De Vere 5108 5x5 Light Box

[Luis-F-S]

Can anyone tell me how much of a difference the 5x5 light box makes over the 8x10 one? They're pretty pricey and I only have the 8x10. I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to get the 5x5 for medium format negatives or if the difference will be marginal for smaller sized prints (8x10 to 11x14). Thanks! L

[ic-racer]

Can anyone tell me how much of a difference the 5x5 light box makes over the 8x10 one? They're pretty pricey and I only have the 8x10. I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense to get the 5x5 for medium format negatives or if the difference will be marginal for smaller sized prints (8x10 to 11x14). Thanks! L

I have some Durst literature on the relative intensity of the various lightboxes. Durst claim a two-stop increase going from the 10x10" box to the 4x5" box. Or a one-and-two-third increase going from the 8x10" box to the 4x5" box.

[Luis-F-S]

Thanks IC, I was really more interested in people's experiences in printing MF with the 8x10 light box and if it resulted in "reasonable" exposure times in B&W with moderate enlargements, ie 8x10 & 11x14. L

[IanG]

Luis, my De Vere 5108 only came with one mixing box the 10x8 one, that's all the lab it came from ever used. I find it fine for MF negatives, there's 1000W of light in the head and there's not a problem in terms of exposure times, they are shorter than with my MF enlargers (Dursts) for the same aperture.

Ian

[Peter De Smidt]

You get 1 to 2 stops more light.

[Luis-F-S]

Thanks Ian and Peter

[ic-racer]

Can't you just print some negatives and see? Only you would know if it is worthwhile. If your medium format printing times are 150 seconds or 15 seconds with the 8x10 box only you can find out.

[Luis-F-S]

Pretty much what I did tonight IC, print times for 6x6 negs to 8x10 with a 135 Rodagon were around 24-30 secs, which is perfect for me. Some where a bit shorter, so I dialed in some density. Worked like a charm. I've also got my head at lamped 1000 Watts with 250 W ENH bulbs instead of 300 W ELH bulbs, so I always have the option to lamp up to 1200 if needed, or use a shorter lens. The lower wattage ENH bulbs are rated at an average lamp life of 175 hours vs. 35 hrs for the ELH.

[ic-racer]

Those smaller mixing boxes are probably most useful when doing very large prints. For small prints you are probably better off with less light. In fact, the Durst head even has a semi-calibrated, non-diffracting aperture between the lamp and the mixing box to cut light intensity for small prints.

[Luis-F-S]

Yup, pretty much what I found. I assume the aperture in the Durst is in the shutter of the CLS 2000 colorhead, as my CLS 301 did not have one that I'm aware of. Had to dial in density if necessary there also. Some heads have an ND filter you can dial in which is nice, LPL has a "diffusor screen" on their dichroic heads that give around 2 stops density, but nothing in their VCCE head. L