[LargeFormat] Colour Analysers (was Re: Enlargers and the New Darkroom)

[Clive Warren]

At 18:47 12/02/02 -0800, Charles Thorsten wrote:
 > Hello Charlie,
 >
 > What sort of device are the Zyco digital translators? Is there a web
 > page for them?
 >
 > Cheers,
 >         Clive
 >

Hi Clive,

Imagine using an incident lightmeter to measure the light
projected by your enlarger, except it also gives values for
cyan, magenta and yellow.  You set it to read for an
"ideal negative", which would print at Exp.=0, C0,M0,Y0.
You then make your corrections based on these values.

The advantage is that you're measuring the actual light
hitting the paper, rather than simply using the settings on
the enlarger.  Once you have the correct numbers for
that negative, you can print it at any size without having
to re-test.

I believe Zyco was bought by Minolta a while back, but
I don't think they sell new translators any more.  Eseco-
Speedmaster sells similar translators.  You can look at
their page http://www.eseco-speedmaster.com for more
information.

By the way, they're not cheap!  I bought mine used for
a good price several years back.  They're more plentiful
used than ZBE closed-loop heads though, so used ones
are more affordable.

Regards,
Charlie


Ah, you mean a colour analyser!  Is the term translator a generic term used 
in the USA for analysers?

Popped over to the web page and they seem very useful devices. There is a 
chap here in the UK who makes wonderful combo. timers/analysers (going from 
memory here), wish I could remember his name the notion of black cats seems 
to spring to mind.  Maybe someone else knows of his kit.

Anyway, I have a couple of devices in the darkroom, one is a very simple 
densitometer for B&W and the other is an Omega colour anayser that is 
probably superb, however it was trashed by the people shipping it to the UK 
from the USA.....  The package must have received a jolt somewhere along 
the line as the meter needle has jumped out of it's bearings. I have tried 
to get inside the box, however it appears to be "Clive proof" - unusual 
this as most devices seem to give in eventually and allow me to dismantle 
for repair if necessary.

If anyone has a Chromega analyser and knows how to get into the box then 
please enlighten me as it has been sitting under the enlarger unused for a 
few years.  I would prefer not to take drastic action on the case as the 
thing is in rather good condition, and yes I probably know what I am doing 
- most of the time  :-)

Cheers,
            Clive