i was helping a friend install a cold light head on his beseler 23c, we were outraged to find you could no longer use the tray for contrast filters. is this an oversight on our part or are you just forced to use below the lens filters with this combo. any help appreciated.-J

-- josh (oper_33@yahoo.com), September 03, 2001

Answers

There are mixed reviews about using filters with a cold light head. If you are going to use contrast filters it will need to below the lens or place the filter on top of the negative carrier after focusing. For my own work, I only use graded fiber paper. I have several students who are using cold light heads with filters and have made great prints. Some of the literature indicates poor contrast range with the use of filters and cold light heads, it has to due with the color band of the light source vs filters. I am sure you can find more detailed information out there some where. Test for yourself is the best method, everyone has an opinon about everything in photography. Be open, experiment and use what gives you the best results for the effect you are looking for.

-- Ann Clancy (clancya@mediaone.net), September 04, 2001.

Outraged???? Why the hell didn't you research the setup beforehand? ANY cold light head instruction sheet would have educated you to the fact the head must be as close to the negative as possible. Either Beseler or Aristo would have told you had you asked.

You should be outraged at your own ignorance!

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), September 04, 2001.

wow alec your a particularly grumpy person. why dont you go back under the bridge with the other trolls. all i did was ask a simple question but of course some jack ass has chime in with an attitude. please if thats your idea of being helpful, keep it to yourself.-J

-- josh (oper_33@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

Alec is right, of course, but didn't say it in a very friendly fashion. As consumers we are all responsible to verify that the equipment we buy will work for our purposes. You've learned a very valuable lesson, and at a cheap price.

Depending on what tube you got in your cold light, filters may or may not work with it. Aristo introduced a new tube (V54,I think) with blue & green phosphors, so VC filters will work OK. You will be forced to use below-the-lens filters, but that's really the case with all cold light systems that I know of.

If your's is a standard tube, the light contains so little green that VC filters won't really be effective.

In any case, if you get high-quality filters and keep them in good condition they should not degrade your image.

Charlie

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), September 04, 2001.

There are two places where you can put VC filters in an unmodified Beseler 23C: in the drawer above the condensers or in the smaller drawer below the negative stage (and above the lens). Does the cold light head prevent you from using the smaller (lower) filter drawer?

If I misunderstood your question and you're saying you can't use VC filters with the cold light head then you don't have the new V54 tubes so you have to use graded papers.

-- Bong Munoz (bong@techie.com), September 04, 2001.

I dont really need any lessons on being a consumer. the light is still going to work for my friend. all i wanted to say is that i was shocked to find you couldnt use the filter tray and had to use below the lens filters.in all the reading i have done on cold light heads i have never seen this fact mentioned. i thought it was pretty simple. i did get my answer but why all the shit about being a better consumer.

-- josh (oper_33@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

The upper filter tray is part of the condenser head. If you replace the condenser head with a cold light head, you should not be "outraged" (at whom?) that there is no longer a filter drawer.

If you have a newer Aristo head, then you probably have the V54 tube and can use filters without the problems that Ann mentioned. If you bought a used Aristo cold light head and it is not a V54 tube, then you should use graded paper. Some people have built there own filter drawer that fits under Aristo head. Or you can place the filter right below the Aristo diffuser. It will take a little work to cut the filters to size, and changing the filter will not be as quite as easy as a filter drawer, but it will work. As Ann mentioned above, you can also place the filter on top of the negative carrier, but you need to make sure that it is not in the plane of focus.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), September 05, 2001.

when i said outraged i was exagerating what i meant was we were both very surprised. jesus why are you people so nitpicky. PLEASE STOP RESPONDING TO THIS I DO NOT NEED ANY MORE INFORMATION! AND I REALLY DONT CARE TO HEAR ANY MORE PEOPLE CRITISIZING ME FOR MISUSING THE WORD "OUTRAGED" IM SORRY I DIDNT KNOW EVERYONE WOULD TAKE IT TO HEART.

-- josh (oper_33@yahoo.com), September 05, 2001.

Josh, I retract the first sentence of my post, and substitute the following in its place:

"The upper filter tray is part of the condenser head. If you replace the condenser head with a cold light head, you should not be "surprised" that there is no longer a filter drawer."

I hope this makes you feel better.

-- Michael Feldman (mfeldman@qwest.net), September 05, 2001.

Bong, installation of the CL head requires removal of the condensers. The CL head then sits directly above the lens stage [as close as possible]. At that point, it interferes with the upper filter drawer. That's what Josh was "outraged" about.

-- Alec (alecj@bellsouth.net), September 05, 2001.

When I went to the Aristo conversion, I was concerned about the effect of below the lens filters. After printing a while, my concerns went away. At one point, I even made a print with the #2 filter and another with no filter (half the exposure time, of course.) I couldn't see any difference between the prints. Later, I met a professional printer with twenty years experience who can't see a difference, either. You should have the V54 bulb. If you don't, Aristo will sell you just the bulb, which is much cheaper than whole power supply and light head unit. I do keep my filters clean, but find for split printing, below the lens is actually quite handy.

-- Phil Stiles (Stiles@metrocast.net), September 05, 2001.