Can you make your own safelight for your darkroom?
Do you need to buy a safelight for your darkroom, or will a red bulb in a regular lamp work? I’ve heard of people making their own safelights of of nightlights and such. Just curious as to if it would really work. Thanks!
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Posted: May 4th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Tags: Darkroom, People, Safelight
Comments
Comment from Fotoz 4 FX photography
Time May 9, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Remember that the red safelight is ONLY effective for Black & White Darkrooms… it will still effect color exposures.
You can make your own… my father did it and it worked for him too.
I use LED safelighting I made myself in the exposure room since that must be very safe. 3 Led’s, from radioshack, wavelength 670nm, output 3000mcd, $2.50 a piece. They might have to order them for you.
You’ll need a resistor, 25 ohm for 40ma led’s, and 2 AA’s and a battery holder. The light from the LED is kinda like a spotlight, so you’ll need to diffuse it some with a film can or something similar. If you need more light, you can add lots more lamps and lower the resistor value.
When you can’t afford to pay more, improvise. Use Sylvania fan bulbs instead off ph140 enlarger bulbs.
Comment from fhotoace
Time May 7, 2009 at 10:43 am
There are only two “safe lights” that will not fog your paper. One is 15 watt bulb behind an “OC” filter and the other is a rather expensive sodium vapor lamp that produces higher levels of “safe” light frequencies.
This is the one I have:
The Kodak filter (you will have to buy or build lamp case for it)
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