series using the same f stop of 16 and without any compensating yellow filter. They all appeared as I might expect, based on my limited experience with filtration using a condensor head. Using this particular image, the #3 filter was perfect for my taste. The #1 filter was rather flat, the no-filter image seemed muddy. And #5 made the blacks too extreme to a point of losing detail in some really old brick work in the foundation of a really old historic house.

Based on the above information, is it possible to say whether this lamp is the V54 or one of the older lamps for the Aristo D-2?

[Ari]

Sounds like you have the VC lamp, indeed.
Nice catch.

[Henry Perkins]

Thank everyone who responded to my post regarding the Aristo D-2 I just bought.

I will continue to experiment with the Aristo D-2 cold light head and perhaps eventually try to rig something so that I can use the VC lamp with my Zone VI compensating timer and foot switch I bought for the Zone VI. The compensating timer requires the feedback sensor to be plugged in for it to work.

Thanks Ari for your advice and feedback.

Henry

[ic-racer]

With the W45 (and no extra yellow filter) there will be about a one-grade or less difference between 3 and 5. I'd test 4 1/2 and 5. If they are pretty much the same contrast then it could be a W45. Look closely at your bulb, my W45 bulb is inked "Aristo W45"