Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/05/16

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To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Subject: Re: Condenser light vs. cold light?
From: Charles E. Dunlap <cdunlap@rupture.ucsc.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 May 96 22:49:04 -0700

This question comes up in rec.photo.darkroom quite frequently. The 
consensus there is that, Fred Picker's claims to the contrary, the Zone 
System can be applied successfully and a print of identical tonality 
produced with either light source. The condenser enlarger will produce a 
more contrasty print from the same negative than a cold light enlarger, 
but if you calibrate your film speed rating and development time to your 
enlarger correctly then you will be able to produce a negative that will 
be able to print as you like it.

Condenser enlargers will accentuate scratches and dust on the film more 
than diffusion enlargers (both fluorescent (cold) and tungsten), so if 
your negatives get dusty you'll see it more dramatically.

This is more or less a summary of opinion from rec.photo.darkroom. I've 
only ever used a diffusion enlarger with a tungsten light source, so I 
can't provide any corroborating personal experience.

-Charlie

Charles E. Dunlap
Earth Sciences Dept.
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95064