Cold Light Head

Remember the Zone VI Aristo Cold Light head for your Besler 23CII? I wish I had gotten one while they were still around but like most things I could say "I wish..." to, you think all things currently available at the time will be a round ten years from now. I would have liked to try it out as opposed to the condenser head but I reckon they're history now. I don't know if anyone makes those these days. I'd almost be tempted to break out my mothballed enlarger to try it if they were still available.

I know you can probably find them used on eBay but no telling how much usage they've had.

Those are very frequently available on eBay for very low prices, and are sometimes even offered here on APUG. If required, brand new replacement fluorescent grid tubes can be purchased here:

D2-HI Replacement Lamp (Part No. M2-46-510, for the Zone VI head)

This is the high-intensity V54 version (improved spectral output for use with Ilford variable contrast filters) that is a good fit for projecting the smaller format negatives, since with a diffusion head one can't concentrate the light using variable condenser lenses. The cost of the new tube would likely exceed the cost of a nice used head, so it all depends on just how badly you want to print from your own negatives using cold light.

But the full cold light setup, restorable if necessary to like-new performance, is still readily available.

Ken

It's good to see Aristo still has the lamps if needed. That was a surprise. I recall long ago having some brochures from Aristo or Zone VI that showed all they provided and best I recall you would need to re-calibrate your developing methods for your negatives to produce a somewhat more contrasty negative when using this light source which makes sense since the condenser head will always put out a more defined light, consequently a more contrasty print.

ColColt said:

Remember the Zone VI Aristo Cold Light head for your Besler 23CII? I wish I had gotten one while they were still around but like most things I could say "I wish..." to, you think all things currently available at the time will be a round ten years from now. I would have liked to try it out as opposed to the condenser head but I reckon they're history now. I don't know if anyone makes those these days. I'd almost be tempted to break out my mothballed enlarger to try it if they were still available. I know you can probably find them used on eBay but no telling how much usage they've had.

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Or, you can get a dichro color head to fit your 23C. It is a diffused-light source just like a cold-light head, but has the advantage of being able to dial in filtration for VC papers. They are usually available used and reasonably (heck, you can probably find a used 23C with the color head for next to nothing if you have a bit of patience).

Doremus

The advantage of a coldlight head over a color head, is in my opinion the absence of a fan,
(I don't know if the small Beseler has a fan) on the other hand, a coldlight head may get problems with lightshift if it goes to hot or cold.
If I had the skill, I would build a LED head today, or if money don't count I would buy a professional LED head.
Heiland electronic in germany builds such heads for a lot of different enlargers, but they are expensive.
This is the model for your beseler....

http://heilandelectronic.de/led_beseler_23/lang:en

There's also these:

Modern Enlarger Lamps

However I am uncertain as to their ability to be adapted to a Beseler enlarger, as they were nominally designed around the Omega D-series units. There is this statement in the FAQ on the above site:

"The Beseler 45 series is next on the list but it depends on whether there is sufficient demand."

A quick email would likely clear things up...

Ken

There's also these:

Modern Enlarger Lamps

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I noticed those folks are located in Hickory, NC. I could drive over and talk with them. They're about 160 miles or so down the road.

ColColt said:

I noticed those folks are located in Hickory, NC. I could drive over and talk with them. They're about 160 miles or so down the road.

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I think that they are just a single person.

If you talk to him/her, see if you can convince him or her to bring back the Model 3.

Matt, what was the Model 3?

Was that the additive blue/green variable contrast model?

I know the fellow in question came here to APUG quite a while ago looking for some early feedback. His product design called for an iPhone interface in place of a traditional enlarging timer. When I and a few others inquired about a non-iPhone option where I could just use my own timer, he was pretty vested in his design and uninterested in my question.

Ken

Ken Nadvornick said:

Matt, what was the Model 3?

Was that the additive blue/green variable contrast model?

I know the fellow in question came here to APUG quite a while ago looking for some early feedback. His product design called for an iPhone interface in place of a traditional enlarging timer. When I and a few others inquired about a non-iPhone option where I could just use my own timer, he was pretty vested in his design and uninterested in my question.

Ken

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Yes.

My understanding (I think from a post here on APUG by Roger Cole, but I could be wrong) was that he found that the continual updating of the IOS operating system meant that he had to regularly continually his software, and that need to continuously work on maintaining the software was the reason that he stopped advertising the Model 3 head.

Funnily enough, the listing is still available as a "ghost" - either in my cache, or hidden on the internet somewhere.

MattKing said:

My understanding (I think from a post here on APUG by Roger Cole, but I could be wrong) was that he found that the continual updating of the IOS operating system meant that he had to regularly continually [update] his software, and that need to continuously work on maintaining the software was the reason that he stopped advertising the Model 3 head.

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That would be ironic, as I warned him in private of just that potential issue. I wanted to purchase a non-smartphone VC unit that would work with just a normal enlarging timer. But he had already added so many bells and whistles to his interface software that functionality of the head would have been crippled without that interface. There were already too many dependencies, including some (Apple) he seemed not yet aware of.

I tried to warn him about becoming trapped by his user interface and ending up becoming more of a software product company at the mercy of Apple's platform, than a darkroom equipment company under his own control. But he was at that point where writing code had become a seemingly easy product feature differentiation factor. Plus I think he was new at it and really liked doing it. Everybody does in the beginning.

I never did purchase a unit.

[Edit: For those interested, I found this: Modern Enlarger Lamps Model 3 ]

Ken

It is too bad he and polyglot aren't working together. Polyglot's open source, arduino based f-stop timer combined with a Model 3 head connected by USB rather than Bluetooth wireless would make it to my wish list.

silveror0 said:

I think this may be the APUG thread posted by the person you mentioned, although it says nothing about an iPhone:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I'm also pretty sure he eventually produced the Model 3 "Modern Enlarger Lamp." One of the guys on the LF forum had it built for his 5x7 Omega E6 (like mine), before it was no longer offered, and is very happy with it. Note the Modern Enlarger Lamps website mentions lamps for the E-series Omega but also states that currently only versions up to 4x5 are available. I'd like to see the Model 3 offered again, just in case my LED conversion develops problems later on.

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That may be a different thread, but I do remember hearing about the custom-built unit on the LF forum. I always wondered what happened with that, and if the owner was happy with it.

I'm currently good with an Aristo VCL4500 head with the brand new grid tubes. Everything is completely calibrated for me. But those tubes are by design pretty dim, and sometimes exposures can get long-ish. That's why I was considering the Model 3 guy.

Ken

MattKing said:

It is too bad he and polyglot aren't working together. Polyglot's open source, arduino based f-stop timer combined with a Model 3 head connected by USB rather than Bluetooth wireless would make it to my wish list.

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Mine too.

I have a bit of professional experience with the Arduino platform, having once developed from scratch the software interface for something called an Interscalene/Supraclavicular Nerve Block Trainer, created by a medical R&D outfit here in Seattle, and used by student anesthesiologists in training. It ran on a virtual RS232-over-USB connection, if dementia hasn't taken hold and I recall correctly.

Arduinos are cool stuff. I may even still have a couple of Uno boards lying around here somewhere. If the Model 3 interface specs were available, and we could get our hands on one...



Actually, thinking more about it, I do also recall the fellow mentioning that he had been in contact with someone on the subject of a standalone interface box. Something where the box talks to the head, and an enlarger timer plugs into the box?

Perhaps 'polyglot' should ring this guy up? Maybe he could help him break the iPhone dependency and sell some units. I seem to remember there were several here who were possibly interested to buy, but didn't want smartphones in their darkrooms, or as part of their workflows.

No one wanted to throw away their favorite (and expensive) timers. And he didn't want to give up his iPhone.

But I like my Zone VI timer...

Ken

One of the things I liked about the Model 3 head is that it did not take its power from or through the timer. I have a 400 series Ilford Multigrade head that I like, but the entire system is powered through the control interface, and those connecting cords and proprietary connectors (and switches) are getting really, really old.