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Another round of Durst 138s

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Doc W

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Nov 7, 2009
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Ottawa, Cana
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I have a Durst 138 S which has been sitting in my basement for over a decade. It is gathering dust because I cannot find a reasonable light source. Does anyone know of a light source for this beast that is easily installable? I would love to use this enlarger but I am not a handyman.
 
There were a plethora of options and accessories for this enlarger. This includes at least 3 types of original Durst light sources, perhaps more, as well as some aftermarket 3rd party options. The key question here is what's inside the head of your 138. Could you please post a photo?

I think most came standard with the adjustable (3 degrees of freedom) bulb socket that would fit a standard opal bulb. I think this was quite easily converted to the bulb socket for the point source in case you'd want to go that route. Note that in either case, you also need the appropriate sets of condensers. A third option available from Durst was a cold light that slid into the lower condenser socket; since this was a diffuse light source, no condensers are needed. Another option that is fairly common is the Ilford 500 head that plugs into the place where the 45-degree mirror is at the top front of the enlarger head; you lift out the mirror and put the T-shaped 500 light source in its spot. Again, you need the appropriate condensers.

In any case, in general: yes, it's easy to install one of the appropriate light sources in/on this enlarger. It depends mostly on what you've already got, and what can get your hands on.
 
I'd get the Heiland head. Looks like they have two, depending on the enlarger's original configuration for either condensers or color head.
 
As @koraks is writing, it is difficult to be specific not knowing your current setup. I have a 138S with the standard incandescent bulb (condenser) house. If that is your case as well, and you are lacking the incandescent bulb, and that you limit the use of the enlarger to b&w, I would suggest that you try a LED bulb selected based on a as broad as possible wavelength range (350-550 nm according to Ilford). I have gone down this route based on simplicity. Currently using an Osram Parathom / Ledvance 200w equivalent LED bulb (Europe). According to the specification this bulb does not have much to offer below 400nm. However, I have tested this setup against my LPL7700 with a photo halogen lamp, using a Stoufer wedge, in order to check the contrast range on vc paper. The results, contrast grade to contrast grade, are not identical, but the contrast range, 00-5, are comparable between the two setups.
 
According to the specification this bulb does not have much to offer below 400nm.

Not to worry; anything below ~420nm is irrelevant for printing. This is true for color as well as B&W. In fact, especially for color you don't want anything below 420nm anyway, and for B&W it adds nothing to the party. So theory confirms what you've also established empirically.
 
Perhaps this will work for you. The OEM bulb is probably hard to find.


1734726754157.png
 
Perhaps this will work for you. The OEM bulb is probably hard to find.


View attachment 385888

Just FYI, this appears to be identical to the PH212 bulb that goes for ~US$5 at B&H or Freestyle. These do work in the L138, but the native contrast is about 1 grade higher than the large OEM bulb. You also have to pay a little more attention to proper positioning with the X/Y/Z bulb controls.
 
It's also easy to adapt just about any 4x5 colorhead atop the 138 negative stage; but it would take a little bit of shop help from a "handyman".
 
I just can't get behind spending $500 + for an Opal OEM bulb.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174500637017?_skw=138s+durst+500+watt+opal+bulb

+1

I was lucky, in that, when I bought the enlarger, it included some of the large bulbs as part of the package. However, I don't use them in my day-to-day work because it wouldn't be economically feasible to replace them once they burn out. The smaller bulbs are still readily available and work just fine once the higher native contrast is factored into the process, so I use them instead.
 
Maybe it's a collector bulb. If so, somebody is probably willing to pay $500 for a rare bathtub rubber duck too.
 
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