Very positive news: Five new darkroom products from Heiland, Germany

Henning Serger · Oct 17, 2019

Hello,

probably the most innovative and active manufacturer of darkroom equipment is Jürgen Heiland of Heiland electronic in Germany.
For all the years he has continued R&D with his engineering team which resulted in outstanding quality products. Just to name one of his most impressive recent products: His new revolutionary horizontal enlarger:
and

But he is not stopping designing new products :
He has just introduced five (!) further new products:
- a new film dryer for film formats from 35mm to 8x10"
- a new LED safelight with a smaller design
- a new Negative Dust Detector
- a new Splitgrade Paper Flasher
- for blurred masking a Pin Registration System

For all the details please see here:
https://heilandelectronic.de/news

Last year I have had the chance to visit the Heiland factory (for a report I published in the PhotoKlassik magazine). Honestly, I have been really impressed by the designing and quality standards there. And the dedication and passion of the engineers and technicians. Made in Germany at its best.

Best regards,
Henning

alentine · Oct 17, 2019

Thanks very much Henning for the great news.

Mick Fagan · Oct 17, 2019

Now that, is an enlarger.

One five hundreth of a millimetre variation of the film to lens stage over a distance of up to one hundred and thirty centimetres, incredible.

I also noted a DeVere horizontal enlarger in the background, around the 2' mark and a couple of times after that.

The darkroom safelight looks very good, 1W power; clever.

Great stuff Henning, thanks for that.

Mick.

tezzasmall · Oct 19, 2019

Henning Serger said:
For all the details please see here:
https://heilandelectronic.de/news

I had a sharp intake of breath looking at the new items, for they are NOT cheap!! Very well made I'm sure, but a bit too pricey for me.

Terry S

markbau · Oct 19, 2019

tezzasmall said:
I had a sharp intake of breath looking at the new items, for they are NOT cheap!! Very well made I'm sure, but a bit too pricey for me.

Terry S

I thought the same. There aren't that many commercial labs around anymore and this equipment seems aimed at them. 200 euros for a safelight. 738 euros for a film dryer!

pentaxuser · Oct 19, 2019

Well there is presumably a market somewhere in terms of commercial labs because frankly for most home enthusiasts the prices are eye-wateringly expensive to an extent that I am puzzled how the cost of research and production will ever be recouped?

In the terms of the masking kit Heiland has a major rival in the U.S. Lyn Radeka who appears to pitch his wares at the "well-off" home enthusiast.From what I can recall his stuff is expensive but not by anything like as much

pentaxuser

logan2z · Oct 19, 2019

markbau said:
I thought the same. There aren't that many commercial labs around anymore and this equipment seems aimed at them. 200 euros for a safelight. 738 euros for a film dryer!

I had a similar experience when I inquired with the US distributor about the cost of their LED light source for my Leica v35. The cost of the LED light source and requisite B&W controller was about $1200. Hard to justify when the entire enlarger cost me $300

Team ADOX · Oct 19, 2019

As a manufacturer of film, photo paper and photo chemistry we are very happy and thankful that such companies like Heiland electronics, JOBO, Kaiser and Kienzle exists. They keep the labs running!
And they deliver excellent quality and service.

If you look at prices, you always have to consider which level of quality you get. And for how long the products can be used. And the products we are talking about here are on an extremely high quality level and can be used for several decades! We know that from our customers.
So if you calculate the costs per year you see they will be negligible.

ADOX - Innovation In Analog Photography.

Tom Kershaw · Oct 19, 2019

Team ADOX said:
As a manufacturer of film, photo paper and photo chemistry we are very happy and thankful that such companies like Heiland electronics, JOBO, Kaiser and Kienzle exists. They keep the labs running!
And they deliver excellent quality and service.

If you look at prices, you always have to consider which level of quality you get. And for how long the products can be used. And the products we are talking about here are on an extremely high quality level and can be used for several decades! We know that from our customers.
So if you calculate the costs per year you see they will be negligible.

ADOX - Innovation In Analog Photography.

I agree. It is very important to have a viable equipment manufacturing sector for analogue photography. I'm using De Vere enlargers but do process film with a Jobo CPP-3 so see the value of newer equipment. On more than one occasion in the past I've spent too much time and effort on maintaining old darkroom gear.

Tom

logan2z · Oct 19, 2019

Tom Kershaw said:
I agree. It is very important to have a viable equipment manufacturing sector for analogue photography. I'm using De Vere enlargers but do process film with a Jobo CPP-3 so see the value of newer equipment. On more than one occasion in the past I've spent too much time and effort on maintaining old darkroom gear.

Tom

Despite my half-joking post above, I too am glad that companies like Heiland exist and are producing high quality analog equipment. Unfortunately much of it is priced outside the reach of many hobbyist photographers. But so are new Leica film cameras and somehow I justified the cost of one of those. Maybe the cost of that Heiland cold light source isn't so bad after all

Ko.Fe. · Oct 19, 2019

200 for safelight? How it could be a “very positive” news? Are people this rich in Germany?

Lachlan Young · Oct 19, 2019

markbau said:
There aren't that many commercial labs around anymore and this equipment seems aimed at them. 200 euros for a safelight. 738 euros for a film dryer!

The educational market seems to be consuming all the drying cabinets that can be found - I've seen them heading in the 5-600 GBP direction. And the LED safelight is pretty clever, especially the one that can do colour. If you have a decently sized darkroom, a few beehive safelights soon add up, especially if you want to keep enough filters on hand to change them if needed.

Tom Kershaw said:
I'm using De Vere enlargers but do process film with a Jobo CPP-3 so see the value of newer equipment.

You can buy new De Vere's too - if you have a high 4 to low 5 figure budget. Pretty reasonable, when you consider that a Durst L184 or similar would be several times that, going by their old prices.

Ko.Fe. said:
200 for safelight? How it could be a “very positive” news? Are people this rich in Germany?

Good quality professional equipment isn't cheap. There's a market for it & that market doesn't spend its time on this forum whining about cost. Add up a few Kodak beehive safelights & a decent stock of new/ NOS filters & tell us what it comes to?

Kino · Oct 19, 2019

Maybe we will eventually see a new Spiratone-type re-marketer for the low to middle range market emerge if the demand continues to increase, but I doubt it.

In this age of Internet Ebay, Amazon and Alibaba direct marketing, it's hard to be a value-added seller because your customers can simply buy cheaper directly from the manufacturer.

Frank53 · Oct 19, 2019

Ko.Fe. said:
200 for safelight? How it could be a “very positive” news? Are people this rich in Germany?

I have 2 of those in my darkroom and I’m not rich. It’s a matter of priorities. You get what you pay for. Of course you can get something cheaper, but not better. There is a lot of light, a dimmer and a switch from red to white.
Regards,
Frank

mshchem · Oct 19, 2019

Team ADOX said:
As a manufacturer of film, photo paper and photo chemistry we are very happy and thankful that such companies like Heiland electronics, JOBO, Kaiser and Kienzle exists. They keep the labs running!
And they deliver excellent quality and service.

If you look at prices, you always have to consider which level of quality you get. And for how long the products can be used. And the products we are talking about here are on an extremely high quality level and can be used for several decades! We know that from our customers.
So if you calculate the costs per year you see they will be negligible.

ADOX - Innovation In Analog Photography.

I've got a CPP3 on order from Catlabs in the US. I have a still well functioning CPP2, I'm buying the new one for a couple reasons. First because it's way cool, secondly because it's available, and I like the idea of supporting Jobo. Based on the original costs of the older equipment, the price for the new machine is reasonable, expensive but reasonable. The costs of maintaining the tooling, doing short runs of injection molding, and vacuum forming are very high. We are lucky that these companies have survived. No I'm not buying an expensive film dryer, but a school that needs this equipment will be overjoyed to have it.
The LED light sources are expensive, but when you think that each is basically a custom made unit, it starts to make sense. Think how much the first dichro colorheads cost. These things were 6-700 dollars when Gold was trading at 40 dollars an ounce.

When I get working in my darkroom, and hold a sheet of variable contrast, 8x10, double weight, fiber base paper, and it costs $1.70 a sheet, I'm amazed. And IMHO, the film and papers being offered today are outstanding, again, IMHO, better than what came before. (Except for ASA 10 Kodachrome, but that's another story )
Best Regards Mike

Tom Kershaw · Oct 19, 2019

I have a 'Marrutt' film drying cabinet (all metal) that works well, but is probably due for a replacement air filter soon. Frustratingly there appears to be very little information available about these cabinets online. A new safelight is something I might be interested in at some point as I rely on an old ILFORD unit - with 902 filter(s) - that hangs from the ceiling with a 25W lamp - I suspect replacing the filters would be very expensive or not available - and an additional Paterson red safelight (15W) which is useful for more sensitive papers and light acclimatisation to and from working in complete darkness.

Arklatexian · Oct 19, 2019

Ko.Fe. said:
200 for safelight? How it could be a “very positive” news? Are people this rich in Germany?

"people" probably aren't but "companies" are. Look at everything said above as well as the Heiland line of equipment. This is NOT made for people like us, here or in Germany or anywhere else for that matter. I say that knowing that there are people who buy very, very expensive automobiles here in the USA who could easily afford the equipment shown above IF THEY WANTED IT and never miss it if they never used that same equipment. More power to them. But they also might not experience the enjoyment of finding a mint used 111f red dial Leica for not much money and going out and using it. Enjoy your hobby and don't fret about how much others can afford. If there is anything my 88 years has taught me it is that "envy" is a complete waste of time and just as important, it takes away from the enjoyment of a wonderful hobby! This post has shown me that there is still at least two companies in this world who build equipment, total up their costs, add a profit and then arrive at a selling price (the other is Leica),.. ...Regards!

Pieter12 · Oct 19, 2019

I am amazed and encouraged to see that anyone is still manufacturing new darkroom equipment of any sort at all, given the market is tiny and existing designs do the job well enough. It is not a business model one is going to get rich from.

MattKing · Oct 19, 2019

A $200.00 safelight makes a decent amount of sense, because if you have a commercial operation, and you need reliability, and need to replace something that is causing problems, a $200.00 investment is efficient and inexpensive.

tezzasmall · Oct 20, 2019

Lachlan Young said:
Good quality professional equipment isn't cheap. There's a market for it & that market doesn't spend its time on this forum whining about cost. Add up a few Kodak beehive safelights & a decent stock of new/ NOS filters & tell us what it comes to?

True Lachlan, but it's way above what the AVERAGE consumer can afford.

And my latest and recent safe-light purchase was, a bayonet to small screw in light holder and a red LED light. Both came in at a total of under £10 and the light alone is much brighter than my older TWO Paterson safe-lights when on together. The LED light is amazingly bright, has no fogging issues and has made my darkroom experience so much better.

I'm sure the new safe-light being talked about is good, but is it that much better in terms of £££/$$$?

Terry S

Pieter12 · Oct 20, 2019

Your LED may or my not be safe for all papers. I assume the Heiland lamp has been tested and can be trusted. These things cost money to develop, test, certify for safety and manufacture, especially in the small quantities that the darkroom market represents. Even if your safelight passes the Kodak safelight test, there is still the possibility of the Herschell effect, limiting the contrast rage of VC paper.

baachitraka · Oct 20, 2019

https://heilandelectronic.de/safelight_small

DREW WILEY · Oct 20, 2019

It's all a matter of priorities. People will spend over $200 on a pair of sneakers, or $800 apiece for cool-looking wheels that don't contribute a thing to the actual functional performance of their car. Or, closer to home, somebody finds it absolutely necessary to buy yet another $3000 camera lens that they'll seldom use anyway, or a thousand dollar Smartphone that they'll replace six months later because something slicker just came out. Then they whine if anything for the darkroom is priced as if it was other than an utter toy!

Tom Kershaw · Oct 20, 2019

DREW WILEY said:
It's all a matter of priorities. People will spend over $200 on a pair of sneakers, or $800 apiece for cool-looking wheels that don't contribute a thing to the actual functional performance of their car. Or, closer to home, somebody finds it absolutely necessary to buy yet another $3000 camera lens that they'll seldom use anyway, or a thousand dollar Smartphone that they'll replace six months later because something slicker just came out. Then they whine if anything for the darkroom is priced as if it was other than an utter toy!

And much darkroom gear will keep in good condition for multiple years / decades; unlike those sneakers or smartphone.

AgX · Oct 20, 2019

I am surprised that nobody has reacted on that dust detector. Of course, with the arguments above, for a few Euros one could get similar off the shelf from a hardware store, but that is not the point. I consider it a idea for a nice little tool.

Very positive news: Five new darkroom products from Heiland, Germany

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