Lamp house reflector colour

[Melvin J Bramley]

Why are Beseler condenser lamp house's black inside.
Wouldn't white reflect more light?
Better still , would a crinkle aluminium finish be better still?
Other lamp houses are white inside !

 

[MattKing]

Condensers only "condense" directional light - ideally from close to a point source.
If there is a bunch of light entering the condenser after being reflected in multiple directions, your enlarger lamphouse will supply partially diffuse illumination to the negative.

 

[Melvin J Bramley]

I'm always curious about enlargers I have never used .
I saw an ad for an Agfa Varioscop which has a white painted lamphouse,interior, but has condensers.
I don't think my Beseler will benefit from such a modification!
Still I have to wonder if a white lamphouse will produce the same effect as a cold light?

 

[MattKing]

I'm always curious about enlargers I have never used .
I saw an ad for an Agfa Varioscop which has a white painted lamphouse,interior, but has condensers.
I don't think my Beseler will benefit from such a modification!
Still I have to wonder if a white lamphouse will produce the same effect as a cold light?

If your Beseler uses a frosted bulb, it is already a mixed condenser/diffusion enlarger. A lamphouse that has a white interior would skew it even further toward diffusion, but not as much as using a cold light source.

 

[koraks]

Still I have to wonder if a white lamphouse will produce the same effect as a cold light?

No, you'd likely just end up with a condenser setup with uneven illumination.
The way a light path is designed in those enlargers, you want light from the bulb to hit the top condenser - only from that direction. Not from all other directions.

 

[Melvin J Bramley]

No, you'd likely just end up with a condenser setup with uneven illumination.
The way a light path is designed in those enlargers, you want light from the bulb to hit the top condenser - only from that direction. Not from all other directions.

The Agfa Varioscop does not have a condenser just a white lamphouse; my mistake.
Interesting enlarger non the less.