Survey of paper-safe red LEDs (safelights)

[RalphLambrecht]

this is an interesting subject, I tested quite a few LEDs, and in my experience, it doesn't seem to matter how well the wavelength seems to fit the paper; as long as the light is bright enough, it WILL FOG THE PAPER. the only way to protect the paper is to dim the light.(H=E*t)You have to bring E down to maximize t.

 

[NedL]

I also ordered 2 of the bulbs mentioned in the original June thread, for around $10 including shipping. One is still in the box an the other has been used continually since then. It's up pretty high and aimed at the ceiling, and that's how I tested it with my papers. The light is pretty weak, just enough for me to see what I'm doing... My "problem" paper was Arista.edu VC paper, and since changing to this bulb all is well. I think reported on my tests in that thread, but since then I've also been using Ilford MGWT with success. The bulbs are small and I almost took one on vacation over the summer to use for changing paper negatives away from home.... ended up not doing it but they are small enough to make that a nice option.

 

[David Brown]

More likely is that the switching regulator built into the bulb failed. High quality regulators are quite expensive, it's the reason you can get generic $5 LED bulbs from China but a good Philips unit is still many tens of $.

Yep. These are $3. Others have had good luck with them and I probably got a bad unit. I ordered two more, as I said. However, if one of them fails in a few months, I won't order any more. I have enough standard safelight fixtures and spare filters to last me probably as long as I'm going to want to do this.

 

[dktucson]

Success with a $3 strand of red leds from Amazon

Setting up a home darkroom on a shoestring--for years I managed photo labs and also did tech support for Noritsu America Corp. I picked up a Bogen X35b enlarger for $5 at a thrift store--got it all cleaned & working. I found a strand of red LED christmas lights on Amazon for approx $3.00 that are powered by 3 AA batteries http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G23MIEU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I tested these from a distance of approx 2 meters with the light reflecting off bathroom mirrors which no doubt amplified the light--no fog using Ultrafine VC resin coat papers. Gotta love the price. Will also be testing a 650nm red led bicycle light coming from Fast Tech in Singapore

 

[john_s]

One good thing about making your own LED safelight arrays is that you can make them to size and cheaply. I have a couple of secondary LED safelights on the wall behind me, one to my left, one to my right, pointing towards the enlarger where my bits and pieces are to be found (scissors, magnifier, dodging tools, pencil, etc). They are only a couple of inches higher than the paper easel so the light barely illuminates the paper because it comes from only a couple of degrees above, i.e. almost horizontal. There are two because as I move around at least one will illuminate my bits and pieces. These are very red (660 i think).

Also I have a home-made hand held orange LED torch, not as safe, but very good for a quick check of paper development. After the 660nm red, the orange is a revelation.

I previously made orange LED safelights which turned out to be not safe and the Rubylith (1 sheet) certainly tamed them.

In the old days of graded paper life was simpler and well illuminated with the Kodak yellow-green safelight.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Anyone tried night-vision goggles with RA4 papers yet? I'm finding it a bit of an ordeal fitting big forty inch rolls of the polyester stuff onto my
cutting machine mounts in total darkness, due to my aging fingers.

 

[Rolf Eilert]

Several folks here mentioned a CD prism trick, can you explain me - or point me to a link - how this is made? Thanks a lot!

Rolf

 

[pdeeh]

You don't have to make anything, just take an ordinary CD into the darkroom with the regular lights off and the safelight on and see what colour the diffraction patterns look like on the surface of the CD in the light from the safelight. You shouldn't see anything but the colour of your safelight. If you see noticeable greens or blues, your safelight isn't.

not an infallible test, but a quick 'n' dirty and reasonably accurate to see if there's a gross problem.

to be sure, you need to to a "proper" test with paper - a search will soon turn some up. Ilford and Kodak both have documents on safelight testing

 

[Rolf Eilert]

Ah ok, just looking at the CD itself, that was the point. I thought the prism had to be reflected to some sheet of paper or something like that.

And "make" was a language problem, I meant how it is "done".

Rolf

 

[natelfo]

I have not used an LED safelight, but for the last 6 years, I have been using a CFL red party bulb and it is quite bright and it will not fog any of the Ilford paper that I use. I am still using the first bulb I bought and have never had an issue. The particular bulb I am using is made by FEIT.

 

[john_s]

Pardon. That should have been WayBeyondMonochrome. Sorry about that.

Thanks for the correction! I thought I might have to buy another book.