LED Safelight options?

[John Brady]

I have bee looking for the best current, affordable option to light up my rather large darkroom, 14'x22' with 14' ceiling.
I'm aware of the Heiland LED Safelight, but at almost $300 I want to see what others are recommending for black and white printing.

I hear about people using red led lights but this sounds kind of risky? So what are your thoughts on lighting up a darkroom if you were going to do it today?

John Brady
www.timeandlight.com

[jp]

I use a tracklight with red led bulbs. They have a very sharp spectrum cutoff so they are OK with paper. Don't get color changing leds. Just simple cheap red leds which are 1970's tech.

[Pere Casals]

I use this $8 one, perfect...



You may also use an RGB bulb with remote command, you may adjust light level and selecting white or red...

[bobbotron]

I bought a number of these, put one into use in my dark room. Did the Kodak safelight test and it passed 100%. I've heard some people don't like them but... works for me!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...mens/440/1477/

[malexand]

I bought a number of these, put one into use in my dark room. Did the Kodak safelight test and it passed 100%. I've heard some people don't like them but... works for me!

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...mens/440/1477/

Ditto. I have used these for the past year. Work great, no problems with oc paper or ortho film.

[PRJ]

I use the same ones. I do put rubylith over them, but that is just for peace of mind.When I did the cd test they had a slight orange tailing off so I figured the rubylith wouldn't hurt.

[StuartR]

Personally, I have not met a red safelight that I like...there is a Thomas Duplex Safelight with all the filters on ebay for 125 dollars. I think that will give you a much better option. I have never had any fogging issues with mine, even with the louvres open, and they can be much brighter than any LED or red safelight I have seen. I think they create a much more pleasant working environment. They may not be as safe for certain work or processes, but I think the trade off is worth it. The biggest downside is that they are not instant on, so if you use an enlarger system with an exposure meter, it might not work for you.

[j.e.simmons]

I use the superbright bulbs in red for X-ray film and amber for paper. No problems.

[jp]

My superbright LEDs will create some fog to Xray (kodak ektascan bra) after a few minutes such as developing in a tray, but are fine for loading film holders which is pretty quick. Of course I do have about 8 of the lights in my 6x8 foot darkroom. If I had one light it would probably be fine for tray developing. No issues with paper as that's substantially slower.

[Pieter]

I prefer an OA filter (I guess you can use an LED bulb in the safelight housing) or Heiland LED safelight for MC paper. I used to use an Osram sodium safelight but the bulb burned out is are no longer available, at least at a reasonable price.