Durst 1200 Femobox 450 vs 450 N

[chuck94022]

My Durst has two mixing boxes for 4x5. One is called a Femobox 450, the other, a Femobox 450 N. Visually they look identical. Is there any difference?

 

[Marco Buonocore]

From the manual:

"The [Femobox N] are supplied complete with an additional low density diffuser. This diffuser pemits exceptionally sort exposure times with film originals where perfect colour mixing is less important."

 

[chuck94022]

Well, I read that in the manual as well. Unfortunately, this was not written as a statement distinguishing it from the Femobox 450 (not N). In fact, there is no mention in the manual at all of a Femobox that does not have the "N" designation.

To me, the two boxes are physically identical, so it appears that I could just mix and match components between them. But if there is some subtle difference, I want to keep things separate.

 

[chuck94022]

Ah, on closer examination, I do see the additional diffuser in the N version's internal diffusion box. I missed this before. Now for some additional confusion. The manual seems to indicate that shorter exposure times happen with the diffuser in place. I would think the opposite would be the case, that putting in the diffuser would increase exposure time. Is my intuition correct?

 

[ic-racer]

I believe it allows one to use an enlarging lens at a large aperture. The additional diffuser quells the hot-spot when using the large aperture

 

[ic-racer]

The lowest three lines represent the quite significant light falloff at f5.6 with the 150 Componon-S, at three different magnifications. This is not unique to this lens.

 

[chuck94022]

Thanks. My biggest challenge with my Durst (relatively new to me) is that it is very bright, delivering short exposure times at my preferred aperture (typically f11). That makes more complex dodges and burns a challenge. It has a 250W bulb, I'm thinking about dropping that to something like a 150. Any thoughts on that?

As it stands, to get my preferred aperture but allow time for my more complicated printing steps, I've resorted to putting on ND filters and/or dialing up the color filters.