My enlarger exposure times are way out of whack

Pieter12 · Jul 5, 2023

GregY said:
"My print times would also be very short.... especially with RC paper ( which i don't typically use.) As mentioned Fomabrom or Ilford WT FB would provide longer exposure times."

I had specified warmtone. i'd just add the Beseler under the lens filter holder, and/or try some slower papers before i went to changing the electronics of my enlarger. In addition to me a 5x7" is a workprint or snapshot...not much real estate there to worry about dodging /burning.

You didn’t mention warm tone until after you wrote about RC paper. I’m sorry I did not follow the train of thought, maybe from a previous post?

GregY · Jul 5, 2023

Pieter I specified WT papers in post 46, which you quoted in #47.
Have a nice discussion by yourself. I'm done here

koraks · Jul 6, 2023

Fomabrom is not a warmtone paper. Fomatone is. Fomatone is around 2 stops or so slower than Fomabrom in my experience. Fomabrom (FB) and Fomaspeed (RC) print at roughly the same speed.

GregY · Jul 6, 2023

koraks said:
Fomabrom is not a warmtone paper. Fomatone is. Fomatone is around 2 stops or so slower than Fomabrom in my experience. Fomabrom (FB) and Fomaspeed (RC) print at roughly the same speed.

Of course, my mistake Fomatone.

Pieter12 · Jul 6, 2023

GregY said:
Of course, my mistake Fomatone.

Since you haven't gone away, you wrote in post #46, "To go back to the OP's post, a 5x7 is a small print. I have a Durst 138 and a Beseler 45MXT with a Zone VI VC head. My print times would also be very short.... especially with RC paper ( which i don't typically use.) As mentioned Foma or Ilford WT FB would provide longer exposure times."

You do not mention warm tone papers until after your statement about RC. So how is one to know the first part of the statement does not refer to print times for neutral tone paper? I was responding to "especially with RC paper" which does not specify warm tone. Enjoy your discussion by yourself, too.

Rob H · Jul 12, 2023

So just to close this out, I bought a cheap dimmer, and it works great. If it reduces contrast I can't tell, I still get plenty of contrast out of my prints.

Also I stopped using the filter slide to expose the prints because I was having weird focus issues. I'm pretty sure just opening and closing the slider was causing it to get knocked out of focus.

Thanks folks.

ic-racer · Jul 12, 2023

Good work to get the problem solved!

Sirius Glass · Jul 12, 2023

Rob H said:
So just to close this out, I bought a cheap dimmer, and it works great. If it reduces contrast I can't tell, I still get plenty of contrast out of my prints.

Also I stopped using the filter slide to expose the prints because I was having weird focus issues. I'm pretty sure just opening and closing the slider was causing it to get knocked out of focus.

Thanks folks.

I am glad that you got your money's worth from Photrio.

mshchem · Jul 13, 2023

Rob H said:
So just to close this out, I bought a cheap dimmer, and it works great. If it reduces contrast I can't tell, I still get plenty of contrast out of my prints.

Also I stopped using the filter slide to expose the prints because I was having weird focus issues. I'm pretty sure just opening and closing the slider was causing it to get knocked out of focus.

Thanks folks.

I've used Beseler enlargers for, well, 50 years. I agree that those filter slider things aren't good. I never used the Resistrol, but they work. Beseler gave up on that in the 70's. Glad to hear you're having good results.

MattKing · Jul 13, 2023

Just don't change the setting on the Resistrol between uses - that change is what will cause inconsistent contrast behavior.

mshchem · Jul 13, 2023

MattKing said:
Just don't change the setting on the Resistrol between uses - that change is what will cause inconsistent contrast behavior.

And don't use the dopey volt meter to adjust the voltage with the Resistrol. These things were for guys in the 60's hammering out single weight, fixed grade, glossy prints where they were contending different negatives, commercial, industrial, newspaper etc.
A dimmer of any kind isn't a good solution. Every enlarger setup I use has some form of closed loop control. Great solution

Ian C · Jul 13, 2023

The Kodak Workshop Series book “Using Filters” has a good explanation of how colored filters allow light of the same color as that of the of the filter to pass through the filter freely while preventing other parts of the light’s spectrum from passing through.

The contrast controlling filters, such as the Ilford Multigrade filter set, do the same thing with the light from an enlarger lamp.

So long as the paper is variable contrast and the exposing light passes through a contrast controlling filter, variations in the lamp voltage shouldn’t have any effect on the print contrast. For example, in the case of using a variable resistor to reduce the lamp voltage, and therefore the light intensity, even though the spectrum of the lamp is shifted more towards red at reduced voltage, only light of the same color as the filter (or very close to that of the filter) will pass through to expose the paper.

Therefore, we should expect that there will be little or no change in the contrast of the developed print. That was exactly what was reported by the originator of this discussion in post #56.

Whether the light reduction is accomplished using a neutral density filter, a variable resistor, or even a combination of the two, we can adjust the light intensity independently of the lens’s aperture setting. This allows us to make the print using the lens’s optimum aperture in those cases—such as this one—where the exposure time was too short for burning & dodging.

Ian C · Jul 13, 2023

Rather than speculate about the Beseler Company’s intended use of its variable resistor “Resistrol” and the optional voltage meter “Bestrol Voltmeter” that can be mounted onto it, you can read Beseler’s description of these accessories on Page Fifteen of its 1959 manual for its 23C enlarger as hosted by the James Ollenger’s Camera Collection site:

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/beseler/Beseler_23C(older).pdf

Apparently, this was a simple way to monitor the mains voltage and manually dial it to some standard value that the user could select so that the color balance could be held constant for consistent color printing. For example, if you observed that your mains voltage varied over a span of days from, say, 115 volts to 125 volts, you could choose to do color printing at 115 volts.

On those days that the mains voltage was above this, you could manually reduce the voltage to the lamp to your standard value of 115 volts. This would allow predictable color response—so long as there was no sudden change in the mains voltage during a particular printing session.

This could also be used, as the originator of this thread did, to get sufficient exposure time in B&W printing for burning and dodging of a negative that would otherwise print too quickly for such manipulation.

mshchem · Jul 13, 2023

Resistrol doesn't stabilize voltage. It's a simple variable resistor. If the power isn't stable you wouldn't have good conditions for color printing. Beseler used simple voltage stabilizers in their color heads.

Color temperature of a tungsten lamp varies with voltage, acetate filters used for contrast control aren't going to produce the exact same result at two different source color temperatures.

The voltage meter that Beseler supplied with the Resistrol is terrible. A good volt ohm meter will allow you to repeat voltages.

Beseler was always trying to play catchup to Omega here in the USA

Rob H · Jul 13, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
I am glad that you got your money's worth from Photrio.

Honestly, I feel like a thief.

pentaxuser · Jul 13, 2023

Rob H said:
Honestly, I feel like a thief.

Why? What have you stolen?

pentaxuser

Sirius Glass · Jul 13, 2023

Rob H said:
Honestly, I feel like a thief.

For $24US a year you could become a subscriber.

Rob H · Jul 14, 2023

pentaxuser said:
Why? What have you stolen?

pentaxuser

I have stolen your knowledge, sir. And I shall run with it and keep it.

mshchem · Jul 14, 2023

You can't steal what is given gladly.

Rob H · Jul 14, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
For $24US a year you could become a subscriber.

Damn your eyes.

Sirius Glass · Jul 14, 2023

Rob H said:
Damn your eyes.

WE aim to please; your aim will help.

My enlarger exposure times are way out of whack

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