anu L ogy
Well-known
I have two safelights in my darkroom, but I am wondering if they must have special bulbs, of if I can replace one that went out with an LED. They're covered by very thick red plastic.
Safe light
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Glenn2
Well-known
I always used low wattage bulbs in my lights, nothing special. The red filter cuts out the wavelengths that paper is sensitive to so it shouldn’t matter if the source is incandescent or LED, as long as it’s not too bright.
The way my darkroom is set up the safe lights are on a dimmer so they can be turned down.
After Christmas I thought about picking up a string of red LED lights when they were on sale. My idea was to attach them around the dark room walls near the ceiling. Safe light and something to help keep you oriented in the dark combined. Must look up what the spectrum of red LEDs is?
Glenn
The way my darkroom is set up the safe lights are on a dimmer so they can be turned down.
After Christmas I thought about picking up a string of red LED lights when they were on sale. My idea was to attach them around the dark room walls near the ceiling. Safe light and something to help keep you oriented in the dark combined. Must look up what the spectrum of red LEDs is?
Glenn
Bill Clark
Veteran
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Keep in mind that safelight filters fade over time and become less safe. I used Kodak's expensive OC Glass Safelight filters in Kodak safelight fixtures, and they had to be replaced every few yrs. Many people don't, but if you do a fogging test with paper, you'll see the difference!
zuiko85
Veteran
I found that with some graded RC I had the regular 15w safelight bulb (bright lab brand) fogged paper quickly whereas my Ilford MGIV RC was unaffected. I was in a hurry and rigged a white LED strip light to shine through a brown beer bottle which seemed to work fine for the graded paper.
Bill Clark
Veteran
This is one of the safelights I use:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=528&fct=fct_brand_name|paterson&N=4077265228
I find that the distance from the paper makes a difference on paper getting fogged.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=528&fct=fct_brand_name|paterson&N=4077265228
I find that the distance from the paper makes a difference on paper getting fogged.
joeswe
Well-known
If the filter glass is in good working order, it shouldn't make a difference if the bulb behind is LED or incandescent, as long as the brightness is the same. But whatever you do, don't assume. You should take this opportunity to conduct a thorough safelight test, which MUST include pre-exposure of the paper. Instructions from Kodak and others can be found online. It is a bit of work, but it will rule out any uncertainties and doubts and give you peace of mind. Invaluable.
An uncomfortable aspect of the truth is that it is difficult to generalize results obtained from testing one type of paper to other varities. So a safelight setup and workflow that is safe for one type of paper might easily fog a second type. Red safelight is usually the safest for current b+w paper but also the most uncomfortable to work with. Orange/yellow safelights are easier on the eye, but some types of paper have a partial sensitivity in that part of the spectrum and will fog. The bottomline is that you will have to test every type of paper you use individually.
An uncomfortable aspect of the truth is that it is difficult to generalize results obtained from testing one type of paper to other varities. So a safelight setup and workflow that is safe for one type of paper might easily fog a second type. Red safelight is usually the safest for current b+w paper but also the most uncomfortable to work with. Orange/yellow safelights are easier on the eye, but some types of paper have a partial sensitivity in that part of the spectrum and will fog. The bottomline is that you will have to test every type of paper you use individually.
