Contrast Filter Comparison 

I ran a very similar test in 1984 when Multigrade II was introduced. The trial was run on two different enlargers - an Omega C760 with Multigrade below the lens filters, and a De Vere 504 with De Vere's variable contrast head. Results were similar to yours but with two notable exceptions: 1) prints from the C760 were not as sharp and 2) the De Vere system went soft very quickly - commonly printing with grade 5 set to match grade 2 on a De Vere 504 with a condenser head. The sharpness issue on the C760 was down to the below lens filters - with these removed and printing on the same paper, the prints were sharp. The only other issue we had with Multigrade (and Kodak's version - can't remember what it was called) was that when toned (mainly sepia toning) they gave a much colder (almost brown) colour when compared to standard RC and fibre papers.

This is great stuff....I'm using a devere 5x4.....the hard work that you put into these empirical comparisons save people like me a whole load of time and contemplation...thanks again from the UK....keep up the good work...oh and Vivre Centre Loading Reels!

Such an awesome channel, I never take the time to do these kind of tests and it's so good to see someone doing them ! Cheers

You took the time to a a very valid comparison ...the most critical observation is that if you use a blue filter ...there is more wiggle room for dodging as opposed to burning highlights .. awesome 👍

Another great video. As to using the colour head, I will always use the Grade 2 setting to work out times, which only adds about 10 - 15% to the exposure. That way, i can get a better idea to exposure times at different grades.

A lovely experiment. Thanks for taking the time and dispelling some myths.

Very helpful thanks TNP! Buying a step tablet (in my case the 4x5 21 step Stouffer) was one of the best darkroom purchases I could have made. Really helps to see the behavior of papers and filters.

As always, a very good job and very well explained. It's good to know that everyone is the same. I have a Durst color enlarger not yet installed and the information I get on the internet is not clear, there are people who say they are the same and others who get less range of contrasts with the color head. Now there are no doubts 😉

I just finished doing this test on a pack of ultrafine silver eagle fiber paper, however I used my dichro head to dial in my own personal grade system via Tim Halls method using his 21 step tablet (1.65 density range). I appreciate you doing these types of video since there really for the intermediate/advanced darkroom worker, it's people like you who help those of us seeking this knowledge to take our images somewhere we can't go without guidance. Keep up the great work!

I have that exact devere enlarger at my work, plus 6 D5s and a beseler 45. Your videos are great for comparing methods During the shut down I set up a home darkroom with a beseler 23. Thanks to your video on that I now know a little bit more about it. It was new to me and I’d never worked on one before. Thanks for what you do and I’ll be picking up one of those sweet Tees.

Ah this is neat, I won on ebay an old Czechoslovak condenser color enlarger and a bunch of accessories, and I was curious if I was able to adjust contrast when printing on ilford multigrade paper without using multigrade filter, but just changing the color of the light with the built-in filter Looks like performance is the same, just exposure times are not. That's great!

I have done similar experiments but I used an accurately photographed (exposed) Kodak grey scale and an 18% grey card. Using my Minolta Spot meter F and careful development links the meter to the negative grey scale densities. This means you reference Zones (II III IV V VI VII etc.) Directly to values (densities) on the negative. This also helps when reading reflection densities from prints. Ilford filters have ND so times are similar 00 3, my DeVere Dicromatic head gives diferent times for each grade, a bit of a bind...

Sorry my mistake thought you said open up a stop and go for the minute , must get my ears cleaned , i enjoy your videos just starting up again myself in the darkroom nice to see more than the obvious. I did the college route 25 years ago just when digital was in it`s infancy but always enjoyed the darkroom better. so still getting a few tips here and there, so thank you. keep doing what your doing.

I've noticed that the enlarger with diffuser head (color or multigrade head) is producing much lower contrast then an enlarger with conventional condenser head. These observations are from my college times when I worked on Magnifax. I would not be surprised that Durst and De Vere have the same "issue", since that is a physical characteristic of light falling on the negative. Except of course if the condenser is in the enlarger with or without a colour head. Anyway, this is my geek's side talking. Perhaps you'll explore that in the future.

So with Ilford MG filter exposure times are the same with 00-3½ filters, but with with color each change between filtration changes the exposure time? By your experience, does the change stay constant or varies depending on where you are on the filter range (ie. would the change be same with 00->0 and 4->4½)? Ilford contrast control document states that the time change is less with dual filter settings vs. single filter; for instance MG filter 3# would be 25M or 23Y56M. Have you tested this? Thanks a lot for the videos, the very best darkroom content on RU-vid.

Thank you for taking the time to explain all this stuff in the video! This is a really useful and comprehensive video!

Thank you for one more great video! I read some time ago that if you put equal amounts of cyan, magenta, and yellow, you get a ND filter equivalent. For example, for every 30 units of CMY you get one stop of density. I've been using this technique to get more exposure time (for burning and dodging) without closing the lens too much. In fact, I only use the color head filters for this purpose, since I have the under the lens Ilford filters.

The issue is settled - thank you! :)

Exelent video, I often wonderd what was better, Ilford filters of filtering with the internal enlarger filters. This covers the question completely, manny thanks. BTW, I wonder how you dry your FB print to be completely flat, stuff for another video ???

Great topic and video. My LPL color head`s filters are only getting till 170, barely a 4 from Ilford....

good for calibration of a DIY LED head with say blue and green LEDs (currently just using one supplying white light and Ilford's under the lens filters). Thank You! R.

Great information and one I will try soon. Can I ask a tedious question? What safelight are you using and power ? Seem yellow rather than red. I wish you well.

another variable would be a stained negative (PMK). a similar test would need to have enlarger light go through a "blank" stained PMK developed) negative. I wonder if an image on PMK negative would gain any advantage with the GREEN 58, BLUE 47B. Just this week, I was considering purchasing these 2 filters for split filter printing, instead of using ilford filters. You have definitely proven nothing to gain on regular negatives. It is a challenge to find the green / blue filters in 6" x 6". resin versions are much more expensive than the polyester.

Thank you for these incredibly useful videos you making. I have a question. I am in the process of converting a room in my house into a very small darkroom. I currently ( not during the lockdown) used a local community darkroom in Edinburgh to do all my processing and printing. I use their whatever enlarger they have to make 8x10 contacts. Do you have a preferred enlarger ( or a simpler solution ) that you get diffused light and be able to use filters for contrast control whilst making 8x10( off 8x10 negs) contact prints? Much appreciated Keep up the good work Kayhan

Great work on this video! Super helpful

Great Vid.. Lots to learn here!

While I didn’t have a step wedge, when comparing the ilford to the Kodak, I did not find them comparable in real use. So it makes me wonder why I didn’t see your results. Did you say you used fiber paper, as I used ilford vc resin. I concede that there may have been a slight difference in chemicals as the process moved on as well as unforeseen variables and the potential for differing ages of equipment, however in observing a particular person’s image within a whole I decided to standardize the many filters in our darkroom to ilford. Most respectfully If you have time perhaps you can discuss densitometers and any instrument that might help calibration in a dichro head to perhaps original or standard specs 🙏. After re-review- I heard you say different amount of time to get the same number of tonal range strips which makes more sense 🙏 ages of filters unknown 😔

Thank you for doing this comparison.

Thanks for doing the comparison. This does seem like the expected result. If the papers were capable of producing more variable contrast with different filters, why wouldn't Ilford capitalize on this by offering that filter. However It makes me more confident in my choice of just using the colour head for variable contrast rather than purchasing a set of Ilford filters (at least for now). Although I plan to use the two filter mode they recommend to have less change of exposure time when I adjust the contrast.

Thanks for the great video, as always. Have you ever tried FOMA filters? They don't offer half contrast but they are a fraction of the price of Ilford (at least here in Europe). It would be nice to see how they compare.

Hi, love your videos. Would you be able to do a video on chemical storage please?

very informative. thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! for me your channel is the most interesting one youtube has to offer :-)

Thanks! Great help!

Another great video and more learning for me as I have commented before on other videos. One thing I have yet to hear/find from you is something that I might have missed in your series: What is the material that you slap the wet prints onto in order to squeegee them? I went to the big box store and looked and do not see something similar. I really like the approach you have. Right now I use a mirror in the bathroom (!) but that requires a lot of cleaning :) Thanks!

I've been using the Ilford set for years and I like them but I've now got an Omega Dichro II color head and power supply... unfortunately the chassis it came with was destroyed but that's how I got it for free so now I just need to find another omega chassis to install this head on.

Thx for this video! I'm using Ilford filters and colorhead head as well. Up to now I had the impression that using Ilford filters give me a better contrast than with the equivalent colorhead values. Reason could be the Ilford RC paper which is less sensitive to contrast than the Fiber paper. What's your opinion "?"

Great test thank you

Great information, could you publish a complete range of colour filters from a colour head from 00 all the way up to 5 including half stops, that would be very helpful.

One thing I'm really curious about, is the exposure difference (across the grades) between the Ilford filters and the dichroic filtration in the color head. (I can do both, though I've mostly switched to using the Ilford filters out of convenience. However, the filter pack I have won't fit all my enlarger lenses, and I'm not yet sure I want to cobble together a custom holder for the large filter sheets like you have.)

very interesting, thanks. Did the colored Ilford and Kodak filters require more time than the color head?

I'm about to buying a enlarger, and i found Minolta Color Enlarger Model II. Filtration Range is, : Yellow 0-200, Cyan and Magenta 0-150, and that got me wonder, is that 0-150 equal compared 0-200 range let's say like de vere 5108 what you have, or do you just loose that 50 of end that range. Sorry about my english, i hope you understand what i trying to ask.

Thank you for video! Is this true only for multigrade paper?

I bought an enlarger and included with it was the Kodak Polycontrast filter kit Model A. I think it's different from the Kodak filters you used in this video, but everything you compared here seems to give the same result. Do you think my filter kit would be compatible with Ilford Multigrade RC paper for split contrast printing? I suppose I can just try and see, then if I am dissatisfied with the results I can always buy an Ilford set later.

Hi, I have a dichroic head (cls80 on a durst m800) and am wondering whether I can use a combination of under the lens filters and the configuration of the dichroic filters to get the full multigrade filter spectrum. At the moment the head maxes out at 100 on every colour channel. If I wanted to get a contrast grade of 5, could I still use multigrade filters under the lens? I'm wondering if the dichroic head will also come on the ilford scale at contrast level 2 when all the dials are set to zero? Would this affect the additional use of multigrade filters? New to this, any help very appreciated, your videos have already been really helpful and informative. Thank you!

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I have the Beseler Universal 45 and it is nice to precisely dial in the filter I want. But I do wonder what will happen if it ever goes bad. Do they even repair these anymore I have no idea.

Very good!!

👌👌 my man gene nocon says you not a real photographer until the image is printed

If, given a choice...... Would you prefer to filter using the colour head or under lens filters? And why?

Max Magenta is a fantastic Marvel superhero name.

A proper testing protocol would be to find the DMAX for the paper you are testing (proper proof time or standard printing time) and then expose your step wedge based on that time. That is the entire point of the test.

Which filter do you need to get 50 Shades of Grey in the darkroom? 😁😂

A question.... Although slightly off topic. Does a contrast filter under the lens soften a print more than using a colour head's filters above the negative.... (if you know what I mean?)

그렇다면 m c 필터를 동시에 사용하면 더 큰 콘트라스트를 얻을 수 있습니까?

The LPL colour heads seem to cause problems for B&W, from my own and the experiences shared by others.

how do the older kodak polycontrast sets (box of seven filters, from 1 to 4) compare to the newer set of 12 that you're using here?

I have a Durst M605 colour head. The manual gives an equation for the new exposure time when changing filters values as T(new) = T(old) x ((F1xF2xF3)New/(F1xF2xF3)Old). where F1/2/3 are Filter Factors for YMC as per their chart. This is all under colour printing section, the manual is rather poorly written though and can't help but wonder if its applicable to B&W when using the colour head instead of contrast filters. an example would be Contrast 2 to Contrast 3 if our exp at 2 was 10sec T(new)=10 x (1.36/1) T(new)= 13.6 sec if we then went to contrast 31/2 it would be T(new) = 13.6 x (1.53/1.36) T(new) = 15.3 seconds Anyone know if that for colour printing only or does it include B&W?

Really interesting..... Thank you :-)

Are these contrast demos done on vc as opposed to graded paper?

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