I have a color enlarger (new model) - the first time I bought a spot for the enlarger in a photoshop I paid app $30, which at second thought seemed a bit expensive for a spot of 250 Watt. 1) Was I ripped off - and 2) Can I use the kind of 250 Watt spots found in regular stores (supermarkets etc...) which are a lot cheaper - and if not, why can't I use them? Any disadvantages?

I've used that first spot for about 6 months after which it broke down - is this a normal lifetime for an enlarger lamp (especially since I'm only using the enlarger for about 3 to 4 sessions/month)? The spot which came with the enlarger also broke quite soon (but as it was a second hand enlarger I thought this was probably normal). Could this indicate there's something wrong with the enlarger (the ventilator seems to be working fine), or was I again ripped off at the photostore? I don't want to run into $30-expenses each 6 months.

Thanks!

Wim

-- wim (wim@vl-brabant.be), June 17, 1999