PhotoFaerie a écrit :

http://minilien.com/?gU1pC1hq6N
Go down to Delta bulbs.

There are special films called Rubylith or Amberlith that are (were)
used by graphic arts that are inactinic and may be used as a filter.
I use some rubylith to make my computer screen inactinic when I use it
while printing B/W.

You can also buy rigid (glass or plastic) inactinic filters and build
the lamp to use them.

You can also find lots of inactinic lights on eBay.

I doubt these will work.

Before buying a bulb or inactinic light, check the specs of the paper
you'll use as some require a red light (Bergger) and an amber light will
fog them.

Claudio Bonavolta
http://www.bonavolta.ch

Yes.  ~$5-20.  There are some that used red
glass and some that use red paint: either will work.
The big globe ones are nice.  Putting the lamp into
a ceiling fixture means you are most always working
in the shadow of your body, so I would try an old
stand lamp/table lamp/whatever.

I use several of these red lamps
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=6007
in photo-flood reflectors on light stands.  I move
them around if/as needed to illuminate whatever it
is that I am doing that session.  I have fixed
lamps for general illumination, enlarger easel
illumination and developer tray illumination.

BTW: Freestyle is a good place for reasonably priced
photo chemicals, the "Arista" house brand is quite good and
can be 1/2 the price of Kodak or Ilford.
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=303&pid=592
Also a good source for cheap 'messing-around' film.

Christmas tree lamps and such can be used in an emergency
or for school projects but aren't a good idea in general:
the lamp color isn't correct and the paint flakes away
quickly leaving you with fogged prints.

The standard source for things photographic
is http://www.bhphotovideo.com

The problem with the DIY makeshift safelight options is than you (and I)
don't know which light frequencies a "party light" filter out and which
frequencies the lamps transmit.  Stick with the brand name filters, used
housings will never be cheaper than right now--for example at that
famous auction site, camera swap meets or the dusty back room of your
friendly neighborhood camera store.  Used filters or any homebrew
safelights need to be tested thoroughly before using.

But for example I bought a Thomas Sodium Vapor safelight for $45.00 and
Kodak model D utilty safelight for $10.00 with OC and #10 filters.

PhotoFaerie spake thus:

If I may jump into this thread a little late: the answer to your
question is, of course, yes, no matter what some disagreeable people
here may say. This means either using a red light bulb, if you can find
one (including red Xmas lights), or using some kind of red filter.

There's a really easy way to find out if your light is "safe" or not:
the standard "coin" test. Just put a piece of paper out where you
normally would process it, with a coin or other object to block the
light on top of it, expose it to the safelight light for a period (say,
the amount of time it'll take you to process one print)), then develop
the paper as if it were a print. If you can see anything where the coin
covered the paper, then the light isn't safe; otherwise, it is.

I'm cheap, too, so I sympathize with your quest.

You can buy safelight bulbs that screw into a standard ("Edison") fixture.
You can also buy safelights that screw into a standard fixture and have
different filters for different types of paper/film/processes.

With the number of people who seem to be (foolishly!) giving up on
conventional wet darkrooms these days, there are bargains to be had in the
used market. Spend some time on eBay.

Most safelights or safelight bulbs are in the 15Watt range. A ceiling
fixture in the center of the room might not be the best working arrangement.
I have several hanging fixtures with globe-type safelights positioned at
work areas in my darkroom.

Ken Hart

...

September 11, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

A slightly more offbeat way to make a
safelight is to use a product called
"Colorine", made by a company called Rosco.
They specialize in products to control the
color of light. Colorine is a 'dipping'
paint. Light bulbs are dipped in it to
control the color of the light they emit. (It
would be easy to coat the inside of a glass
lamp shade, too. This would put the color
layer very far from the heat of a bulb.
Probably last a lifetime that way.)

Rosco Colorine 7610 (Red 27), which is
available in a small paint can (pint, I
think) for around twenty dollars (at least, I
paid abut twenty dollars in Canada), is rated
at passing red light only, wavelength longer
(only) than a specified figure. It's a good
red for a safelight, and there are no other
colors passed that could harm photosensitive
materials.

Colorine is specified acceptable for lamps
(light bulbs) up to forty watts. Heat will
kill the coating. But a safe light need only
be fifteen watts. I like to use clear Xmas
tree bulbs, five or seven watts. They will
never burn the coating.

The beauty of using a bulb coating is that no
construction of the lamp fixture is needed.
Put the bulb in any type of holder, it is a
safelight. I like it in a Luxo-type
articulated lamp that is endlessly
directable.

I found the actual job of coating the bulbs
with a bit of Colorine very easy. I expected
a whole production, but a few sheets of
newsprint and some patience is all that's
needed. Big secret: don't dip the whole glass
part of the bulb. Dip the tip-most tippy tip.
Then use gravity (and your hands!) — turn the
bulb every which way until the glass surface
is covered. Dipping the whole thing will pick
up so much paint the whole screw base and
your hands and the floor and your shoes will
be coated. Make absolutely sure the color
goes right to the connection between the
glass and the metal base. Leave no speck of
uncoated glass to pass wrong light. (This all
takes a lot more effort to write about than
to do. The only hard part is finding out
where to send the money for the paint and
then waiting for it to arrive.)

A lifetime supply of safelight bulbs can
easily be made in a few pleasant hours
sitting in the back yard. Or in front of a
TV, coating and turning and drying and poking
about with a bunch of light bulbs. I used
yogurt container lids (flat, thin plastic),
poked holes in them, pushed a few light bulbs
through the holes, and handled the bulbs that
way. Part way through my little project I
realized if I bought a few small wattage,
rough-service, long-life bulbs (sold for use
in hard-to-reach places that are subject to
impact or vibration) I could have some pretty
long lasting safelights.

The smallest container of Rosco Colorine 7610
(Red 27) will coat many more bulbs than I
could ever use. It reminds me of movies I've
seen where the old pioneer women sit with
vegetables on their aprons, spread across
open laps, gossiping and laughing while their
hands do the, umm, dipping of their
safelights. A bunch of black and white
darkroom nerds having a social ... sharing a
can of paint, dipping their bulbs ...
chattering about how they feel about digital
...

I like being able to change a safelight with
no more bother than putting in a new bulb. No
filter or cover or light-tight box. Just any
old lamp. I haven't colored the interior of a
glass shade type of lamp yet, but I have a
few old glass ones that are quite beautiful.
I'd love to use them as darkroom accessories.

scenepaint@rosco.com
http://www.roscodigital.com
http://www.rosco.com/us/products/index.asp

--
from 'The Rosco Guide to Color Filters'.

...the curve for R27 ['Ruby Red' Colorine
bulb dipping paint is specified as R27]
shows that wavelengths above (longer than)
620 nm will pass through the filter at
varying percentages, while the wavelengths
below (shorter, or higher frequency) will
not.
--

quote:
Technicians have been coloring lamps and
glass with Rosco Colorine since it was first
introduced in 1910. The liquid colors are
available in 8 brilliant shades, formulated
for long lasting color. It is especially
useful for hand dipping most bulbs of forty
watts or less.

Colorine hues can be intermixed to create
custom shades. The addition of Colorine clear
to a shade will result in a lighter tint of
the shade. The thinner is used for cleanup,
the removal of Colorine and reducing the
viscosity of the product.
Specifications
#07601
Cardinal Red *26
#07607
Emerald Green *90
#07602
Ruby Red *27
#07610
Golden Amber *41
#07603
Magenta *49
#07615
Canary Yellow *15
#07604
Moonlight Blue *80
#07617
Clear
#07605
Urban Blue *82
#07680
Thinner
* Roscolux color reference.

Refer to the Roscolux swatchbook for close
representation of color. The two-digit number
following the color name is the Roscolux
match. Colorine is not intended for use in
permanent installations.
(unquote)

Rosco "Guide_to_Color_Filters.pdf" (find it
via Google) is a very educational document.

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
website: www.heylloyd.com
telephone: 416-686-0326
email: portrait@heylloyd.com
________________________________
--

In addition to the other suggestions, I'll add that I've seen reports of
red LED bulbs in standard Edison fittings (like those sold by
http://www.superbrightleds.com or http://www.theledlight.com) being used
successfully as safelights. These will be more expensive than the red
incandescent bulbs sold by photo stores, but they'll last much longer. As
always, be careful not to get something that's too bright; remember that
an LED puts out more light at a given wattage than an incandescent bulb
does. Note that I've not used this type of bulb myself; I'm just passing
on what I've read.

Hi!

I think that isn't good way, party-lights are not safe - just colored
bulbs.

Like you could read earlier, try to use LED's.
I have homemade LED safelight. I've used 8 extra bright (and very
cheap),  red LED's serial connected and powered by 12V power supply
adaptor.
I made a "coin" test and everything is OK ;-) I've been using it for
few weeks and paper isn't fogged.

Regards