What is the real benefit of using a cold light source in an enlarger for black and white work - can you tell the difference between this type and one with a condenser? I am looking for a 5x7 enlarger with a cold light source, but now I'm not sure I should limit myself to that type of light source.
Negatives don't "pop", and you don't need a 10' ceiling in the darkroom.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Agree, that sums it up.Originally Posted by Bill_1856
dust and scratches aren' t as evident with a diffused light ( cold light) source.
With a diffused light source, you don't experience the "Callier Effect". According to that principle, highlights (dense areas in the negative) block the passage of light more than other shades. The result is chalky, blocked detail in the high values.
I tested this for myself over 30 years ago, and even tried spray-painting the inside of my condenser enlarger head with white paint. There was no visible difference. Eventually, I bought a cold light head. It made all the difference. You can see the before and after images in a book from that era, called "Zone VI Workshop" by Fred Picker.
I think it's been pretty well documented that Fred Picker and Ansel Adams were all wet (yes, even Ansel wasn't perfect) when they said condenser light sources produced "soot and chalk" prints and that diffusion light sources were inherently better. As long as you develop your negatives with the use of a condenser enlarger in mind, which generally means negatives of lower contrast than you would produce for a diffusion enlarger, I believe it's now generally accepted that you can make the same print from either type. Among other sources, there was a lengthy article in Photo Techniques magazine a few years back demonstrating this fact.
The reduced effect of dust and scratches and lack of negative "popping" with diffusion light sources that someone else mentioned are commonly cited as benefits so I assume that's accurate, I've never used a condenser so I have nothing with which to compare my diffusion light source to in that respect.
Zone VI enlargers sold by Calumet are 5x7 enlargers for which a diffusion head is made.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Brian - Thanks for the update. Geez, I come back after 30 years, and I don't recognize a thing. Next thing you know, they'll be putting a man on the Moon !
This is remarkable.
I was just re-browsing Fred Picker's 1974 book titled ZONE VI WORKSHOP and read with amusement the apparent frustrations of one of Fred's students, who went to all kinds of trouble in modifying his condenser enlarger in order to produce prints that fit the contrast range of his negatives. He tried diffusion glass in the filter drawer. Then he tried diffusion paper. To no avail.
Then... to quote Picker... "...he gave up the fight and at my suggestion he bought an inexpensive (under $100.00) cold light head for his Beseler enlarger. It solved all of his problems and he is making very fine prints. The student's name is Ken Lee of 209 Mamaroneck Road, Scarsdale, N.Y. He has kindly agreed to verify all of the above."
Small world.
WOW--it IS a small world!!
Peter Collins
On the intent of the First Amendment: The press was to serve the governed, not the governors --Opinion, Hugo Black, Judge, Supreme Court, 1971 re the "Pentagon Papers."
For the record, I no longer live at that address. People sent me negatives to test for quite a while. I wonder if the current resident continues to get them.
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