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  #1  
Old 29th January 2010, 06:35 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Default Kaiser Duka 50 safelight

Hi. I have recently bought one of these secondhand for my darkroom. Does anyone have experience of using one? I need to know ;
Do I use the red or white filter for Ilford Multigrade B and W paper?
Whatis the second slider switch on the unit for? I can see that the other one controls brightness and assume I adjust it to suit the darkroom space. Thanks in advance for any advice, Alex
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Old 29th January 2010, 06:48 PM
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Use the red filter. Can't remember what the second slider is for but you will be able to see when you take the filter off.
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Old 29th January 2010, 06:57 PM
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Thanks for advice. I am going to put red one on now.
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Old 29th January 2010, 07:00 PM
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I'll vote for not using the red filter. I never did with mine - the amber is much more pleasant to work under and will not fog MGIV or most other papers. Having said that, as always, do a proper safelight test.

Can't remember what the second slider is for now either... Is it a limit-stop for the main slider?
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Old 29th January 2010, 07:10 PM
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can't remember which paper I tested it with but I found I got longer safe times with red filter.
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Old 29th January 2010, 07:51 PM
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Yeah, you will get longer times with red as amber (~590nm) is getting close to the paper's sensitivity, but the amber gave me 15+ mins (I stopped testing at 15m) as it is very narrow-bandwidth - not on full brightness but bright enough to read my notes. I find deep red very hard on the eyes compared to amber.

I use amber and orange LEDs now for b&w as replacing that Duka tube when it dies costs well over 100 beer tokens!

I only use the Duka for the occasional colour RA4 work now but even then I keep it covered with a piece of black card until I need to move the print from the developer to the stop in my Nova slotty thing.

Last edited by Bob; 29th January 2010 at 07:59 PM. Reason: added RA4 bit...
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Old 29th January 2010, 08:24 PM
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Well I got one of the durst LED ones. Not because the Duka isn't good but because I feared not being able to get replacement bulbs for the Duka. So its more of backup which has taken over cos its easier to use and doesn't have warm up time.
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Old 29th January 2010, 09:40 PM
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Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, (they usually do) but I beleive that two models were produced. One with a fluorescent light, which needs external clip-on filters, and a second more expensive model fitted with a sodium lamp that does not. The sodium model is not safe until it has warmed up for about 5 minutes whereas the fluorescent one can be used straight away.
The second lever set a limit for maximum brightness, the first dimming the light by progressively introducing a mechanical shroud around the lamp.
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Old 29th January 2010, 10:08 PM
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there's a cheaper model Duka 10 or 30 I think. It doesn't have sodium lamp.
The duka 50 has white/straw cover for colour work and a red cover for B+W. The red cover combined with sodium lamp gives very long safe times but is not very bright. Using the white cover makes it much brighter.
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Old 29th January 2010, 11:00 PM
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I've got one, lad it years for colour printing and still use it occasionally. I don't use it for B&W, it's quite dim with red filter and as Dave said it's warm up time is a problem and no good to connect with the enlarger timer switching.

The last time I inquired about a spare bulb I think I was quoted £125+ for one, so I save it for the little bit colour I do.
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