DIY safelight

[paulie]

tungsten has been discontinued in europe, no red bulbs only florescent energy savers.

there are a few special bulbs being sold, like fridge light bulbs etc

end of an era

 

[Existing Light]

I've seen red colored light bulbs at Lowe's and Wal-Mart (where I personally hate shopping). I havent looked aty the wattage of them, but they might work if they're dim enough. I know that doesnt really help the OP since I believe he said he (or she?) lives in Malasia. PErhaps you have those bulbs somewhere there, too?

Might be a good idea to do a fogging test before using it in the darkroom. OK, I'm going to stop thinking out loud now

 

[Existing Light]

tungsten has been discontinued in europe, no red bulbs only florescent energy savers.

there are a few special bulbs being sold, like fridge light bulbs etc

end of an era

Are they illegal to have or just banned from being made? Perhaps an enterprising American can capitalize on the eurpoean darkroom market by mail-orderiing darkroom safelights?

 

[Anscojohn]

I've seen red colored light bulbs at Lowe's and Wal-Mart (where I personally hate shopping). I havent looked aty the wattage of them, but they might work if they're dim enough. I know that doesnt really help the OP since I believe he said he (or she?) lives in Malasia. PErhaps you have those bulbs somewhere there, too?

Might be a good idea to do a fogging test before using it in the darkroom. OK, I'm going to stop thinking out loud now

*******
Yes. I was told long ago that the red bulbs sold in hardware stores may, or may not, be completely by-pass proof. It sure seems to me a proper bulb from freestyle makes sense. That being said, I have an amber LED I probably will end up filtering with lith, as it seems red safelights have become de rigeur of late, even though we were taught that it is harder to judge a print by red light than with standard safelights.
As an aside, back in ye oldene dayz i worked one summer doing printing for a guy who did convention photography. We used Dupont Varilour, with the proper Dupont safelights. if need be, we could stick a developing print right up next to one of those safelights for a quick judgment.

 

[BetterSense]

I bought a red "party bulb" at walmart and it wasn't even approximately paper-safe. Freestyle red bulbs are fine, as are LEDs.

 

[fschifano]

Party bulbs are definitely not safe. I learned that the hard way a long time ago. They look red to the eye, but they put out plenty enough light outside the bandwidth that is safe for VC or even graded papers.

As for red being de rigeur these days, all I can say is that I'm lazy. Some of the papers I use recommend against OC safelights and specify red. The ortho/litho film I sometimes use are definitely sensitive to OC safelights and absolutely require red. I hate changing out safelight filters and everything I use in the darkroom is safe with red. The choice for me was a no-brainer.

 

[Existing Light]

I didnt think the "party bulbs" and such from stores would be acceptable. If I was going to buy a red bulb, I'd use one from a photo supply store/website.

I use one of those Arista safelights. It's a white light bulb with a red filter that goes around it. I believe they have orange ones as well, and maybe a few other colors. I havent had any problems with it