# 5000K vs 2500K enlarger lamp.



## Grandpa Ron (Jul 21, 2020)

I have some very old equipment for working with my 4x5 film.

I have a 1940's vintage enlarger which I replaced the 150 watt incandescent bulb with an LED. The LED is a 5000K 60 watt equivalent and will develop a photo in about 6 second. Unfortunately there is no aperture control on the enlarger lens.

To give me more time to burn and dodge I thought I would switch to a 2500K lamp which should give me less of the blue spectrum. I am curious if anyone was tried or knows the effect of changing to a "daylight" spectrum 2500K bulb or what degrees Kelvin an enlarger usually operates at.

At this point I am working with grade 2 and grade 3 paper.

I do get some nice prints with a 6 second paper exposures but I am still on the steep part of the learning curve.


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## compur (Jul 21, 2020)

The data sheet for the paper you are using should have info on its spectral sensitivity range.


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## JBPhotog (Jul 21, 2020)

How about adding an ND filter to the lens?


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## compur (Jul 21, 2020)

You can also plug your enlarger into a variac and dial down the voltage to dim the bulb.


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