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  #1  
Old 27th November 2009, 10:20 AM
Tom Kershaw Tom Kershaw is offline
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Default The ILFORD MULTIGRADE enlarger heads

Reading through the recent thread on issues with enlarger timers I note mentioned is made of the 'MULTIGRADE' heads. What exactly are the advantage of these heads, availability of higher contrast grades? I'm satisfied with a 'Dichromat' colour head on my DeVere, especially as I do make colour prints.

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Old 27th November 2009, 10:29 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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Generally that a grade change can be made with a single adjustment. My Durst has a single wheel with grades 0 to 5 denoted on it. The draw back is that it's set for Ilford papers (I think) but I haven't fount that to be a problem with other makes, since I'm not a grade slave.

Some “multi-grade” heads are twin lamp unit which are much more versatile than mu single lamp unit, since compensation may be made for paper characteristics; especially when coupled to one of Richard’s dedicated timers.
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Last edited by Dave miller; 27th November 2009 at 10:52 AM. Reason: Adendum
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Old 27th November 2009, 10:59 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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If you are making colour prints as well as mono I would stay with the dichromat head. Head swapping is possible but not an easy process and you wouldn't want to doing it very often.

However, I use Ilfiord 500H muligrade heads on my two De Veres and they are fantastic for mono work as that is what they have been specifically designed to do. The head uses 2 x 300 watt quartz halogen lamps to give short exposure times which are constant over the entire contrast range (other systems need much more exposure time for grades 4 to 5) this is handy for large prints, dense negs and lith printing. One lamp projects through a green filter and the other through a blue filter; the light is mixed in a diffused mixing box. All is controlled by a probe and keypad timer / controller to give you grades from 0 to 5 with half grades between + several other functions. They are also fan cooled and negs do not run hot and pop. Also RH Designs do a version of their Analyser that works very well with the the head and can just be substituted for the Ilford keypad timer / controller.

As mentioned above you really need this head on its own enlarger chassis and I wouldn't want to be swapping it about once I had set my enlarger up. The other problem is they are now hard to find, spares can be a problem as they have been out of production for many years and they tend to be pricey. But in my opinion they are probably the best head you can find for general mono work.

Neil.
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Old 27th November 2009, 11:12 AM
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Trevor Crone Trevor Crone is offline
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I too use a MG 500 head on my DeVere 504 for the very reasons Neil has explained so well. However I don't use/have the probe. It is such a breeze just to tap the keypad to change grades while printing. I also use the dedicated footswitch which is a great help when manipulating the print.

If you are doing colour printing then I would stick with the Dichromat head.
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Old 27th November 2009, 11:49 AM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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Trevor,
I agree about the probe. I also stopped using it sometime ago. Richard's Analyser works a treat on the 500H, although currently I do not have it connected Since I have had my new darkroom I can't make my mind up if it should go on the 203 or the 504 - decisions, decisions BTW just off to use the 203 to do a spot of lith printing

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Old 27th November 2009, 12:25 PM
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Obviously you need a second Analyser 500 Neil .
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Old 27th November 2009, 01:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RH Designs View Post
Obviously you need a second Analyser 500 Neil .

Agreed, but I don't think my brain would cope with using two of them at the same time


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Old 27th November 2009, 02:14 PM
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Ilford 500H multi-grade system is a walk in the park to use. Had one on my de vere 504 but never felt the need to use a probe. Even my little ilford exposure probe sits collecting dust.

My control unit for my Ilford 500H when up in a puff of black smoke recently and could find anyone locally to do an economical repair so shipped the Multigrade head and control panel/timer of to Paul Peterson/Secondhand darkroom. If he as sourced a new control unit then there's a place for a good reasonably priced multigrade system.

Still have the chasis for the 504 about if anyone is looking spares for nothing.
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Old 27th November 2009, 05:06 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Larry Bartlett in his book comes out in favour of the dual lamp MG head for the very reasons already mentioned but goes on to say that with this head grades are infinitely variable just as they are in theory with a colour head.

However what is interesting is that Larry says that an under the lens filter set is preferable to a colour head, although only half grade steps can be obtained. My understanding of Larry's reasons for the Ilford MG under the lens filter set is (a) it's constant exposure up to grade 3.5 and then its double but constant exposure at grades 4-5 and (b) the ability to produce a genuine grade 5 which he feels is lacking with a colour head.

Others with a lot of B&W printing experience( Ralph Lambrecht being one) seem to take the view that colour heads are preferable although admitting that times are not constant with dual filtration but compensation can be applied in fractions of stops and then translated into seconds if need be for exposure.

I suppose that without a MG head there is a lot to be said for under the lens MG filters in terms of simplicity of use.

Mike
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Old 27th November 2009, 05:28 PM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
Larry Bartlett in his book comes out in favour of the dual lamp MG head for the very reasons already mentioned but goes on to say that with this head grades are infinitely variable just as they are in theory with a colour head.

However what is interesting is that Larry says that an under the lens filter set is preferable to a colour head, although only half grade steps can be obtained. My understanding of Larry's reasons for the Ilford MG under the lens filter set is (a) it's constant exposure up to grade 3.5 and then its double but constant exposure at grades 4-5 and (b) the ability to produce a genuine grade 5 which he feels is lacking with a colour head.

Others with a lot of B&W printing experience( Ralph Lambrecht being one) seem to take the view that colour heads are preferable although admitting that times are not constant with dual filtration but compensation can be applied in fractions of stops and then translated into seconds if need be for exposure.

I suppose that without a MG head there is a lot to be said for under the lens MG filters in terms of simplicity of use.

Mike
Multi-grade heads do provide a constant exposure through the grades, at least mine seems to, although I don't do the extreme grades very often.
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