variable contrast printing

[steve hartsfield]

Sorry, this question has probably be discussed before, however I am new getting back into LF photography. My enlargers are Besseler 45MX2 and Omega C67. They have zone 6 cold lights in them from the mid to late 1980's. I understand that I will not get decent prints on variable contrast paper. Does anybody know where to find vc lamps for these enlargers (diffusion) and do vc lamps work correctly on graded papers? Aristo is out of business!!! Calumet says tough luck! Is this the end of my darkroom (other than using the limited supply of graded papers)?

I have invested in vc paper and did not realize my cold lights would be incompatible.

Thanks for you help.

[Eric Woodbury]

Aristo is gone? That's bad.

I'm using the latest Aristo V54 grids. Very bright. You can hit all the contrasts with one of these and filters. You might try a dichroic color head. Some folks here like those very much. The coldlight VC are attractive, but not very bright. YMMV

[Peter Mounier]

I have a Beseler Dichro 45s color head I will sell if you're interested.
$400.00 plus shipping.
Peter

[SAShruby]

Hmm,

I regularly print Ilford Multigrade with cold light head using split printing and get decent prints using this combination.

Why do you think you won't get decent prints?

[steve hartsfield]

I read on photo.net that printing on vc papers with a cold light would result in constrasty images. I guess I need a V54 lamp for my zone 6 head. Pardon my ignorance, what is split printing?

[steve hartsfield]

I will consider your offer, but will try to find another solution first.

[SAShruby]

Hey Steve,

Split printing is a process of applying two set of exposures, one through green filter which controls the details and one through blue filter which controls the contrast. By having different times per each filter I believe you can set finer grades than with filter grades. This process allows me to look at the print with a table of 6x6 exposures with different grading and use only two-three sheets of paper before making decision which times I use to make a base exposure. (actually in reality I don't go more than 3x3, I use densitometer to read the density range of the negative and then decide the ties for the contrast). When dodging or burning, it would give you an advantage to adjust contrast as well as details with more control.

If you use local search engine, you might find few very good threads on this topic.

[ic-racer]

There is likely nothing wrong with your cold cathode tubes for MG printing. Have you tested it? If you don't want it I'll take it Now that Aristo may not resurface as a supplier, those older W45 tubes (or similar) will be worth keeping!

Ilford explains in detail how the W45 can be used for excellent results with their MG filters and papers. I use a W45 and can attest that it works fine.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/...0201152306.pdf

You may not have a W45, but I'd read that Ilford document and try what you have. I'll bet it works fine. If you need an 'extra' yellow filter for testing (as it explains in the article), consider using the '00' in combination with another filter in the pack.

Since light output changes with exposure duration,I'd stay away from split printing.

[SAShruby]

Or buy Zone VI Compensating Timer. $200 and up

[steve hartsfield]

I have polymax (Kodak) filters, they are shades of yellow and magenta only. Where do I find these filters (blue, green, etc.)?