Tungsten enlarger lamp availability

Tungsten bulbs are to be phased out, here in Ontario, by 2012. I am afraid that enlarging lamps will become all but unavailable, as they are already a niche-niche market.

Has anyone tried any of the warm white (about 2700°K) fluorescent bulbs in an enlarger? I am about to "test drive" a couple, and see how they work. Have any APUGers tried this yet?

Also, one of my enlargers is a venerable Omega B-22XL, which uses a PH/111A bulb, way too small to be replaced with any flavour of fluorescent bulbs now being made. I have searched for a replacement on the General Electric website, but there is nothing else available.

There are, however, two other bulbs which might (I say might) work. They both have the same base as the PH/111A (a single contact bayonet, base type BA-15s), and the same voltage, but different wattages and lamp shapes. And, they are not frosted, which means a diffuser would have to be added in the lamphouse. The lamps are an ANSI code CEM (GE product code 43330), and an ANSI code CDD (GE product code 29257).

Has anybody tried these lamps, or anything similar? Please let me know!

Yes, I could bring the lamps in from another Canadian province, but all of the others will most probably follow Ontario's lead, with the possible exception of our friends in Alberta, which is the last vestige of real democracy in our country.

Or I could bring them in from the U.S., but importation of these bulbs will probably be banned as well.

Any ideas out there? Please pardon the rant. If you don't like it, feel free to flame me...but be prepared to be flamed right back!

Born in Quebec...live in Ontario..but an Albertan at heart.

Yet another thread on the same topic. If you are so worried:

1. You have time until 2012.
2. You can stock up.
3. I don't believe that people are going to dump their slide projectors or their overhead projectors or any other appliance because the bulbs are outlawed! It is just not going to happen, and the law is not made to outlaw projector bulbs!

The problem with using compact fluorescents in an enlarger is the pronounced "warm-up characteristic" The light output is initially well below rated, and it takes typically 3-4 minutes for a bulb to reach rated output. That's not acceptable in an enlarger application where the exposure time may be measured in seconds. This is referred to as a "warm up" characteristic because it is directly related to the temperature in the electronic ballast in the base of the lamp and not because of the color temperature (although that also changes during the warm-up interval).

One potential solution is to arrange some kind of shutter mechanism.

Hi !
The genuine bulb for my Laborator 1000 condenser head is not made anymore since .... 20 years. Maybe more.
It was a 100 mm dia. bulb of 300 W power.
So now, with the available 65 mm dia bulbs avail, I'm left with uneven lighting on the baseboard.
One of the solutions I've got is to use a double envelope halogen bulb made by Phillips (marketed HALOGENA in Europe) of 150 W power. As the double white envelope is quite thick it's a good substitute of the enlarger bulbs.
So do not worry. I think we will still find a way to continue printing.
We have to be concerned by the closure of the Phillips plant making all bulbs used in photo industry (in Europe at least)...
Buy 2 or 3 spare bulbs and you're done for years !

I am getting a De Vere Enlarger for my birthday in late August. what I plan to do is buy about 5 extra bulbs for it and that will do me for the rest of my life.

Out of curiosity, what is the average lifespan of an enlarger bulb for a hobbiest photographer on averages prints once or maybe twice a week?

Bill

Uncle Bill said:

Out of curiosity, what is the average lifespan of an enlarger bulb for a hobbiest photographer on averages prints once or maybe twice a week?
Bill

Click to expand...

google OSRAM and look the the lamp inquestion and it will give you the average lifespan. Depends on the lamp. 1000W is not very long. And it also depends on on/off repetitions.

I reckon LED's are the way to go in the long term.

Petzi said:

3. I don't believe that people are going to dump their slide projectors or their overhead projectors or any other appliance because the bulbs are outlawed! It is just not going to happen, and the law is not made to outlaw projector bulbs!

Click to expand...

Well, it depends on the government, I must say.

Just about a year ago, in Japan, we got a ban on domestically untested foreign electrical appliances including light bulbs for enlargers and projectors, as well as used ones that only met the old safety codes. The new requirement was made for the business owners to conduct the safety test on each product before selling and reselling in the market, but many people seriously had a doubt about who would actually test a brand-new light bulb with a tester before selling it.

Some politicians did some investigation and found serious flaws in this testing proposal and the lack of understanding in the process of this law years prior to that, and there were some 'hot debates.'. But nothing changed and we were determined to live with this law. As a result, some prominent sellers anywhere from audio, video to photo and motion picture fields stopped carrying what they were carrying before. A few of them had to close their shops, and that was a disaster and a loss, etc.

I ran a thread here back then to inform all the fellow APUGers how government stupidity can play in a photo-related area. My point is, it was already a nitche market of 'vintage' and 'old' stuff, but it was hit hard. It was not even this whole global-warming thing, but it was based on the apathy of the public that didn't regard something like that would be serious.

But now, in here globally, we are seeing two major issues (the light-bulb bans and the chemical-transport restrictions).

Life gets tougher in a sense not because we all agree or disagree on something better for the near future, but some unreasonable laws and restrictions like sometimes get in our ways and make us crippled a little. The question is, why are they happening (and why are we not doing anything about them)?

My advice would be get spare bulbs and ready for taking some action locally and globally. Think about all the implications and how you will be affected by this light-bulb ban thing.

GeorgesGiralt said:

Hi !
The genuine bulb for my Laborator 1000 condenser head is not made anymore since .... 20 years. Maybe more.
It was a 100 mm dia. bulb of 300 W power.
So now, with the available 65 mm dia bulbs avail, I'm left with uneven lighting on the baseboard.
One of the solutions I've got is to use a double envelope halogen bulb made by Phillips (marketed HALOGENA in Europe) of 150 W power. As the double white envelope is quite thick it's a good substitute of the enlarger bulbs.
So do not worry. I think we will still find a way to continue printing.
We have to be concerned by the closure of the Phillips plant making all bulbs used in photo industry (in Europe at least)...
Buy 2 or 3 spare bulbs and you're done for years !

Click to expand...

I have the same enlarger and have been thinking about what do do when the bulb goes. Are there no issues in using a bulb that is half the power the enlarger was designed for? Is the bulb also 100mm, or does it matter in this case? Thanks in advance for any information.

There is no time up to 2012. Philips (only manufacturer, correct me if I am wrong) stopped manufacturing bulbs last year. When already manufactured bulbs are sold, no new bulbs on market I am afraid.

Life span for 150w (Philips photocrescenta) bulb for me is about 2 years, but I am not very frequent printer.

Three options:

1. Stock them. I did that, ordered "life supply".
2. Use halogen bulbs for colour/multigrade heads and forget condenser printing. And stock those too. Those are easy to find for now, but think about future.
3. Modify enlarger head for light sources which will be avaliable in future.

There is still time to act, so act now and do not panic.

It might be an idea to contact "Microlites Scientific" in Toronto. I bought 750w and 1500w pulsed xenon lamps for an enlarger I used to have as well as other lamps. The owner has an amazing variety of lamps available and can also custom make lamps in small quantities. The service I got was superb. Perhaps one of our buying sources could enquire.

Analogfotog,
you could try the German specialist on rare lamps, the Schahl company (www.schahl.de). They have an opalized Type OP-175 which could fit. They even got an US-dealer: PLI Inc.