AGFA - RODINAL ( B&W NEGATIVE DEVELOPER )

[jvh]

Anyone out there did try high dilution like 1 : 100 or even better 1 : 150 and 1 : 200 ? ... if so, can you share processing time and agitation ? :hug::

 

[Helen B]

I've used it 1+300 for Tech Pan at EI 25, 18 minutes at 20°C; 1+100 plus 6% sulphite with Agfa APX 100 at EI 80, 11:45 at 24°C; 1+100 with TMax 100 at EI 80, 20 mins at 20°C.

I used it at 1+50 often with APX 100 and APX 400, and the earlier Agfapan films (25, 100 and 400).

So, not much useful info there for currently available films...

 

[dxqcanada]

I have not, I usually use 1+25 or 1+50 ... but I found this: http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Developers/Times_Rodinal/Rodinal.pdf

 

[jvh]

Thanks a lot this info is awesome !!! I am about to shot ILFORD DELTA 100 PRO and I like to go for long exposures with AND +10 and then to develop for max sharpness and detail ... & ... so this info from you got weight of gold to me ... Thanks again.

 

[Derrel]

I used to soup a lot of Tri-X in it in 4-roll tanks of 36 exposures. Dilution 1:100. Developed with a 1-minute water rise, slam, and stand,then empty. Tank fill with developer solution, agitation like a roller-pin 20 seconds to start, with the tank on its side, back and forth rolling, like a rolling pin,tank brought upright and slammed to dislodge bubbles. Tank set upright. Agitation 10 seconds every 1 minute, using the "rolling pin" method. Most of the Tri-X was exposed at E.I. of 200,250,or 320, not at 400.

How dense and contrasty you want *your* negatives to be depends on your exposure index, metering method, camera/meter,thermometer's accuracy, water, and the enlarger and paper you use. If you have something like a Leitz Focomat IIc enlarger,a great lens, and print on graded paper, your negatives would probably be lower gamma or "thinner", than if you print on say, a crummy diffusion enlarger with a cheezy lens on modern multigrade paper.

Thermometers can vary 3-4 degrees, quite easily! Say, at 68 degrees Farenheit, 16-18 minutes, to as many as 22-24 minutes...there are a number of variables at work! So many that developing times with highly-diluted stuff like Rod One-Onehundred that you really need to tailor the times to YOUR water, thermometer,enlarger, etc...

 

[compur]

I think I've always used it at 1:50

It works so well I haven't thought much about trying anything else but I know some people get great results at high dillutions.

 

[Josh66]

Lately, I've been using Rodinal almost exclusively... Usually 1+100, 1 hour stand. One minute of agitation in the beginning, then don't touch it for an hour. Temperature is pretty much irrevelant with stand developing. Try to be 'close' to room temperature though.
[EDIT - You do want your stop bath and fixer to be the same temperature as the developer though, so keep that in mind.]

I've also done 2 hour stand with it diluted 1+200. Never tried anything more dilute than that.

Sometimes I mix in some HC-110 too. For that, I'll usually do 6mL Rodinal, 6mL HC-110 (concentrated syrup - not the working solution), then water to bring it up to 600mL. 1 hour stand.

I've also done a Rodinal/Xtol mix that had similar results to the Rodinal/HC-110 mix. 1+20+80 ... 1 = Rodinal, 20 = Xtol, 80 = water. 1 hour stand.

I like the Rodinal/HC-110 mix for grainy films - it seems to make the grain smoother.


The great thing about the 1 hour stand in 1+100 Rodinal, is that it works for pretty much every film. If you're not sure what film it is, what time you should use, how it was exposed ... try a 1 hour stand.

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, I don't think I could wait an hour to see how the negs turned out.

 

[Derrel]

Hmm, I don't think I could wait an hour to see how the negs turned out.

You'd probably want the Digital Rodinol...

 

[Ysarex]

I used to cut it 1:75 to process Agfapan. 30 minutes with agitation every 5 minutes. The negs still came out flat so I'd soak them in selenium for another 15 minutes which made up the difference and also made the negs truely archival.

Hey Compur, love the avatar -- I sold my last Voigtlander plunger 4 years ago. I miss that camera, but they were paying crazy prices in China.

Joe

 

[jvh]

I do appreciate your response very much folks ... next week I will start location shooting and so after seeing results I will definitely post it for you so you can see what I got. I think I will put it on 500px site so I will leave you a link.

 

[djacobox372]

I use rodinal (more specifically its knockoff) at 1:100 for one hour with agitation every 10 minutes. Pure stand development results in uneven results, so i added the agitation and love the outcome.

 

[Josh66]

I have heard that the uneven development is from too little agitation in the beginning.

I always agitate for one full minute, the do a full stand for one hour. Can't say I've ever had uneven negs that way...

 

[Derrel]

I'm from the old school....I have never done the 1-hour stand method...it seems like the developer would exhaust itself and "develop" the film rather unevenly, as far as the top of the tank versus the bottom of the tank. I dunno...it seems like letting the developer just "sit there" would produce rather low-acutance edges between shadows and highlights, which many people would call "lesser grain" or "finer grain" results...but hell, if you want "lesser grain, then use HC-110 Dilution B and be done in 7 minutes!!

The idea of using a "compensating developer" like HC-110 Dilution B, or Rodinol diluted highly, is to allow the developer to work, and then to exhaust itself at the edges of highlight areas, which creates an effect almost like unsharp masking, by the creation of what are called "edge and adjacency effects". How this works is that the developer exhausts itself on the heavily-exposed highlight areas, but at the edges of the highlights, the developer continues to work on the lesser-exposed shadow areas....this creates a tiny (microscopic!) area where there is a micro-contrast boost around highlights...BUT< for this to work, NEW< and FRESH developer needs to be brought in on about a one-minute schedule. THAT is the way that these types of developers were traditionally used, and done in that way, with a 1-minute stand time between agitations, as opposed to the former 30-second "standard" way of developing that was prevalent from the 1940s to the 1970's-80's, gives a negatiuve that has a very high acutance look, without being excessively high in contrast.

Rodinol developed the way it was intended to be used produces negatives with high acutance...what many people would call crisp, defined, "big grain". HC-110 Dilution B, and Kodak D-76 diluted 1:1 produce smaller, tighter grain,and can do so in 5:30 to 8 minutes,depending.

How this idea of a ONE HOUR stand development time came up, I have absolutely no idea. But to me, the idea sounds a bit half-baked, as if it were invented by somebody who knew very little about development, or who did not want to expend chit for effort, or who liked to load up the tanks and dump in the soup and then go get baked...I dunno...this one-hour stand method seems of dubious heritage to me. But then, that's just my opinion.