Foma/Arista.edu Ultra Safelight

[rtuttle]

I was trying out some Arista.edu Ultra/Foma Varient Saturday night. After getting my basic exposure I did some burning with my Enlarger mate which is a dark amber in color. When I looked at the dried prints I could see that the light wasn't blocked and exposed the paper. Which makes me wonder about my safelight which is also amber (although it is over 12 feet away and not very bright). Does anybody have any experience with this? I had heard the Photokemica paper requires a red only safelight, but I have never had this problem in the past using mostly Zone VI & Agfa papers.

Also after viewing another thread, can anybody confirm (with any degree of certainty) that Zone VI was indeed Kentmere? That was my paper of choice and if I can get it under a different label I would be extremely happy!

 

[Nick Zentena]

The spec sheet should mention which one you're supposed to use.

OTOH best thing is to do a safelight test.

 

[Kapten Stofil]

Arista.Edu requires a red safelight according to their docs, so does Fotokemika.

High intensity red LEDs work very well as red safelights.

 

[rtuttle]

Thanks, I wasn't really worried about my safelight as I work darker than most. But since my Enlarger Mate is Amber now it can't be used. Maybe I can spray paint the under side black to block out all the light. In case you haven't seen them the Enlarger Mate is a amber piece of plastic with a large hole in the middle and attached to the top is a spinning piece of plastic (also amber) with various holes in it. By spinning the top you can choose a hole size for burning. Works nice except I guess not with Foma paper.

 

[fschifano]

Just to set the record straight. Arista.EDU is not the same as Arista.EDU Ultra. Arista.EDU papers are rebranded Forte products, while the Arista.EDU Ultra materials are rebranded Foma products. The spec sheets for Arista.EDU and Arista.EDU Ultra papers call out for Kodak OC (or equivalent) safelight. Red may also be used, but you need to be careful with that as well. Just because the light looks red to your eye, doesn't mean that your paper is blind to it. You really need to test to make sure.

Note that not all amber safelights are the same. Safelights made for use with graded papers are generally not safe with variable contrast materials. Perhaps you are using the wrong safelight.