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  #1  
Old 28th May 2011, 05:03 PM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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Default Safelight for colour paper

I am toying with the idea of using a safelight when colour printing. I have always exposed in total darkness and put the paper in my Paterson orbital printer or a print drum for larger sizes. I thought that in order to save time I might still use the Orbital dish for developer, but have the stop and blix in open dishes just like B&W print processing. A safelight would be a great help in this situation, even if I only use it in short bursts. I note that Silverprint have an inexpensive battery operated one I thought I might try before ever spending out on anything more expensive.

http://www.silverprint.co.uk/Product...asp?PrGrp=1095

Has anyone any experience of colour safelights? Any advice would be appreciated.
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Old 28th May 2011, 05:38 PM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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The RH model, whilst very good, is not intended for general safe lighting since it only works if you keep the button depressed.
The unit more suited to your needs would be the Kaiser "spectral 590" Darkroom Safelight illustrated on the same page.
I'm at a bit of a loss to understand how removing the print from the processor will safe time, my experience with both the units that you refer to suggests that it will not.
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  #3  
Old 28th May 2011, 06:48 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Keep an eye open for a DUKA 10 or 50 on e-bay. These are effectively the same lamp but the 10 is the earlier model. A good light but the wave length used makes the paper "blind" to the light

They fetch a fraction of what there were when new. Make sure you get the seller to confirm the lamp lights. The replacement sodium bulb cost a fortune. If it goes it is cheaper to buy another DUKA

Mike
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Old 28th May 2011, 06:50 PM
DavidH DavidH is offline
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Prevously, I have emptied the developer out, put in stop bath, emptied that out and then put in fix. To make this a little easier, I have taken the orbital tank containing the exposed paper to the kitchen where there is more light, more surface to work on, and running water. Doing this "one-at-a-time" processing can get a bit time consuming.
What I hope to do is simply remove the print from the developer, then put it in stop and then fix, leaving the developer in the processor for the next print. This will make colour processing much more like B&W. I could have a fourth tray of water for the fixed prints and when I have done several, wash them properly and dry them. The idea of using the orbital processor for developing rather than an open tray is that I find it difficult to imagine that colour paper would be unaffected by anything more than a brief exposure to a "safe" light.
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Old 28th May 2011, 07:38 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidH View Post
I find it difficult to imagine that colour paper would be unaffected by anything more than a brief exposure to a "safe" light.
Depends what you mean by brief. I have never tested my DUKA but I had the time to take the paper out of its box, place in easel, expose, occasionally use a dodging tool, remove from easel and load into a Jobo drum so a lot more than a few seconds. Probably with getting the dodging tool into position it was about a minute at least. No problem with fogging from what I could see.

Mike
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Old 29th May 2011, 07:05 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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When I did colour printing I used a Duka50 sodium safe light without fogging problems. It needed about 5 minutes to warm-up an reach the correct "safe" colour temperature so it had a mechanical blind to shut off the light for focusing. Initially I used a Nova slot processor for developing but later changed to a Paterson orbital because I because allergic to the chemical fumes.
I still use a Paterson for 10x8 B&W print developing and pour the solutions into and out of three screw top jars so the lids help keep the fumes at bay. The working area needed is about the same size as an enlarger baseboard.
All safe lights need to be tested in the position in which they are to be used, colour is no exception. My Duka's provided a light that was bright enough to read newsprint by whilst being safe for more than 5 minutes at two metres distance, so as Mike says well worth considering. His advice regarding lamps is valid, the last time I looked for a replacement it was about £125 so I too binned the unit an brought another second-hand unit.
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Old 29th May 2011, 09:54 AM
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The Duka 50 sodium safelight's about the only one that can be truly regarded as "safe" but even then it's touch and go because RA4 materials are so fast. If you can work in darkness I suggest you do, unless you can find a Duka 50 but even one of those will fog RA4 sooner or later. The right sort of yellow LED is OK but you should never shine it directly at the paper, and ours has a momentary action switch for a good reason! LEDs have a wider spectrum than the sodium lamps used in the Duka.
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Old 30th May 2011, 07:05 PM
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I have used my Duka with my Nova slotty thing and Fuji RA4 paper

I pointed the Duka at the ceiling and even then found I had to shield the light so much with a sheet of card that it was essentially useless until the paper went in the slotty thing - and even them I had to keep it 90% covered. After development I could have the thing unshielded on its lowest setting without causing a colour-shift to do the stop/wash/fix in reasonable brightness.

Perhaps RA4 paper has gotten faster over the years, now that it is designed for mechanical/laser printing only?
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Old 30th May 2011, 07:49 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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This is a little worrying, Bob. I used to process in a drum so the DUKA only had to be safe until I got the print into the drum but I want to try a Nova.

I have the Nova some six and half feet from the DUKA which points into the air so it is bounced light with about an 10 feet path and the setting in on 10. The lowest is zero but this is the equivalent of no light as a mechanical shield inside the lamp virtually covers it on zero setting. When you say lowest setting do you refer to zero, 5, 10 or what?


How does this compare to your layout? I'd have thought that once in the dev slot with this DUKA setting and distance that the slot was deep enough to effectively shield the print?

I was using Supra Endura and Fuji CA which I think are designed for optical exposure in analogue darkroom. I still will be using both these papers for a while but of course Supra Endura is no more and the latest Fuji sheet paper might be designed for laser printing.

Maybe Matt from Ag can help here and say whether the latest Fuji paper is still the same in safelight terms for optical printing

Mike
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Old 31st May 2011, 07:10 PM
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As you can see from the above, others have had somewhat different experiences. There are so many variables, what works in one room can cause problems next door.

My slots for example were only 5-10 degrees off axis with the light; placing the slotty thing where it is at right-angles to the light source may well make a big difference. Or perhaps my Duka lamp is on its last legs and is emitting a significant amount of light out of band.

Suck it and see...
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