For Sale FS LED Lamp House for Omega D-series enlarger

John Koehrer said:

I'm curious about the diameter of the base where it slips into the Omega collar. The Beseler uses ~6-6 1/2" could it be as simple as adding a spacer?

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The Omega D lamp house base is 5" in diameter. Do you mean the Beseler 45 is 6 1/2"? If so, a simple adapter may be all that is required. The Beseler 23C is more complicated because the lamp house is part of the condenser focusing system.

Ken Nadvornick said:

Apparently the author experimented with ultraviolet LEDs to help boost the higher contrast levels, but eventually found them unnecessary. He claims to have been able to reach grade 5+ with white LEDs alone, and includes step wedge tests to demonstrate it. He also addressed the subject of a blue/green variable contrast head. If I'm reading correctly, he seemed to conclude it was doable but less desirable due to the inherent printing speed differences between those two end-point colors.

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I believe the new Cree royal blue X-lamps are the right color to get hard contrast on VC paper. I think the way to do a VC LED head right these days is to use a PIC micro controller to vary the blue and green LED brightness according to an empiric look-up table specific for each brand/range of paper. That way, you simply dial in the contrast you want and the PIC sets the brightness of the blue and green LED's to achieve that contrast. Exposure could be held constant for mid tones, shadows or highlights - your choice. I don't think it would be that hard.

cardiomac said:

The Omega D lamp house base is 5" in diameter. Do you mean the Beseler 45 is 6 1/2"? If so, a simple adapter may be all that is required. The Beseler 23C is more complicated because the lamp house is part of the condenser focusing system.

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Yes,the Beseler is ~6 1/2" diameter. I haven't taken the light source off for a precise measurement but is roughly that size. I'll measure it later for an accurate number.

Cardiomac,

That's exactly what I need for my Omega D3 but does it coms in 230V 50Hz for Europe?

leicam5 said:

That's exactly what I need for my Omega D3 but does it coms in 230V 50Hz for Europe?

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Sorry, the built-in power supply in these Cree modules are specific to only 110V. You may be able to use an inexpensive travel convertor, though, since the unit consumes only 9.5 watts.

I have had a chance to do a fair amount of printing with my LED lamphouse now. The results have been great. I can tell no difference in evenness or contrast between the LED lamphouse and the incandescent one. Printing speed is just about squarely in between that of using a 75W #211 bulb in the incandescent and using a 150W #212. In other words, it's faster than the 75W, but slower than the 150W. It's fine for the vast majority of my negatives.

I have not tried the extreme ends of the contrast filtration scales yet. I was going to do that, but Cemil graciously offered some free upgrades of my lamphouse (which is one of the first prototype units) to his current standard, and I just shipped it back to him today. I haven't had a chance to print in a while as I've been quite busy (and probably won't again until April. Should have a lot more time after that, though.)

But the last time I printed I did finally get around to making some test prints with no negatives to compare evenness.

These are prints with no negative in the carrier, using a 6x9 cm carrier, 100mm Componon-S enlarging lens, on my Omega D2/II-V (it's a D2 chassis on which someone has mounted the variable condenser head.) I used the grade 2.5 MG filter from a brand new set of filters. I use the 6"x6" above the lens filters and just lay them atop the lower condenser, which works fine. The lens was stopped down all the way to give a somewhat manageable albeit still short exposure time, which probably explains the in-focus splotches and dust that were apparently on the bottom of the upper condenser and which I immediately cleaned off, but also had not noticed on any of my prints, as I don't normally expose negatives at f/32.

The densities are obviously not exactly matched, but I didn't care to spend more paper getting them closer. You can match in PS if you want and still compare evenness.

These show why I can tell no difference between prints made with the two lamphouses. Some edge fall off is normal but on both I see a bit more than I thought it was. I normally edge burn all my final prints by about 15% of the base exposure time. I may extend that a bit, and maybe burn a little farther in from the edges than I have been particularly on the long axis, though I've not noticed any problems or unevenness in my prints. This sort of test will show tiny variations.

Standard incandescent lamphouse:

http://home.comcast.net/~ragnar93/Temp/IncandescentLamphouse1.jpg

LED lamphouse:

http://home.comcast.net/~ragnar93/Temp/LED_Lamphouse1.jpg

I'm quite pleased with the unit. It's nice to leave the light on as long as you like for focusing and cropping without worrying about negative popping or lamp life and to make exposures as long as you like with the same lack of concerns. It's also nice to use it for checking the negative carefully and repeatedly for dust without concern for lamp life.

Mine being a very early unit, it has a two prong plug and cord. Cemil is graciously replacing the cord for me with a three prong grounded cord and plug. This will be better, though I was not concerned with it personally as the way my darkroom is laid out there isn't really any realistic chance of it falling into liquid or the like. It also may improve the one very minor drawback I've found - it generates a fair amount of radio hash and interferes with my FM boom box in the darkroom. Most folks who listen to music while printing may be 100% digital anyway. In my case, I use my iPhone just outside the darkroom or the computer upstairs to stream Pandora or, most often, WWOZ from New Orleans, with the output going into an FM modulator which I pick up on the (all lights taped over) boom box inside. When this unit is on it generates a fair amount of hash, but I can live with that as it is, of course, only when the enlarger is on. The grounded cord may help this. I can't just use the iPhone inside because I can't turn on airplane mode and still stream, and there would be the chance of getting a call or text and a very unwelcome blast of light at the wrong time.

Pros: Very well made unit that looks like it came out of a factory. Actually, strike that - it looks like it came out of a factory perhaps 30-40 years ago when they made stuff more solidly. Works well with very even illumination, or at least comparable to the stock incandescent lamphouse. I suspect what unevenness is present is due to the design of the condensers rather than the light source, since the two are so similar in evenness. I also suspect but have no tests to prove that both the spectrum and the light output of an incandescent bulb vary more over its life than this LED source will, so prints may be more easily repeatable from notes when made much after the initial prints and data. Much less heat generated and power used than the standard lamphouse.

Cons: Hmm, well, it generates some radio static. It probably isn't usable for color per our discussion above though I haven't tried it, so if you print color with CP filters you may have to switch back to the standard lamphouse. This takes about 30 seconds if you take your time, 15 if you hurry. Honestly that's all I can think of.

It may well be the power supply causing the rf noise rather than the lamp. The grounding of the case may bleed some of that noise away too when you get it back.

Your test print shows more even-ness than my lcd viewing monitor will show.

Thanks for the update; I look forward to motivating the builder to make one for the Beseler system!

jp498 said:

It may well be the power supply causing the rf noise rather than the lamp. The grounding of the case may bleed some of that noise away too when you get it back.

Your test print shows more even-ness than my lcd viewing monitor will show.

Thanks for the update; I look forward to motivating the builder to make one for the Beseler system!

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It's definitely the switching power supply making the noise. I'm hoping the 3-prong cord will solve or at least ameliorate the noise issue. The 3 prong cord has wires that are twisted in a rubber sheath, rather than parallel to each other as in the 2-prong, and the ground wire is twisted with them, which should further reduce rf emittance. Also, the ferrite noise suppressor built into the power supply is better utilized with the 3-prong cord because the thinner insulation allows the wires to be looped through the ferrite core rather than just passed through it once.

Otherwise everyone I've sold a unit to seems pretty happy with them. There have been no returns. I just wish the price could be lower so that more people could experience them because I truly believe the LED light source makes an incandescent bulb obsolete, at least for B/W printing.

A Beseler unit is on the table but first up is an LED diffusion head for the Omega D. It is a very robust design that should last a lifetime. I'm just waiting for some parts from the machine shop. I hope to have a unit up for sale in about two weeks.

I'd love to have the diffusion head but besides the purchase price there would also be equipping all my lens boards with the filter holders and buying a set of below the lens filters, which would bump my costs up more. I might get one eventually. Right now too many other expenditures on the table, but it would certainly be a very nice thing to have.

I received the lamphouse back from Cemil yesterday with its new three wire cord and three prong plug. I won't have time to print with it until the second weekend of April earliest, but I did plug it in and test it for radio static. It seems even this minor issue is fixed. With the iPhone driving the FM modulator to play music through the boom box, my usual method, I could tell no difference at all when it was on or off.

cardiomac said:

This is a brand new LED replacement lamp house for the Omega D2, D3, D5 and D6 condenser enlargers. It replaces only the existing lamp house so you keep the condensers and the ability to use above-the-lens VC filters. The primary advantage is the total lack of infrared radiation, so the negative will not heat up, no matter how long the exposure. This prevents shifting and popping of the negative which can ruin focus. Also, since the light comes only from the center of the lens there is much less stray light than with a bulb which tends to reflect a lot of light off the black lamp housing. The end result is that prints made with this product are very, very sharp. Glass negative carriers are not needed for most negatives. The unit is a real pleasure to use.

Build quality and uniformity of illumination, both spatially and temporally, are superb. Ilford VC filters work as expected with this unit. Exposure times are similar to those of a 150W bulb. Uses 110VAC, 9.5W North American standard power.

Asking US$150.00 plus shipping however you want.

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I was wondering if you are still selling these replacement Lamps for Omega enlargers?
Thanks

If you have a look at cardiomac's profile you'll see he last logged into this site over 3 years ago.

modernenlargerlamps.com
States site maintained for previous purchasers, nothing for sale. I would be interested also.