Developing Rollei Retro 25.

Steve_F

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Hi all,
I'm looking for a bit of advice. I thought I'd try out some of the Rollei Retro 25 (Maco) for it's alleged sharpness and fine grain. I'm in a bit of a quandry over what dev to use. The internet, as always, can give many answers to the same question - but has anyone here had any experience with this film and a particular combination?
For the record I tend to use ID-11 or Ilfosol 3 with HP-5 and Perceptol with Delta 100 & Fuji Acros.

Steve.
 
You probably mean Rollei Pan 25. At least it's not labeled "Retro" here in Rollei country...

I've tried it in Rodinal 1+24 and didn't really like the results. Probably should have tried 1+49 and higher, but even so the grain was comparable to Pan F, so I didn't see any advantage...

In Xtol 1+1 it looks really good, very smooth tones and almost invisble grain... I am currently trying to decide whether to settle on this or on Efke/Adox 25 or on pulled Pan F for my low-iso work...
 
Rollei Retro

Rollei Retro

First, it's NOT the same as APX100, although such claims have been made for it.
Second, I've only used Rollei Retro 100 in 120 size. I gave it 13 mins @20C in Rodinal 1:50 and the results were OK. However it dried with a distinct curl that made scanning a pain and as a result I've decided not to mess with it any more. How that all translates to 35mm I don't know, but it might help you decide on your own times.
 
Apologies, it is Rollei Pan 25 - my mistake.
I have used Pan F with no problems but was experimenting to see how fine I could go with 35mm films.

Steve.
 
I don't really see the point of Rollei Pan 25. I have tried it, along with Retro 80S and found that Retro 80S beats it on every account. FDiner grain, higher resolution, better clarity in landscape, easier contrast when not overdevelopped. I tried both in Rodinal, HC-110 and Diafine. Development times published by Maco for Rodinal and Digitaltruth are plain wrong. They lead to massive over development. They should cut in half as a starting point. My times are even shorter than that.

I find Rollei 80S in Rodinal to be the current leader for landscape. In my opinion, better than Acros.
 
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