TX400 Rodinal 1:100 mod SD

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[edit - this is TriX 400]
After 20+ yrs of developing film and having a busy life I am willing to admit it: Fool proof developing w/o paying too much attention to time or temperature works best for me.
So I have settled on two techniques, Diafine and Rodinal.

Rodinal 1:100 is mostly described for APX100, but works with the same method for all other films as well.
I don't control H2O temp, but it is likely somewhere between 15-20C. Steel tank, steel reel. Agitate for 2-3 minutes. Let stand for 30 minutes, invert couple of times, take out another 20-45 minutes later. I guess the overall time does not matter all that much, pretty much get the same result for 50-90 minutes.

Used TXP400, TXP320, APX100/400, Neopan400, HP5, Arctos and some others all the same way. Results are good enough for me.

Would be interested in other people experiences using similar techniques.

Photo is scanned with a lowly epson3170, no post processing what so ever.
 
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I haven't done it with Tmax400 but I have with Tmax100 and Trix. I had poor results with Trix, but that was a one time try. The Tmax is about like you said time doesn't seem to matter too much. I was using it for controlling highlights and deepening shadows, but some of the low contrast shots were the best:

2263146653_9b8a953bbc.jpg
 
I just started experimenting with Rodinal stand dev. a few weeks ago. I soup Neopan 1600 in Rodinal 1:100 using the same method described above. I love the results. Here's an example of my first roll. The scanned negative looks much worse than the silver print:
 

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I have started to do this a bit, too, but I did run into a situation recently where the resulting contrast was so small that the midtones turned into a muddy mushy...grey mass with no separation in the details as a result. So it doesn't work all the time. But for many cases it does. It's nice to be able to just walk away for even 1.5 hours and then come back and finish it off. Especially if you use a non-hypo fix, without hardener you don't need the hypo-clear/permawash step either, and then it's really fast and feels much less strenuous.
 
I wonder how can I use Rodinal in an tank processor with constant moving. I keeped Neopan 400 and Agfa APX400 for 35 minutes and they look good for me. But should I keep them less, considering the constant agitation? What can go wrong because of that. For me is the best, since my first concern is chemical suply and cost.
 
Interesting. Thanks for sharing. A couple questions:
- At what speed (Exposure Index) do rate the films?
- What volume of developer do you use per roll?
Cheers
Vincent
 
Vincent, if you are asking me, I rated the image of the altar at 100 (Tmax100). I use 500 ml of H2O and 5ml of Rodinal. I think that development was for 1 hour; 30 seconds agitation to start, then twice though the hour of 2-3 inversions. Oh, this was a 24 roll of 35mm. On subsequent, developments I have been using Tmax100 at 50.
 
In response to Vincent and Sisyphus (love that name, I've felt like that all my life, all fronts). My one try with this Rodinal mod SD and using Trix at 250 was exactly like Kaiyen described, muddy nothing in the middle. I seemed to have better luck with Tmax100 at either 50 or 100, but if I agitated too much the negatives were dark, so I'd be careful there. The ones that I did well, had great range. Still, all in all I like Ansel Adams Compensating development scheme with HC-110 the best. Just for the H. E. double toothpicks of it, I may add some Sodium MetaBorate to Ansel's method after cutting the time. This is TriX at 250 using Ansel's method with HC-110, early moring and as you can see very contrasty light:

2915005321_86b88b2696.jpg
 
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here are 2 images one Delta 100-120 the other Shanghai 100-120
 

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This is more or less my standard development protocol these days. Last week I developed 1 roll of Tri-X, 1 of Fomapan 200 and 1 of FP4+, all in the same tank, in Rodinal 1:100 for an hour with 2 minutes agitation at the start and another two minutes half way through. All came out very nicely indeed.
 
jan normandale said:
FWIW, I've a friend who skips the mid point agitation. His negs seem fine. Sometimes I think there's a bit of 'voodoo' in film development.
Click to expand...

I think you are absolutely correct.

A number of times I did not do the mid agitation and negs looked no different. But, a few times the mid tones were a bit flat w/o mid agitation and I blamed on not doing it.
Worst case of anecdotal evidence. 😀
There is my voodoo.😛

The reason that times don't matter all that much is that this is pretty much exhaustive devlopment, stuff is gone - I think.

I also add 5ml Rodinal to 500ml H2O. And I am aware that Agfa recommended a minimum of 5ml per film - just have not found that to be true. Again this is for steel tanks and reels and plastic might be different.
 
hard to tell in the examples, but how does the grain come out? When I've developed TX in Rodinal 1:25 it was amazingly increased over D76.

thanks. looks interesting, I've never tried it.
 
mh2000, yes I suppose there is an increase but TriX if you are careful isn't all that bad in Rodinal. This is TriX at 250 in Rodinal 1+50 regular development, there is more grain but not all that much:

2462308478_bbdd86bbcd.jpg
 
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