I started b&w darkroom work back in 1978 and have had my share of test strip drama and paper+time waste over the years, even with a Wallner timer. Watching your video I bought myself an Analyser Pro a week back. Using 25+ year old Ilford Multigrade IV paper and the wrong-type, crappy Osram LED in my Leitz V35, I printed my all-time favourite portrait from 1980 with the Analyser right out of the box on its generic calibration for MG IV. I got on my absolute first attempt with the Analyser a result which was closer to the perfect print than I would otherwise have made within one solid hour. Can't wait to put the new Philips clone LED with the right specs into the V35 and to calibrate the Analyser with paper from this century, making use of a 7-strip test print device for use with the Analyser I found on Thingiverse and printed on my Prusa 3D printer already. Last not least, splitgrade with this device will kick printing into the next universe. Thanks for your video and happy printing.
@@LetMeFixThis Thankyou for such a positive comment! It really is a great tool, I used it with the new multigrade v even before I calibrated it I would have been more than happy with the results. It’s the ability to knock out multiple quality prints in an evening that was the biggest plus for me, especially as time is always limited. Happy printing to you!
I remember that when I was young I used a “Volomat” densitometer for enlargements. It was a very simple electro-optic device based on a Goldberg coin and which made it possible to determine the gradation of the paper, its density and the exposure time. Of course it was less precise and efficient than your modern electronic device.
do a video on paper calibration. The manufacturer videos tell me a bunch of stuff, but I need to see the entire walk thru. I have a Beseler 45m. I replaced the 150 watt bulb with a 150 watt LED light... I programmed my Ilford MG Multigrade RC paper to the newest settings on the RH Designs website, but I probably need to do a calibration based on this $10 LED bulb I got and see if it's close. So funny that RH Designs made their own test strip maker. If they had an eBay site and sold these as a kit, I wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel to build one from scratch. kind of ridiculous. they sell every other little tidbit for the electronics, but the calibration test strip thing. crazy. Great video. Learned something new... that differential printing thing. cool. thanks.
Fantastic explanation of a piece of gear I’ve been lusting after. Super informative and easy to follow. I look forward to the next one comparing it to the stop clock. Subscribed.
Thankyou Adrian I appreciate the comment. The analyser is a great piece of equipment. Once you do the calibrations you can make a number of prints in quick succession. I hope you get chance to play with yours soon
I’ve seen a UA-cam video of the calibration & it looked quite daunting. I’ve got a colour head enlarger & there’s a setting in the paper settings for it. So I might compare that with the setting for the ilford paper I use & see if either of them are accurate. If not I’ll have to do the calibration. Thanks for making these videos and I look forward to seeing more in the future
The method I saw mentioned was to meter the highlight area first to obtain an exposure time and then a reading for the shadow area to obtain a grade number. Very interesting video though.
I did try both ways, but generally went by the instructions. What I would say in the measuring in general, is that the smaller the print you make the more you are more prone to making errors as the enlargement is smaller, but this is marginal. I think this unit is excellent and you can make quality prints very quickly. However my choice was to actually move it on and use the more basic stop clock pro, as I felt some of the fun and crafting of a print is lost with the analyser. However the stopclock doesn’t produce any wear near as many prints in the same time as the analyser does. Really appreciate your comments many thanks
@@GeoffT650 have you considered adding the zonemaster iim to the stopcock pro? would there be any benefits of that setup vs the "all in one" analyzer pro?
The instruction manual is somewhat confusing about the sequence of measuring shadows or highlights first. In Section 2.2.3 it states "take two readings, one of the highlights and one of the darkest shadows" However later in the same manual Section 7.1.2 It states "position sensor in the shadow, clear negative... I tried both these reversing the sequence and get very different readings? Also I have measured some negs in exactly the same area, same enlarger height, same aperture same everything and get very different results? In many tests with 35mm, 6x6 and 6x7 negs I cannot find a consistent workflow.@@GeoffT650
I would be very interested in some follow-up experience with this device. I bought one and I am getting very mixed results, any chance of a discussion seeing as youve had it for some time now. Thank you.
Many thanks for your reply, I always intended to make a follow up, but life got in the way, I guess I’m more photographer than UA-camr! What I can tell you is, that I actually sold the analyser pro on, my feeling was that it was an excellent unit, but for me the automation of it took some of the fun out of the process for me, so I decided to get a stopclock pro, which I may add the add analyser at a later date, which just then attaches to the stopclock. What you really need to get right is the calibration, and trust the results you get from making the strips. In some cases I got quite different results in terms of the calibration compared to what I read online. However when I put that info into the analyser, my prints came out really good! I used the stoufer wedge that comes with it and inspected the strips and a a good light source. You need patience and time, you can easily wipe out a couple of evenings making the calibration strips, but I found it worthwhile. Hope that’s helpful
Thank you for your message. The video & manual state that the AP is pre calibrated for Ilford under the lens filters and should work OK. However I see that you did do the calibration, did it make a big difference? @@GeoffT650
I started b&w darkroom work back in 1978 and have had my share of test strip drama and paper+time waste over the years, even with a Wallner timer. Watching your video I bought myself an Analyser Pro a week back. Using 25+ year old Ilford Multigrade IV paper and the wrong-type, crappy Osram LED in my Leitz V35, I printed my all-time favourite portrait from 1980 with the Analyser right out of the box on its generic calibration for MG IV. I got on my absolute first attempt with the Analyser a result which was closer to the perfect print than I would otherwise have made within one solid hour. Can't wait to put the new Philips clone LED with the right specs into the V35 and to calibrate the Analyser with paper from this century, making use of a 7-strip test print device for use with the Analyser I found on Thingiverse and printed on my Prusa 3D printer already. Last not least, splitgrade with this device will kick printing into the next universe. Thanks for your video and happy printing.
@@LetMeFixThis Thankyou for such a positive comment! It really is a great tool, I used it with the new multigrade v even before I calibrated it I would have been more than happy with the results. It’s the ability to knock out multiple quality prints in an evening that was the biggest plus for me, especially as time is always limited. Happy printing to you!
I remember that when I was young I used a “Volomat” densitometer for enlargements. It was a very simple electro-optic device based on a Goldberg coin and which made it possible to determine the gradation of the paper, its density and the exposure time. Of course it was less precise and efficient than your modern electronic device.
do a video on paper calibration. The manufacturer videos tell me a bunch of stuff, but I need to see the entire walk thru. I have a Beseler 45m. I replaced the 150 watt bulb with a 150 watt LED light... I programmed my Ilford MG Multigrade RC paper to the newest settings on the RH Designs website, but I probably need to do a calibration based on this $10 LED bulb I got and see if it's close. So funny that RH Designs made their own test strip maker. If they had an eBay site and sold these as a kit, I wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel to build one from scratch. kind of ridiculous. they sell every other little tidbit for the electronics, but the calibration test strip thing. crazy.
Great video. Learned something new... that differential printing thing. cool. thanks.
Fantastic explanation of a piece of gear I’ve been lusting after. Super informative and easy to follow. I look forward to the next one comparing it to the stop clock. Subscribed.
Thank you for your kind words! Much appreciated. I will push on and make that next video!
As someone who’s bought an analyser but has yet to use it, I’m really glad you made this video & hope you make many more.
Thankyou Adrian I appreciate the comment. The analyser is a great piece of equipment. Once you do the calibrations you can make a number of prints in quick succession. I hope you get chance to play with yours soon
I’ve seen a UA-cam video of the calibration & it looked quite daunting. I’ve got a colour head enlarger & there’s a setting in the paper settings for it. So I might compare that with the setting for the ilford paper I use & see if either of them are accurate. If not I’ll have to do the calibration. Thanks for making these videos and I look forward to seeing more in the future
Hi Adrian do you have the ilford under the lens multigrade filters?
Informative video. Thanks for sharing.
Thankyou!! I hope to get the next one up soon. It will cover the RH designs stop clock pro
The method I saw mentioned was to meter the highlight area first to obtain an exposure time and then a reading for the shadow area to obtain a grade number.
Very interesting video though.
I did try both ways, but generally went by the instructions. What I would say in the measuring in general, is that the smaller the print you make the more you are more prone to making errors as the enlargement is smaller, but this is marginal. I think this unit is excellent and you can make quality prints very quickly. However my choice was to actually move it on and use the more basic stop clock pro, as I felt some of the fun and crafting of a print is lost with the analyser. However the stopclock doesn’t produce any wear near as many prints in the same time as the analyser does. Really appreciate your comments many thanks
@@GeoffT650 have you considered adding the zonemaster iim to the stopcock pro? would there be any benefits of that setup vs the "all in one" analyzer pro?
The instruction manual is somewhat confusing about the sequence of measuring shadows or highlights first. In Section 2.2.3 it states "take two readings, one of the highlights and one of the darkest shadows" However later in the same manual Section 7.1.2 It states "position sensor in the shadow, clear negative... I tried both these reversing the sequence and get very different readings? Also I have measured some negs in exactly the same area, same enlarger height, same aperture same everything and get very different results? In many tests with 35mm, 6x6 and 6x7 negs I cannot find a consistent workflow.@@GeoffT650
Many thanks for the video!
Thankyou!! I hope to get the next one up soon which will cover the stop clock pro
I would be very interested in some follow-up experience with this device. I bought one and I am getting very mixed results, any chance of a discussion seeing as youve had it for some time now. Thank you.
Many thanks for your reply, I always intended to make a follow up, but life got in the way, I guess I’m more photographer than UA-camr! What I can tell you is, that I actually sold the analyser pro on, my feeling was that it was an excellent unit, but for me the automation of it took some of the fun out of the process for me, so I decided to get a stopclock pro, which I may add the add analyser at a later date, which just then attaches to the stopclock. What you really need to get right is the calibration, and trust the results you get from making the strips. In some cases I got quite different results in terms of the calibration compared to what I read online. However when I put that info into the analyser, my prints came out really good! I used the stoufer wedge that comes with it and inspected the strips and a a good light source. You need patience and time, you can easily wipe out a couple of evenings making the calibration strips, but I found it worthwhile. Hope that’s helpful
Thank you for your message. The video & manual state that the AP is pre calibrated for Ilford under the lens filters and should work OK. However I see that you did do the calibration, did it make a big difference?
@@GeoffT650