In the absence of a colour head I use under-lens filters. For anything critical the filter drawer is an option, but honestly I can't tell any difference in the result.
I've had bad results from going under the lens; that's been 90% of the reason that I've been adamant about using the filter drawer. The other 10% is because I just like making things, and making a few dedicated holders for the three filters that I use is a fun project.
To expand on my first sentence: even while using new, clean, pristine filters, I kept feeling like the prints made from them while under the lens felt a bit off. I could never explain it fully, but something was different. So, we did a blind test: my partner picked ten different images from my negative catalog, and I made two of what I would consider to be an acceptable print from each. One print was from a filter in the drawer, and the other was from the below-lens filter. She marked the sheets so she would know which was which, and after they were processed I tried to identify them. I got seven of the ten correct, and the other three I just said "I'm not sure." A few weeks later we repeated the test with a just-opened set of filters, and I got eight of the ten. I have no answer for how that happened - could be literal blind luck - but I stopped using below-lens filters at that point, entirely.
Two points. First, if you check out the link I provided above, you'll see that Beseler offered colorheads that used incandescent light bulbs and LEDs, as well.
I did; that's a good read. When I was referencing the color heads, I was specifically talking about the ones that introduced some kind of actual colored light; the incandescent ones weren't really in that category, to me. As I said: I have a garden-variety condenser head, and I know it's a "color" head per Beseler, but it really kind of just
isn't.
As to the Beseler Condensesr Light Chamber...
That explanation helps; thank you.
The extension collar and the Condenser Light Chamber basically mimic a P211 light bulb on top of the condenser (which Matt has accurately pointed out is really a diffuse light source) with the colorhead throwing colored light into the mix. You get the same exact effect if you simply slide CC filters into the filter holder of the standard Beseler condenser -- Beseler actually referred to their condenser heads as "Bescolor" because you could use them for making color prints with CC filters.
Yep, that's the not-colorhead that I have.
For split printing with a V54 cold light all you need are good quality deep blue and deep green glass filters below the lens. More practical than a filter drawer.
No arguments, I just evidently suck at doing that kind of thing. And there's something about objects being in the light path between the lens and the paper that just inherently bothers me. I have no idea why that is, but it's definitely there. Probably just a personality defect.
Over the decades, Beseler has offered quite a range of different colorheads; and then the company itself changed ownership during part of that cycle. Some of us were extremely displeased with their discontinuity in servicing previous units. Hopefully that has changed by now; but it is somewhat a risk when multiple new innovations come out, and as each gets abandoned for something allegedly better, the former product becomes an unwanted stepdaughter in terms of servicing or parts.
I've seen that happen so many times over the years, with a variety of products. Irritating at best, and unsustainable at worst.
That's why I favor equipment in my own darkroom which I am personally able to maintain and repair if needed. Otherwise, one might get stranded on a desert island.
Yep, same here...and I like desert islands, but I also like being able to leave them on my own schedule. I don't want to end up with things that I can't service or can't repair.
With some of their colorheads they supplied a thick convex moulded white acrylic diffuser at the bottom of the tube. That is for sake of trying to get more even illumination at the negative stage plane if full 4x5 film is involved. But it also absorbs quite a bit of light. There are better workaround options to that; but I don't want to make the conversation too complicated unless the actual need arises.
I've seen that kind of diffuser before, but I've not yet uncovered the theory behind it. I get that it's an attempt to prevent uneven illumination, but I'm not sure why it's that uneven. I've also seen one of those that's designed for use with Aristo lamps; I don't get that, either...but by all means, go into it. This entire conversation is about understanding the subtleties about how condensers and diffusers play together, so, yeah: go there if you wish.