Color head or condenser head.

G

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Found a color head for my 4x5 enlarger, now it’s a condenser at the moment. Is there a real difference when printing Black and White, some say yes some no. I use 120 roll film only and every enlarger I have used has been a condenser type. Just wondering ????
 
The color head will give you less contrast but it also helps quite a bit on your prints- usually a bit less dusting and spotting. Also, most color heads have the filters built in which you might be able to use for contrast control when printing with variable contrast papers It has been many yeas since I had a darkroom but I printed with both and preferred using a color head.
 
I always used a colorhead to print BW. Diffusion enlarger light sources give nicer highlight tonality and make dust and scratches on the film less visible.

I have printed with condenser enlargers, too. You can get the same results with a condenser, but you must give shorter developing times on your films to compensate for the higher contrast a condenser gives. This reduces your film's effective speed (the reduced developing time), which is another disadvantage of a condenser head.

When I was younger, "Cold Light" heads were popular. They're a diffusion light source that uses fluorescent light. They seem to have fallen by the wayside, which is fine. They did not work well with VC paper, and their light output was less stable than the light from halogen bulbs used in colorheads.
 
The color head is more user friendly. But for sectional enlargement the condenser
wins. I've got both. The color head is on the 4x5 enlarger and the condenser
head on the smaller Durst 2 1/4.
 
Hari said:
The color head is more user friendly. But for sectional enlargement the condenser
wins. I've got both. The color head is on the 4x5 enlarger and the condenser
head on the smaller Durst 2 1/4.
Click to expand...


What's sectional enlargement, and why is a condenser head better for it?
 
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