Red and orenge filters

My enlarger came with a red nd an orenge filter.

I have being using colour filters on my lens to shoot with black and with film. But I don't know yet the effect of theses felterd on the enlarge lens to print black and white. What they realy do?

They, depending on the paper you are using, allow you to center or compose the image on the photopaper without exposing the paper -- basically safelights for your enlarger.

Most photo paper is not sensitive to amber/orange light. Some other material such as litho film and some photo paper is not sensitive to red light.

Vaughn

Cool.
Thanks

Speaking of the under lens filter...
Does anyone know of a source of the red plastic filter material?
The filter for my enlarger is missing the red filter element and I would like to replace it, if possible.
All I need is a piece probably less than 3 inches square.

ac12 said:

Speaking of the under lens filter...
Does anyone know of a source of the red plastic filter material?
The filter for my enlarger is missing the red filter element and I would like to replace it, if possible.
All I need is a piece probably less than 3 inches square.

Click to expand...

Depends on your enlarger type.

See here for a few possibilites.

Ken

It is for a Durst L1000.

The Kodak color printing filter looks like it might work, but I don't need a piece that big.
I'm also being cheap on this repair since it is not a "have to fix" problem.

ac12 said:

Does anyone know of a source of the red plastic filter material?
All I need is a piece probably less than 3 inches square.

Click to expand...

Would a Cokin or Lee red filtr do the job ?
Failing that, contact Dead Link Removed and see if they have a standard product line to offer.

In all my years of printing, I've never used the red filters attached to many enlargers. I never quite saw the point.

Paul
It might, as long as I could grind it to drop into the round holder.

Jim
I don't use the red filter much on my other enlarger. But once in a while I have, so I figure why not get it repaired.
But because it is not something that I use often, it is low priority = cheap fix.

PhotoJim said:

In all my years of printing, I've never used the red filters attached to many enlargers. I never quite saw the point.

Click to expand...

They might come in handy for exposing more than one neg onto a piece of paper and one only has one enlarger. Or perhaps rechecking focus during exposure/burning. But they are a low-priority item for most people.

A red 25 screw on filter works fine if it can be sized. a 55 mm fit my omega fine.

ac12 said:

It might, as long as I could grind it to drop into the round holder.

Click to expand...

The Cokin filters are made of a plastic (as I believe are the Lee), so cutting a round should be fairly easy even with basic hand tools.

Bill the guy at the photo shop checked and a 67mm filter will sit in the holder.
A new 67mm filter would be about $40, so he recommended either a used 67mm red or look for something more reasonable in price.

I googled "rubylith" since I heard about it. But it turns out that is a film, not a hard piece of plastic. So it would be tricky to put into the filter holder w/o something to hold it from sagging.

ac12 said:

I googled "rubylith" since I heard about it. But it turns out that is a film, not a hard piece of plastic. So it would be tricky to put into the filter holder w/o something to hold it from sagging.

Click to expand...

Just for the record, Rubylith has a slightly frosted finish to it, so it would be a bad candidate for transmission filtering.

Here's an off-the-wall idea, though. How about getting one of these sampler filter booklets for free (plus $7.50 s&h)?

Rosco Swatchbooks

Then have a glass shop cut you a small piece from scrap and attach the correct filter to it. Either with black tape around the edges, or a lightly-applied clear spray adhesive.

Ken

ac12 said:

It is for a Durst L1000.

The Kodak color printing filter looks like it might work, but I don't need a piece that big.
I'm also being cheap on this repair since it is not a "have to fix" problem.

Click to expand...

I can't believe no one pointed this out. The red filter for a camera is not necessarily the same as a safelight filter for an enlarger. The internet is littered with posts from people who tried to kluge a safelight from some red material. You need to get something that is specifically made for safelights. The Kodak filter in the earlier link is for COLOR printing. It does not say it is for a safelight for B&W printing. Also the picture says it is for illustrative purposes only. The shade of red may be quite different.

As others have said I don't know what the purpose is for those filters. If you look at Kodak's safelight instructions they clearly say direct lightl should be at least four feet away from the paper. A lot of us go through great pains to skip direct lighting all together and have a mostly indirect lighting setup. And when when do pull paper out for the final print we use our bodies to shield it from even the indirect light bouncing off the ceiling or whatever. Why anyone would want to stick a piece of paper directly under a safe light at a ridiculously close distance is beyond me. Maybe if you are printing without an easel and want to lay the paper in the right spot.