Enlarger help needed!

[ian1987]

Hi!
i bought a while ago a very basic BW enlarger (condenser type), and it came with no light bulb in it. i tried the first bulb I found around the house (a 60W clear) and (obviously very dark, it was just a test) I saw the light wasn't properly spread in the projection of the light. I changed the bulb for a 75W diffused bulb and it looked a lot better, but still there is a slightly noticeable gradient of light at it's projection. Would moving up to a 100W bulb solve this? What bulb do you recommend? In the instruction manual it doesent specify the type of light bulb, it just says 100W maximum.
please shed a bit of light to this issue.
Thank you!

 

[Steph]

Sometimes you can get uneven lighting because of writings on the glass of the bulb. Bulbs designed for enlargers don't have any writings on them. Maybe you could try one of those to see if it makes a difference.

 

[ian1987]

i already thought about that, but the writing in the bulb is on the top, so the light that's going into the condenser isn't (at least that's what I think) not affected by the writing.

 

[Torus34]

See if you can interpose a piece of opal glass between the bulb and the condensers/film.

 

[df3photo]

what model of enlarger is it?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...clsgr=&bl=&sb=bs,upper(ds)&sq=asc&fi=all&pn=5
you could try one of these... toward the middle bottom of the page... the ones that look like light bulbs... thats what we used to use, but chances are if you have a frosted 100w bulb it will probably work...

 

[ksmattfish]

What is the brand and model of your enlarger? If you can screw in a normal household bulb, I'd guess you want a PH140 75 watt, or a PH211 75 watt.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_search.php?rfnp=2100&q=bulb&rfnc=2101&

 

[Majik Imaje]

if it says 100 watt max then it can handle 100 watt lamps.

I am not trying to be a smart arse at all, just putting it up as I can see .


I am also wondering if you have the condenser set right ?

have you tried to insert a negative and view it in the dark ?

do you have the correct focal length lens?

I have a lot of questions !