I just bought a used Beseler 45 and the light bulb in it is a household softlight 100 watt. Will this work? Seems a bit odd. The Beseler manual just says a 150 bulb with a part #. What should I be using? If a household light is ok, should it be a coated or clear bulb? Thanks for any help.

-- Scott Donley (sdonley@qwest.net), March 19, 2001

Answers

A household bulb will work, but you don't want printing on the end. The heavier the white coating, the better, and a real photo bulb is only a few bucks more.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), March 20, 2001.

You really need the opal bulb because you will get uneven light. To satisfy your own mind, put in a regular bulb and make a print (without any negative) so that it is mid grey. You will see uneveness. Cheers

-- Scott Walton (f64sw@hotmail.com), March 20, 2001.

Scott,

The unevenness that you see without a negative, may not indicate an uneven light source. It may be the result of a reflection of the rear lens element in the lower condensor. Ctein discussed this, with the same enlager, in the Jan/Feb issue of PhotoTechniques.

-- Ed Farmer (photography2k@hotmail.com), March 20, 2001.

The "real" bulb is only a couple dollars. A 150 watt is normal, but there are other sizes too. The higher wattages get rather hot. If you ever print color you need the right bulb to help ensure the color balance, especially when getting another bulb later. The condenser head on my 45MX is far more even than the Zone VI cold light could ever hope to be.

-- E.L. (elperdido65@hotmail.com), March 21, 2001.

Ed, Not to be argumentative but put a regular bulb inplace of your opal bulb and focus. You will see the filament and that in itself will cause uneveness whether or not it is in focus or not. I have tried this approach in a pinch and it fail miserably! Cheers

-- Scott Walton (f64sw@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.