Resurrect Cold Light Head or just move on?

chuckroast said:

I have much the same experience with the Zone VI VC CL head over about the same timeframe. The concern I have is what do I do when/if it fails. I do have a full condenser head with lenses for my push up Omega D II.

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Either contact lightsources & buy a set of spares, or keep an eye out for a colour head in your vicinity... a back up isn't a bad thing.

GregY said:

Chuck, I'm not Bill, but I'd suggest these folks

Aristo Archive Lamps | Light Sources

Archive of Aristo lamps

www.light-sources.com

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If you do contact them for a replacement tube, you'll probably be communicating with Louise Kessler, who moved from Aristo to Voltarc, which is now part of LightSources. She's still there.

Good luck with that....

I used a cold light head for a long while and used higher grade papers to get the image I wanted.. for some reason that escapes me now, I put in the condenser head for my omega D II enlarger and immediately saw "oh, this is what I was going for."

p.s. I read all of what fred picker wrote - he was a marvel at craft, explaining the why's and how's... his images were less inspiring for me..

jvo said:

I used a cold light head for a long while and used higher grade papers to get the image I wanted.. for some reason that escapes me now, I put in the condenser head for my omega D II enlarger and immediately saw "oh, this is what I was going for."

p.s. I read all of what fred picker wrote - he was a marvel at craft, explaining the why's and how's... his images were less inspiring for me..

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Maybe if you tailored your negatives to the cold light, you would have been satisfied...

Andrew O'Neill said:

Maybe if you tailored your negatives to the cold light, you would have been satisfied...

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I put my Beseler 4X5 MXT , condenser head, to pasture years due to a stiff focus issue I could not fathom.
I tried many enlargers during it's semi retirement and still occasionally use a LPL 670VCCE.
After finding a older model Beseler 4 x 5 for parts and replacing the bellows/ focus assembly my preference has become the condenser lamp house.
I do have an old cold light for the Beseler which I have not yet tried as It would require using under the lens MG filters and I make use of the red, safety, under the lens filter.
Such is my confidence in the Beseler I have on order a heat absorbing glass as a minor upgrade.
Many years ago I butchered , with considerable success, a Durst enlarger in which I had a glass insert cut then gently sandblasted it to produce a diffused light.
One boring day I may do the same for the Beseler .
Darkroom photography is full of myth, misunderstanding and elaborate graphs accompanied by boring photographs to prove a point!!

Take care , be safe and get it fixed.

Andrew O'Neill said:

Maybe if you tailored your negatives to the cold light, you would have been satisfied...

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yes, very probably true... i know certain people who are far more skilled and adept in the darkroom than I...

I'm a journeyman, enjoyed the process but never had the time to spend what I needed to. maybe my next life!

Guarantee when my zone VI bulb goes, I am going to just reconfigure it with LEDs. With the diffusion already there, a single ring of adhesive LEDs inside will do it. I'm sure if Picker was around and had a choice of devices, he would not go with a fluorescent bulb. No more color correction filter for vc papers.

MattKing said:

I like the results from those Cold Light Heads - I have a friend who has one.
But other diffused sources are really good, and easier to use in some circumstances.
A dichroic colour head with a halogen source is still a good option.

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A dichroic color head with a halogen source is the perfect option.

Andrew O'Neill said:

Once I started printing with a cold light, I never went back to condenser. The comment by poster above about them "not being good when they worked", is ridiculous. I have an Aristo VCL4500 for almost 30 years, and a 1212.

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I'm happy with my VCL4500. I bought spare tubes when Ken Nadvornick (sp?) contacted the company which took over Aristo. They were expensive. It will see me out, with luck.

I do have a couple of Zone VI tubes 4x5 from the graded paper days if anyone could find a use for them.

Looks like I've kicked another Photographic Hornet's Nest!

Picker is causing mischief from the great beyond; no doubt he would be pleased!

Thanks everyone for their 2 cents.

jvo said:

I used a cold light head for a long while and used higher grade papers to get the image I wanted.. for some reason that escapes me now, I put in the condenser head for my omega D II enlarger and immediately saw "oh, this is what I was going for."

p.s. I read all of what fred picker wrote - he was a marvel at craft, explaining the why's and how's... his images were less inspiring for me..

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His true talent was marketing and getting at people's money.

RalphLambrecht said:

His true talent was marketing and getting at people's money.

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Let's not speak ill of the dead. Which is to say (moderator note): criticizing a concept or idea is OK, but let's try not to criticize people for who they are (were) too much, as per rule #1 of this forum. Note how it's formulated in a broad sense (deliberately so!)

@RalphLambrecht , maybe so, but through his teachings, I learnt quite a bit about printing. You make it sound like he was a snake oil salesman. He did have quite a bit to offer, in skill and in products.

Andrew O'Neill said:

@RalphLambrecht , maybe so, but through his teachings, I learnt quite a bit about printing. You make it sound like he was a snake oil salesman. He did have quite a bit to offer, in skill and in products.

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I absolutely agree with you Andrew. Fred P was a boon to someone versed in 35mm photography. looking into moving to LF. His catalogs were gems. Fred was the guy who pointed out that G-Clarons were gems.....when you had no idea what a Dagor or a Dallmeyer was. Who else brought Brilliant paper from Guillemot? You didn't have to buy or believe everything he sold or wrote....but he certainly unfolded the mystery of LF photography and printing to many.

Andrew O'Neill said:

@RalphLambrecht , maybe so, but through his teachings, I learnt quite a bit about printing. You make it sound like he was a snake oil salesman. He did have quite a bit to offer, in skill and in products.

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In the days before the internet, I subscribed to Fred Picker's newsletter. I found some very good advice which improved my photography a lot. Some of the gear I bought from him helped also. And some wasn't special also.