Zone VI 4x5 type II enlarger - cold light head performance stability

Hello everyone, I’m new in this great and I thank you all for any help you will provide.

I’m about buying a used Zone VI 4x5 type II enlarger, very difficult to find in Italy, but since it has been used by a professional printer, although it looks in really great conditions, I’m concerned about the performance of the light head after years of intense use. The device seems to light on and work properly, the variable contrast control works too by dimming the 2 light sources as required, anyway I wonder if the performance of the light sources deteriorate over time and if there is any mean to check it or measure it by myself.

Should the light source be not at 100% condition with regards to the light intensity, could it affect the quality of the prints or it’s just a matter of increasing exposure time?
Could the light source be refurbished without replacing the entire head with the aristo one?

Your help will be invaluable to me. Thanks.
Claudio

Hi Claudio, I've been a ZVI (5x7) user for 15 years. Your concerns are well founded and I will add one more. Calumet, the retailer/producer of the rig is no longer in the US. I wouldn't have recommended them to anyone without specific purpose or the desire to replace the head even prior to Calumet's demise. Why invest in it at all if you suspect the head will have to be replaced? I'll leave Aristo replacements, if there are any, to others for comment.

That's not to say fine art prints cannot be made with it, just that there are other, more easily repairable and operable enlargers out there. Yes, the performance will degrade as the tubes age. You will just be at exposing longer times, something that its relatively weak light source is already known for. But, you better pray that the blue tube does not go out, since that is necessary for both graded and hard contrast in VC papers.

BTW, there used to be a ZVI group here on APUG, but it received almost no attention.

Aristo told me a couple of years ago that they don't make the Zone VI tubes--they aren't pulg-n-play, so you'd have to somehow fabricate something that can use Aristo tubes, if THEY are any longer available ...

Dear friends, thanks a lot, your replies enlightened me. Taking in due consideration your comments I would like to ask you what hi end cold light enlarger, matching the renowned quality of Zone VI, would you suggest me to buy?
Thanks a lot

Claudio,
You might try contacting Louise Kessler at Voltarc. I dealt with her to buy spare tubes for my Aristo 4500 VCL light. At that time they had taken over the Aristo line and she might be familiar with your light.
louise.kessler@voltarc.com
lkessler@CDL.com

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Claudio, if you decide to go ahead and get a cold light head, consider also getting a timer designed to provide repeatably stable exposures with these heads, which produce varying light output. I have the Zone VI one, together with the photocell, and it is a 220V model, available to sell, see here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Good luck in your search.

jeffreyg said:

Claudio,
You might try contacting Louise Kessler at Voltarc. I dealt with her to buy spare tubes for my Aristo 4500 VCL light. At that time they had taken over the Aristo line and she might be familiar with your light.
louise.kessler@voltarc.com
lkessler@CDL.com

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Click to expand...

I recently bought spare tubes from Voltarc for my Aristo VCL4500. They were expensive and packaging and transport overseas was also expensive. It was worth it to me as the unit works so well.

The Zone VI unit you are interested in buying probably has tubes made by Aristo (since bought out by Voltarc.) Unless the price of the unit is quite low, I wouldn't buy it unless you can get a spare set of tubes. They do last well, but a professional photographer might have given them a lot of use compared to an amateur. Louise is very helpful. I don't know if she would be familiar with the Zone VI unit. Perhaps opening it up and photographing and measuring the tubes would help (they may well be the same as the VCL4500 unit's tubes.)

On the subject of compensating timers, the RH Designs Stop Clock Vario is state of the art in my opinion.

The RH Designs timers are excellent, but bear in mind that they are designed for printers who like to use f-stop timing. I used to do that a lot more, but now I prefer the simpler, traditional time-based approach, for which a simpler timer, like the Zone VI, works better for me. Having said that, I own both types of timers, so I guess I am hedging my bets.

It was Louise Kessler I was corresponding with, regarding the actual Zone VI enlarger head. If Aristo made a cold light head for Zone VI, that might take new tubes, but they have to manufacture them special.

She was very quick to respond, and this was at Voltarc. I think she directed me to Calumet, who had no replacements or repairs of anything Zone VI. Now there's no one to even respond.

I use an Omega D5 with a color head, which gives a diffused light, and they are way more common, as are Beseler enlargers.

megzdad81 said:

Aristo told me a couple of years ago that they don't make the Zone VI tubes--they aren't pulg-n-play, so you'd have to somehow fabricate something that can use Aristo tubes, if THEY are any longer available ...

Click to expand...

I missed this post when I suggested Voltarc. If Aristo didn't make the tubes, then someone else did. It would seem a rather specialized type of manufacture, so I wonder if there are other makers of these types of tubes, presumably in the USA. It's a pity that Calumet has just declined, as there might have been an outside chance that they would have known something.

The Aristo VCL4500 might be better than the Zone VI unit that the OP is interested in. The spare tubes were available (manufactured to order) as of a couple of years ago by Voltarc. As an aside, these tubes do not exhibit such a variation in intensity as the temperature changes (compared to the much older Zone VI single tube models which necessitated the compensating timers, stabilizers etc.

If I were the OP, I'd be thinking of a standard colour head on a standard enlarger, just to make life simpler if spares were needed etc.

Hello friends,
I wrote to Mrs Kessler to know if it would be possible to get from Voltarc a set of spare tubes as a replacement for the currently installed one or, as an alternative, knowing the specification and the pressure of the gas loaded inside the tubes, refurbish them.

For your convenience, I report the measurement of the tubes I took this morning:
BLUE TUBE: it seems to be white coated and bears the mark: “EGL ULTRABLUE”. It is 10mm thick and about 260mm long.
GREEN TUBE: it seems to be green-yellow coated and bears the mark: “EGL V.P. GREEN A1997T”. It is 10mm thick and about 260mm long.

The length of the tubes could not be measures easily since they bend behind the white mounting plate showed in the picture to connect with their respective electrical plugs. I can also confirm you that it would not be easy to replace them since they are glued together and semi-permanently secured to the mounting plate by the same glue. Moreover the power cables seem to be welded to the tubes and additionally secured with crimped caps.

Bye

For reference, here are the Aristo replacement lamps that are currently available:
Aristo Replacement Lamps
(VCL4500 and VCL8100 lamp sets are on the 2nd page)

Here is the online documentation archive for all Aristo lamps:
Aristo Archive
(six pages of useful information)

And for those with the resources and antacid tablets, here's the LCD Lighting custom lamp production page:
Custom Fluorescent Lamps

If you do have occasion to contact Louise Kessler (louise.kessler@voltarc.com) don't forget to say thank you. She worked very hard over an extended period to convince her extremely skeptical bosses to bring these replacement grid lamps back into production.

The lamps had to be reengineered from scratch to the original specs at no small cost to the company. During the resurrection process I had occasion to speak with one of her vice presidents while trying to convince him that a market still existed. He flatly dismissed the idea, stating unequivocally that "Darkroom photography is extinct. This isn't going to happen."

Louise was instrumental in changing his, and many others, minds.

Ken

Ken Nadvornick said:

For reference, here are the Aristo replacement lamps that are currently available:
Aristo Replacement Lamps
(VCL4500 and VCL8100 lamp sets are on the 2nd page)

Click to expand...

Hello, I ran across this thread via a search. I recently acquired a Besler 23C with a Zone VI cold head and the lamp was broken. I clicked on the link above and the lamp displayed on that page for the Besler 23C looks quite a bit like the lamp in my Zone VI head. Does anyone know if those lamps will work in the Zone VI head or are they for Aristo heads only?

Thanks!

There is a chance, yes, depending on which head you have.

Before switching to an Aristo VCL4500 variable contrast head I was using a Zone VI standard head with a V45 tube. This was the round head that slipped directly down into an Omega D5 lamp house. I was able to upgrade from the V45 tube to a more bluish-green V54 tube (better when used with variable contrast filters) purchased directly from the original Aristo, before they went out of business.

Since the resurrected Aristo replacement lamps (now by LCD Lighting) were reengineered to similar specifications as the originals, you may be able to use a direct drop-in replacement, depending on the head. Any replacement lamp needs to match the lamp house being used, not necessarily the enlarger.

Your best bet would be to contact Louise directly via email. She's very knowledgeable regarding the original Aristo lamps and should be able to assist. As far as I know the above Voltarc address still gets through to her at LCD. I still hear from her occasionally. Last I heard she said that the Aristo replacement lamp sales have continued to move forward, which was good news.

And welcome to APUG. Hope you might consider sticking around.



Ken

Ken Nadvornick said:

And welcome to APUG. Hope you might consider sticking around.



Ken

Click to expand...

Thanks very much. I do plan on sticking around. I have decided to resurrect my darkroom hobby. I have told my wife for several years now that I really miss working in my darkroom and she has encouraged me to go for it. This forum seems to be a great resource.

I am using the Aristo 4500VCL and did replace the bulbs which I purchased from Voltarc with the help of Louise Kessler. Aristo also made cold light heads for a number of enlargers. They could be used with graded papers or with variable contrast filters. I still have the 1997 Aristo catalog. The cold light head (not variable contrast) for the Beseler 23C was model BES23C and the power supply B23. As I recall you remove the condensers and the head fits in their housing. I used that with my Omega D2 until I got the 4500VCL. For that head there is a control unit/power supply that you can vary the contrast by settings and dial in contrast.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/