ARISTO VCL8100RGB: A "REAL" COLOUR HEAD?

[Paolo]

Hi everyone,

I am seriously thinking about getting a Beseler 8x10 conversion kit and a equip the enlarger with an ARISTO VCL8100 RGB head to do colour printing as well.

Has anyone of ever tried this combination? Would you recommend it?

Up to now I have used "normal" (subtactive) dichroic heads. Do you think I will have problems in using the additive system this head has?

Even more in general: is the Beseler kit plus the Aristo cold head a good combination?

Thank you for your help.

[bob carnie]

Paolo

I am not familiar with this head , I have indeed printed Subtractive and Additive, you just have to get use to the adjustmants and have a good working knowlege of colour theory to appreciate what colours react with each other.
When you get the head I think the very first thing you should do is a colour ring around, to see how your colour head works and the relationship of colours.
I would imagine this enlarger is ok, I have always found that the operator was the faulty connection.

[Justus Schlichting]

Paolo,

I talked Aristo into adding a third tube to the stock VCL8100 so I could print 8x10 additive in the early 1990s, before the VCL8100RBG became a listed model. My choice was driven by a tiny darkroom (especially a 7 foot ceiling), and the fact that I was converting a wall-mounted Zone VI enlarger (the early model) for 8x10 color. Once you complete your initial tests and get used to additive printing, it is not much more difficult than subtractive printing. Early on, it took longer to get my color balance right, but that skill improved. The Aristo is not a particularly even light source, and with a short lens (240 mm or 300mm), the edge fall-off is substantial, but again, once I hit on a pattern for burning in the edges and controlling hot spots, it worked fine.

While the entire setup was a compromise, I have been able to make excellent quality prints for about 15 years now with the VCL8100. Even today when I have another enlarger available (a Devere Horizontal 8x10 with a 2K watt dichro head), I still use the Aristo for many prints 20x24 and smaller.

And while I was satisfied printing with a 4x5 Beseler many years ago, I cannot comment on either their 8x10 conversion, or using the Aristo with that enlarger.

[Paolo]

Thank you Bob, and thank you Justus.-

Bob, I am currently using a JOBO Colour 7000 as timer/analyser. Will it still work with the additivie system?

Justus, what do you mean with substantial edge fall off? Does it mean that the head does not the full format?

[bob carnie]

Paolo

I am sure you will be able to figure it out, I do not use analyzers anymore with my printing. But Yes they will work.
good luck

[Paolo]

Justus, I ment "does it mean the head does not COVER the full format"?

I am very worried because the main reason I wanted to get this system is its low height and I thought that, in this case a 240mm lens would have been perfect.

[Justus Schlichting]

Paolo,
The VCL8100 with a 240mm lens covers 8x10, but not perfectly: on my unit, at the extreme edges (long dimension), the light intensity drops somewhere between 1/2 and 1 stop. A simple edge burn (adding between 50-100% of base exposure) renders the drop-off unnoticeable. I view it as a minor inconvience, in light of the small size, light weight, and cool operation of the unit.

[ronald moravec]

Additive printing not hard. I work between Phillips machines and subtractive ones. If the print is blue, red, or green lower the intensity of that light or combination.

If blue on a subtractive machine, you take out yellow. A much less intuitive process.

I would build a stand with a drop table for large prints. No personel experience, but reading here it seems the 240 will cover for small prints because of the required large bellows draw, but not as well for large ones. I bet this is the fall off problem rather than Aristo`s head.