[pure-silver] Re: Condenser envy

  • From: İbrahim Pamuk <ibrahim.pamuk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:46:49 +0300

Hi,

I understand that Callier effect results as contrast increase. Is it possible 
to get higher contast due to same approach printing with f/2.8 vs f/22?

Regards

Ibrahim Pamuk

-----Original Message-----
From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
[mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard Knoppow
Sent: 09 Nisan 2008 Çarşamba 07:31
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Condenser envy


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dennis Purdy" <dlp4777@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 6:00 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Condenser envy


>I am committed to my VC cold light head because my favorite 
>paper is VC and I don't want to use VC filters so I have an 
>Aristo VC head with florescent tubes in green and blue. 
>But I wish I could use a condenser head for the little 
>extra sharpness and contrast.  It occurred to me that my 
>cold light head is the same diameter as the condenser 
>housing on my Beseler Condenser head.  So if I attach my VC 
>cold light head to the top of the condenser housing doesn't 
>it become a VC condenser head? Would the light be 
>collimated the same as if I used the regular top to the 
>condenser head with the single light bulb?  Am I missing 
>something here?
> Dennis
>
    This won't really result in higher contrast. The cold 
light is a very diffuse source and even if its focused using 
the condensers it will still be quite diffuse. In fact, most 
condenser lamphouses are partially diffusing because they 
use lamps with large diffuse surfaces. The result is a 
source that is somewhat more collimated than a pure 
diffusion head but far from a true collimated source using a 
point source lamp. Actually, point sources are not too 
practical for general use because they very much increase 
the contrast of blemishes on the negative. The difference in 
contrast between a diffusion and collimated source depends 
on the photographic material. The effect is known as Callier 
Effect. It depends on how much light is scattered by the 
particals making up the image. For most B&W materials with 
relatively fine grain silver crystals the effect is about 
one paper grade increase from the true diffusion source to 
the partially diffusing condenser source. For color film, 
where the image is made up of very small, partially 
transparent, dye particals the effect is almost nil. This is 
one reason true point sources can be used for color work.
   There is no practical difference in resolution or 
acutance between a partially diffusing condenser and true 
diffusion source despite the common myth. Diffusion sources 
_do_ tend to reduce the effects of blemishes but only when 
the same contrast of printing paper is used for comparison. 
where the same negative is printed in both kinds of 
enlargers, and the paper grade is adjusted to match, the 
higher contrast required of the diffusion source will pick 
the blemishes up again. To some degree this is not true 
where the blemishes are in a different plane than the image, 
for instance, on the support side. In that case the 
diffusion source has some avantage in suppressing the 
blemishes.
    Point sources do increase resolution somewhat but that 
may be partly because of the way they concentrat light in 
the printing lens. A true condenser system working from a 
point source is focused on the entrance pupil of the lens so 
that the iris of the lens no longer functions. Exposure must 
be controled in some other way than changing f/stop. Bessler 
made a point source lamp for their enlargers for special 
purpose use. I think they were mainly intended for printing 
scientific negatives and for making very large color murals. 
They may still be around on the used market.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

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