Yes, but this is definitive light bulb replacement thread. The Heiland is king, but more of a retrofit than a replacement.Originally Posted by John Layton
Yes, but this is definitive light bulb replacement thread. The Heiland is king, but more of a retrofit than a replacement.
www.lukemunnell.com
I'll throw this out for anyone interested and I have no business agreement with the specific company. I've been looking for alternative bulbs for my condenser head, mainly LED types. And it was becoming very difficult to find anything that filled all the check points that the bulb should have.
I was searching for replacement PH212, PH211 bulbs and I happen to stumble across this company that has 75W and 150W LED bulbs that are fully glass bulbs without the usual LED plastic neck on the bulb. Most interesting is the company claims they are halogen bulb matched at 3000K which are what the PH212 bulbs Kelvin temps are. The bulbs are listed as " LED bulb in milky white -Color 3000K ".
The LED 15W is equivalent to 150 W normal bulb. So I ordered two and can confirm that they are a total glass envelope and are opal milky white in appearance and seem to be a PH212 bulb with an LED inside. More important is that near the base is some labeling that can be rubbed off with a little effort leaving a totally white glass bulb like the PH212 bulb. I haven't tried these yet with a step wedge but I can confirm they are instant on so they appear not to have any start up time lag AFAICT.
The company is LampsPlus.com and part number was 76H29. Based on three hours per day, estimated life is 22 years for the LED bulb.
Use heat absorbing glass (if you are using tungsten lamps) followed by a good diffusion material. Opal glass is a good diffuser, but also quite opaque. It absorbs a lot of the light (more than a stop). This is true of white plexiglass, too. There are new diffusion materials available that are over 90% transparent. Depending on your diffusion requirements, you may need a double diffuser. Best to do this with one close to the source and then one as the top cover for the negative holder. This also eliminates all Newton rings without special anti Newton glass.
Double diffusion is a very powerful tool.
https://ecat.com/ecat-skled
This light and associated technology could mean big changes in the industry if it works as claimed. Public demonstration on Nov. 25th. It may go open source.
Would a Vincent Black Shadow or Norton Commando be in the mix?
” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.
Until I was able to obtain a Modern Enlarger Lamp LED head for my D5, I used this 150W halogen bulb: Q150FR. It gives a sharper image (smaller light source, starting to approximate a point source) but it also generates a bit of heat, so you need a heat-absorbing glass or a glass negative carrier. These are no longer available in California, but I had stocked up on them--PM me if you are interested in acquiring a couple.
No Vincent's but I knew the boys in the local club, too expensive and often stolen
3 Commandos, 2 Norton Electra, 1 Matchless G15 CSR, my favorite as it was my first restoration, sold it to a guy who totaled it...
Lot's of dirt bikes both EU and Japan, loved the Superhawk that was stolen
Factory Trained Suzuki wrench for the new 4 strokes
Now one Sporty, with 3 colors of tins as parts are cheap, it gets antique plates in 6 months, Here a ULF Macro Print of the engine, it never leaks!
Bonnie, the G15, went from black to white 1971
It blew out head gaskets like crazy, I got real fast at changing them, 1 hour
Tin Can
Per color printing specifically, since that was one of the questions : It's a dead-end alley. CFL's are worse than worthless. And even high-quality architectural screw-in LED bulbs in the 40 dollar apiece category don't provide you with a true full spectrum, but only a simulation of it. Don't believe a word on the label of ad of a four dollar bulb; at that price point, it's going to be unverified mass-marketing BS. Serious products will have available full spectrograms and actual measured data, not just unrealistic "too good to be true" CRI claims. You get what you pay for.
Serious LED screw-in bulbs are getting good enough for gallery wall purposes, but otherwise are mainly fooling the eye rather than acting like a true continuous blackbody source. They are quite a few technical issues too. How on earth are you going to differentially filter a screw-in bulb in correct relation to filter spacing, necessary to both VC and color printing? It's vasty simpler just to replace the top with a real halogen colorhead. Banks of multiple tiny RGB in fashion of a flat platform analogous to a cold light do exist, but again, are either a lot of work to make, or relatively expensive to buy, like the Heiland, and still don't have a proven track record with respect to color printing.
I do use a big high output 12X12 Aristo V54 blue-green grid lamp on one of my 8x10 enlargers for VC papers, though certainly not for color printing. I believe these can still be ordered directly from them.. No need to try to go through Beseler or any other secondary source.
But if you are thinking about doing color too, my own opinion is that a traditional halogen colorhead is far more realistic, unless your enlarger chassis just can't support the weight. All thing considered, if that were the case, I'd simply replace the whole nine yards with a better enlarger. And halogen bulbs for most colorheads are still readily available in high quality, though cost-wise, you'd do better going to a dedicated bulb supplier rather than any photo products dealer. But never buy cheap Chinese bulbs of any variety. I stick strictly with actual US, EU, or Japanese manufacturers. Some lighting brands carry both low and high end options, so you have to be careful.
Halogen lamps and dichroic filters may outlast the (Chinese) electronics in a LED enlarger head. We will see.
I use halogen color heads, for color and some vc black and white. I also was lucky to find late model Zone VI 5x7 and also an 8x10 enlarger, dual tube VC cold lights, use a Metrolux II timer to control. The Zone VI enlargers are nearly perfect for large format printing.
I've never been tempted with LED but may live long enough to need one. My Beseler 4x5 enlargers are my color units. I love my darkroom.
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