Well, the easiest conversion for the everyman (or woman) , (for B/W) is using the condenser is simply changing out the bulb for a bright (slightly)warm white LED + diffuser at the same height of the old bulb... (This also takes a slight hardness off the condenser look due to the diffuser above...)There will be a (slight?)shift in the MG response, but should work with filters...
Color is a whole other animal...
Steve K
I have an old AGFA CB7 Color Head that was used on condenser with a 1” light source in storage
Non Dichroic
Pics of design tomorrow
Tin Can
I recall reading a few threads here about using a high-quality, LED light-box as a light-source for 5x7 and 8x10 (possibly even larger?). That simply needed a foamcore adapter box and one layer of diffusion, then it worked rather well. Isn't that a simpler option if there are no funds/time/ability to produce a custom LED head? It is a nice hobby to develop such engineering triumphs, but I'd rather be printing.
Here is a very old CB7 AGFA COLOR Head with matching condenser
The lamp is unknown, I never took it out, it does project as point lamp through a 2X2" glass diffuser and mounts only on the matching condenser head
Color Temp as measured today is 3300K as shown on my backdrop. I replaced a wheezing OE fan with a computer fan. It runs on 120 VAC 316 watts today
I see no reason an LED lamp could not be installed by almost anybody
Notice it has a filter drawer that looks unused
This is my spare, not for sale
AGFA HEAD by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
AGFA Diffuser by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
AGFA Lamp by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
AGFA Condensor by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
Tin Can
AGFA 3300K by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
Tin Can
That colorhead looks like a Stone Age relic. Fascinating. But one merely needs to rest a small, even, bright LED panel above the neg carrier to make modest sized b&w prints. No need to rewire anything. Actual color printing is a different story.
The Heiland is indeed a wonderful long-term investment, and I am all for high-quality long-term physical investestments, but the term before I am able to afford that expense may be longer.
DIY is great for those who can, but not all of us are quite so handy. What seems simple and obvious to one... I have put together enough "Oh, this looks pretty simple" items over the past 50 years to know how few of them ever succeeded. One is the anti-flare collar I made for my Pentax V spot meter out of a black plastic report cover back and some flocking paper. I'm proud of it, but I have yet to need it. I did make a light dimmer for a video light years ago. It does work, but it's a gangly, awkward thing that definitely does not look like the one in the photos, and I got a nice manufactured one for about $25. So, making something as important as an enlarger light source? I think not.
Though controlled VC contrast light is great, I'd be happy with an LED source that required my continuing to use under-lens VC filters.
Philip Ulanowsky
Sine scientia ars nihil est. (Without science/knowledge, art is nothing.)
www.imagesinsilver.art
https://www.flickr.com/photos/156933346@N07/
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