Meopta colorhead for Multigrade ?

[gliderbee]

I have always kept my Opemus 5 (just in case) and am going to set up my darkroom again to do some wetprinting (after about 20 years ...).

I also just bought S/H a colorhead for the Opemus 5 (so cheap I couldn't resist).

Can a colorhead be used when working with Multigrade paper ? IOW, can I mix the colors to simulate the Multigrade filters ? I know Meopta had a special head to do this, the Meograde, but I can't find that one anywhere ...

Thanks,
Stefan.

 

[oftheherd]

I have never done that, but as soon as I start printing again (soon I hope), I will be, since I have a color diffuser head only. I am not a fan of multigrade, but will do some experimenting I think. I remember reading years ago, that color heads (of any type) could be used with multigrade. I don't recall any settings, so before I do it, I will have to do some research, or wait for some of those in the forums who do it to come up and say how.

 

[FrankHarries]

Sure you can. You should make some tests to find out, how you have to set the filters. To have a starting point: google the settings for colourhead MG Printing - there should be some basic settings (for example. Durst enlargers) you could start with

 

[sevo]

Any colour head can be used, within limits, for variable contrast paper, controlling the blue and green intensity with the yellow and magenta filter wheels respectively. The paper manufacturers have tables that specify the filter settings and exposure factors corresponding to each gradation.

Be aware that you will probably not reach the full range of the paper, as colour heads usually max out sooner than VC heads. But that does not really matter - you'll still reach the range of current fine art grade fixed contrast papers (i.e. gradations 2-4) or a bit more. The extremes never delivered a pleasant image in any case - whenever you needed them, your film exposure or processing were at fault (and rescuing that is nowadays better done by scan and post-process).

Sevo

 

[gliderbee]

Well, once one knows something is possible, it's a lot easier to find information for it; here's a table from Meopta:

http://www.meopta.com/index.php?id=351

I'll have to see if it works for the colourhead I bought, but it's a start.

Thanks for your help,

Stefan.