Heiland Cold Light source.

mshchem · Mar 20, 2024

john_s said:
Which Zone VI VC heads do you have? All the same as each other? I had one of the first 4x5 ones (still have in storage) and found it a bit dim for 35mm especially, and didn't give high contrast. Now I use an Aristo VCL4500 VC head which I'm happy with.

I have the last ones, after Calumet bought out Zone VI. 8x10, 5x7 and a 4x5. These are quite good.
I have Beseler 45 Universal heads as well, RGB dichro, color or VCCE controllers, these can act up, the cold lights work great. I believe that the last of the Z6 heads were made by Aristo, not sure of the specifics, plenty bright. I mostly use the 5x7 (6x17).

The enlargers are the type 2, have very little use.

Fischbowl · Apr 3, 2024

otto.f said:
I use the Heiland splitgrade and LED head on my Beseler. I really had to get used to the short exposure time, the light is very bright. It is very soft too, which is good, but I had to lengthen my development times with 15 or 20% compared to the condensor head. That said, I’m now happy with my results and the quality of my prints.
Heiland Splitgrade promisses a lot of less work and says that test prints aren‘t necessary anymore. That is not true. Especially while they never update the standard times for film-paper combinations. Some important papers like Bergger neutral tone have never been added to the software and papers like AGFA Classic are in the system but are not available anymore. Adding your own standard times is far from user friendly, I don’t understand it at least.

Otto - which Beseler enlarger are you using with the Heiland? I have the Beseler 23Ciii-XL with the VC head and I'm unsure how the Heiland LED lamp attaches to or replaces the VC head. I think it's meant to be a replacement light sources on the condenser head, but since I do not have access to this lamphouse I'm unable to verify if it would resolve my light mounting issue.

Pieter12 · Apr 3, 2024

Fischbowl said:
Otto - which Beseler enlarger are you using with the Heiland? I have the Beseler 23Ciii-XL with the VC head and I'm unsure how the Heiland LED lamp attaches to or replaces the VC head. I think it's meant to be a replacement light sources on the condenser head, but since I do not have access to this lamphouse I'm unable to verify if it would resolve my light mounting issue.

Can't say about the Beseler, but with my Omega D5 the Heiland replaces the entire condenser and lamphouse, sitting right on top of the negative stage. Also, to Otto's comment about lengthened development times--this should not be. Paper should be developed to completion, no matter what the light source is. Unless you're making litho prints.

otto.f · Apr 5, 2024

Fischbowl said:
Otto - which Beseler enlarger are you using with the Heiland? I have the Beseler 23Ciii-XL with the VC head and I'm unsure how the Heiland LED lamp attaches to or replaces the VC head. I think it's meant to be a replacement light sources on the condenser head, but since I do not have access to this lamphouse I'm unable to verify if it would resolve my light mounting issue.

I’ve got the 45MX or how they call it, for 4x5 and smaller in any case. I bought it with the Aristo cold light head and don’t have the original Beseler condenser. When the condensor is replaced the whole light house goes with it. You have to specify to Heiland which enlarger you have before ordering. I doubt whether the 23 has the same size for a light head as the 45. Heiland has different sizes of the LED head for different brands enlargers.

kuhyraco · 2025-11-22T19:58:04-0500

I don't want to start a new thread, so I'll try to revive this one.
I have the opportunity to buy a used Heiland LED Head. Unfortunately, it's far from me and it's an estate sale, so the seller doesn't know any technical details.
I tried writing an email to Heiland, but no response yet.

From what I understand, they use a large number of LEDs, which will not be very powerful. Around 1600 for a 5x7 unit, 24V powersupply (which looks like the one for the laptop). I would be mainly interested in specs of LEDs - power and wavelength of each color. I expect that they will be LEDs of individual colors and not some addressable RGB solution.

Does anyone have more detailed information? I couldn't find anything on the internet.
Thanks.

Pieter12 · 2025-11-22T20:07:01-0500

kuhyraco said:
I don't want to start a new thread, so I'll try to revive this one.
I have the opportunity to buy a used Heiland LED Head. Unfortunately, it's far from me and it's an estate sale, so the seller doesn't know any technical details.
I tried writing an email to Heiland, but no response yet.

From what I understand, they use a large number of LEDs, which will not be very powerful. Around 1600 for a 5x7 unit, 24V powersupply (which looks like the one for the laptop). I would be mainly interested in specs of LEDs - power and wavelength of each color. I expect that they will be LEDs of individual colors and not some addressable RGB solution.

View attachment 411848

Does anyone have more detailed information? I couldn't find anything on the internet.
Thanks.

Have you tried contacting Heiland?

kuhyraco · 2025-11-22T20:13:06-0500

Pieter12 said:
Have you tried contacting Heiland?

Yes, I wrote an email (actually two) a few days ago. As a last resort, I can call Germany...

Pieter12 · 2025-11-22T20:28:24-0500

kuhyraco said:
Yes, I wrote an email (actually two) a few days ago. As a last resort, I can call Germany...

You might also try contacting CatLabs. I believe they are the US distributor.

Heiland Cold Light source.

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