Sure, but that applies mostly to film. For paper, blix is the standard solution which has been tried and tested. Additionally, replenished blix goes quite a long way and is therefore very cost effective. I personally see no significant benefit in separating bleach and fix steps for RA4 unless techniques such as bleach bypass are necessary, but that's an exception. For normal RA4 printing, a blix is qualitatively excellent, cost-effective and convenient.There's been many debates here about using blix vs separate steps for bleach and fixer.
@Bumba
1. In general, use a dichroic diffusion enlarger (if you are not, then let us know and we'll have that conversation)
2. Use a voltage regulator in the power source for your dichroic enlarger
3. In general, use a digital timer that allows you to adjust time to the precision of at least 1/10 sec when you are printing for 9 sec.
Is the timer mechanism in that one mechanical or electronic? Looks like a mechanical timer and if that's the case, I wouldn't trust it for color work with short exposures.Durst TIM 60
Is the timer mechanism in that one mechanical or electronic? Looks like a mechanical timer and if that's the case, I wouldn't trust it for color work with short exposures.
Right. It's probably decades old and the timer mechanism may have dirt in it or have worn, making it inaccurate. Have you tried establishing its accuracy? With a little creativity, you could work out a way to do this.
Or, easier: try a different timer. A reliable one.
My enlarger is a Durst M370 colour enlarger and it has a box inside that diffuses the light. Not sure if it's dichroic though.
It's connected to a Durst TRA transformer then into an electro magnetic timer (Durst TIM 60). I had a conversation with someone about using a voltage stabilizer also but I think that'll be a last resort for me. A google search said that the voltage in the UK is 230v +6% or -10%.
Nice! Yes, I'm using the same clear ones. Though I do the opposite. Glass bottles for short term storage since it's ok for some air to get in, bags for the long term.In the end I went for the wine bags but went for the clear ones over the aluminium coated ones just so I could see all the air bubbles and remove them. So far so good with it. I keep 3l of mixed chemicals in those each and another 2l each separate in glass bottles for long term storage.
Yes. Ideally you are set with a new bulb. The diffusion enlargers I've had have all used halogen bulbs, they either work, or they don't.Fingers crossed!
I agree, you are totally correct it does mostly apply to film.Sure, but that applies mostly to film. For paper, blix is the standard solution which has been tried and tested. Additionally, replenished blix goes quite a long way and is therefore very cost effective. I personally see no significant benefit in separating bleach and fix steps for RA4 unless techniques such as bleach bypass are necessary, but that's an exception. For normal RA4 printing, a blix is qualitatively excellent, cost-effective and convenient.
It's a dichroic head alright. I've used one of those for color work for a year or so. With the bulb that came with it which must have been 15 years old at least when I got it. Saw some pretty heavy use in my darkroom as well. I never noticed any problems with it in terms of stability or otherwise. Great little unit if you only need to do 35mm.Googling the M370, yes I see color knobs / wheels; you have a dichro.
Frankly, within about 8 or 10cc filtration change I find the overall difference in density too small to bother about.This is why you want your timer to be good for .1 sec: that way when you adjust your colors, you can adjust the time accordingly and get closer to the correct density.
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