Beseler 23CII, Aristo Cold Light, and VC filters

[Les Clark]

I have a 23Cii, and an older Aristo Cold Light head that fits into the former filter slot of the condenser head. So, where would you place VC filters above the negative? I know I can go below the lens.

 

[John Koehrer]

Les,
You can fabricate a filter slot to fit between the lamphouse and neg stage.
I made one from plans derived from an article in C&D years ago.
Easiest way to describe it would be as the letter "U" sandwiched between two pieces of masonite with a large hole cut through it.
Think of it as a thin, three sided drawer.

 

[craigclu]

I had to deal with this exact issue some years back. I had the older Aristo unit and bulb (#51?) that needed some correction to make it behave better with VC filters. I can't recall the correction filters as I write this but I had them taped over the bottom of the lamp housing. These were some old cc filters from a Beseler color printing filter kit. I was using VC filters simply placed over the negative carrier when sliding it into place. Not very elegant but it seemed to work. I later changed bulb/tube to the newer version but eventually went to a dichro unit and I prefer that after using it in condenser, then cold light, then dichro modes.

 

[ann]

just place it on top of the negative carrier. Works fine, however, if you are split printing that is not a good option as one tends to move the negative a bit which usually creates focus issues on the easel.