Foma Led safelight

[Vania]

Hello everyone,
Among other things for the lab, I'm in the market for safelights and stumbled into this
http://www.foma.cz/ew/6e055ff9-78a1-4fcc-a477-147c4bd01f20-en
Anyone familiar with these led safelight for B&W printing. Are they safe :-D? I'd go for the red (feels safer) do you think it might work for a quick film inspection also?
The other option would be a classic kodak beehive. How big are they? Do you thing I would need two for a 12m2 darkroom (one for the sink one for the enlarger)? Or could one be enough?
Thank you

 

[tal bedrack]

i use a simple red led spot bounced off the ceiling, in the meanwhile no fogged papers the led bulbs have a very narrow wave length and can be utilized easily for darkroom use.

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Thanks for this, I have been looking for a Red LED safelight for some time. I shall investagate further.

 

[Vania]

Keep us posted if you find any useful info!
It's pricey but I tend to think that Foma is a reliable enough brand to trust. Anyone see a reason not too?

 

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

Hello everyone,
Among other things for the lab, I'm in the market for safelights and stumbled into this
http://www.foma.cz/ew/6e055ff9-78a1-4fcc-a477-147c4bd01f20-en
Anyone familiar with these led safelight for B&W printing. Are they safe :-D? I'd go for the red (feels safer) do you think it might work for a quick film inspection also?

Please let us know how it worked out—I recommend you do the Kodak safelight test. I am curious what is the wavelength of the LEDs used in that product.

Officially, red safelight is not safe for film processing, except for orthochromatic film. However, if all you do is a very brief inspection, once the film has already been in the developer for a while (at which time it becomes less sensitive to light) you should get away with it. Personally, I wouldn't risk any negatives that I value this way.

Out of curiosity, why would you like to inspect film? Until you have fixed it, it won't be easy to see that much, especially with a quick inspection, as most of it will be milky opaque.

 

[Jerevan]

I am just assuming that the film and paper manufacturer does know a little bit about safelights. Panchromatic films need a dark green safelight, and is only safe even then for a very brief period as far as I understand it. Night googles and a IR-emitting light might be a better bet then.

 

[Vania]

Regarding film inspection I was just considering fooling around with some 8x10 films experiment and save on film by inspecting as opposed to going through the full process before making adjustments. But I must say I don't really know what I'm talking about here .

 

[Trond]

These safelights seem very nice. Where can I buy them?

Trond

 

[Роберт]

Where can I buy them?

Foma, Foma distributors, shops in Prague (Foto Skoda) etc.

 

[Vania]

Check their website for distributors (foma.cz)

 

[Jerevan]

Trond, maybe you could ask Slavomir at Fomafoto?

 

[Vania]

Just a comment on those leds. I bought 3 of the bigger size ones for a 11m2 room and they are very very dim. I had to add a couple normal red safelights. Considering the high price I don't think they are a good value at all.


Vania