Darkroom light alternatives

Gast · 2009-03-24T12:24:20+00:00

Ich bin gerade dabei, mein SW-Labor zu reaktivieren, ich will Festgradationspapiere verarbeiten. Dabei geht jetzt es um die Beleuchtung. Ich habe eine alte...

Gast

I’m currently in the process of setting up my darkroom again; I want to process fixed-grade paper. The issue at the moment is the lighting. I have an old Duka lamp from Revue, which is roughly equivalent to the Kaiser 4018 lamp (yellow-green and red filters, 15-watt bulb). I’ve tried it out now and found that the light is so dim that you can barely see anything in the room (which is about 2x3m). I tried using a slightly stronger bulb (25 and 40W).... But the plastic housing gets quite warm and I’m afraid it won’t last long. Now I’m on the lookout for other (affordable) options, as I don’t intend to run the darkroom professionally, but only occasionally as a hobby. 1) In my youth (back in the 60s), I started out by simply wrapping the bathroom light (a filament bulb) in red kite paper (transparent). The room lighting was OK; I didn’t get any grey haze on the photos... (Lucky?) 2) Now I’ve fitted an energy-saving bulb into the glass shade of an old grave light... it does give off a nice red light, but I reckon (as I’d have to seal it to be light-tight) the whole thing will get too hot.... 3) I read a post somewhere on a forum from a user who used an LED-fitted brake light for the Duka lighting.... 4) Then I had the idea of using an infrared heat lamp. Infrared radiation lies at the opposite end of the spectral range of visible light, unlike the blue light to which the SW papers are sensitive. So, in theory, that should work... 5) Now I’ve gone back to option 1) and wrapped the bathroom light (this time a fluorescent tube, which gets no more than lukewarm) in transparent red paper. The brightness can be adjusted by the number of layers.... That makes a good first impression. I could, of course, try all this out now, but perhaps someone has experience with the individual options (maybe someone knows of others) and can tell me how well they work. Then I can limit myself to the sensible solutions. Is red really red, or are there spectral components that the photographic paper is sensitive to... Many thanks for your support. Wolfgang

bernhardmangelsgmxde

I haven’t tried any of your ideas, so I can’t comment on them I’d definitely test whether the paper causes any fogging whenever I’m doing a DIY project. Otherwise, although it’s not a DIY project and doesn’t cost much less (I’m thinking around 15 euros) than a cheap lab lamp: I’ve heard from time to time that red LED spotlights (Osram Decospot or something similar) are quite bright and don’t necessarily cause the paper to fog up. Regards Bernhard

ChristianKolinski

Otherwise, it’s not exactly a DIY solution and doesn’t cost much less (I’m thinking around 15 euros) than a cheap lab lamp: It’s often said that red LED spotlights (Osram Decospot or similar) are quite bright and don’t necessarily wash out the paper.

Yes, you read that – from me, for example – quite often. A single Decospot LED is available for 10 to 15 euros in any DIY store and is bright enough to illuminate a 25 to 30 square metre darkroom brightly enough to read the small print on the developer bottles, uses hardly any electricity (0.66W) and is fog-free for over 10 minutes with papers (Efke, Foma, Forte, Agfa, Ilford, Kentmere...) as well as graphic films (ADOX Print Film etc.) .

Gast

Yes, those are some good pointers... Thanks. Now I’ve found something else... Here’s an example: http://akkuplus.de/product_info.php?products_id=6093 However, these are probably not red LEDs (which presumably have a narrow spectral range), but coloured lamps fitted with some other, likely white, LEDs inside... Does anyone have any experience with something like this? Regards Wolfgang

cfb_de

Hi Wolfgang, If you’re going to order by mail order anyway, why not just buy the parts that are proven to work (I use them too, so Christian isn’t the only one anymore): Conrad order number 574816 - 62 (12 LEDs) or 574607 - 62 (38 LEDs; I dipped these in peelable paint – they were too bright before) Best regards, Franz

joram

I had a lovely Duka light, but it fogged everything, so I bought three Philips bulbs for the Duka on eBay for around €15. They’re really bright and there’s no fog at all – I’d highly recommend them. Just screw them into an E27 socket and you’re good to go.

Gast

...Bloody hell, I was at Conrad the day before yesterday....

cfb_de

...Bloody hell, I was at Conrad the day before yesterday....

On Sunday? Best regards, Franz

Gast

...No, on Saturday.... Sunday is one of the public holidays here, so I always ignore those.... ;)

piu58

The Kaiser lights are bright enough. Of course, when you come into the Duka from the sunshine, you won’t be able to see a thing at first. That changes after a few minutes. The human eye is very sensitive to light; it just takes a little time. I advise against DIY solutions if you want quality from the Duka. In particular, kite paper and grave lights are completely unsuitable. If you’re going to make your own, then use bright red lights. Buy one first and check whether the paper wears out. Some emit other colours besides red (though you can’t see them).

HenningH

Hello, I have a Kaiser lamp fitted with a 15W bulb and an orange Multigrade filter hanging about 80cm above the trays. That way I can see well enough (well, it’s not enough for reading the paper, but I prefer white light for that anyway...) and none of the paper (Fomabrom, -speed, -tone, ADOX FBVC) is fogged. Swinging regards Henning

Gast

OK, I'll give it a go with what I've got.... Thanks so much for all the advice. Wolfgang