Agfa APX 400 and Rodinal

jrong

jrong

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I know a fair bit has been posted here about Agfa APX 400 - I just picked up 5 rolls of the 35mm film, and remember my last trials with it have been very grainy and unpromising, but I'd like to try again (I'm a big fan of APX 100). I just have HC-110, Diafine and Rodinal, and as much as possible, do not want to buy anymore developers as I lack storage space.

I've seen some nice results with the film pulled to ISO 250 and developed with Rodinal 1+50, but I can't find the developing times anywhere. Digitaltruth seems to have some relevant data but the notes suggest that it is for an older emulsion. Does anyone here know?

Jin
 
Well, I've got only 9 rolls left... but the rolls are 48.8m bulk rolls :D

I'm shooting it at EI 250 and developing it with XTOL and it gives nice compromise between sharp edges and relatively nice grain. I'm not a fan of ultra sharp grain though.

I haven't tried it with rodinal. Heck, I haven't ever tried anything in Rodinal! ;)
 
I've shot a lot of APX400 over the years and have souped it in both Rodinal and HC-100.

In Rodinal I found I got best results rating the film at 200ASA and developing it, either in 1+100 for 16mins or 1+50 for 10mins [examples here]

In HC-110 I generally rate the film at box speed or 320ASA and develop it in dilution e (I'd need to double check the times with my notes at home) - [examples here]

For what it's worth, APX400 and APX100 are very different emultions. I love APX100, but at best I'd say I like the 400.
 
I shoot APX400 at rated speed, because I only use it when I need the speed, APX100 by far my favorite if I can get enough light.
Anyway, with smaller dilutions (1:50, 1:100) I have found APX400 gets muddy, so I now stick with 20degC, 25:1 for 7 minutes using the Agfa style agitation (continuous first 30secs, then tip once every 30secs)

Incidentally APX100 I like with 50:1, 20degC, 13 minutes using Agfa agitation.
 
APX400 / Rollei Retro 400 in Rodinal 1+50, 13:00 min at an E.I. of 250 will give you the right results. When you have even a higher light contrast situation you have to make an E.I. of 200.

APX 400 is not a very fine grained film, and certainly not in a para-amino phenol developer like Rodinal. It can withstand high over-exposure and gives a nice grey tonal range.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotohuisrovo/2876405994/

Here some more developing information:
http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/Development_Rollei films.pdf

Rollei Retro 100/400 is pre-packed APX 100/400 135 micron 35mm material from the latest Agfa Photo production run in 2005. The raw material was bought by the Rollei-Maco company when Agfa went in bankruptcy.

Best regards,

Robert
 
The most critical element, I believe, in using Rodinal with APX 400 is agitation.

I think the best results are from gentle agitation, which is a bit different from Kodak films and developers.

I give one two-second inversion every 30 seconds, and that seems to work well in terms of grain and negative density.
 
I recently ran my first roll of APX400 - EI 400, souped in rodinal 1:50, 13 mins with gentle agitation gave me grainy low contrast negs with pronounced base+fog density. Can't judge from 1 roll, but so far I prefer tri-x, although APX400 has a look that will be perfect for a specific project on my list.

KenD
 
KenD said:
I recently ran my first roll of APX400 - EI 400, souped in rodinal 1:50, 13 mins with gentle agitation gave me grainy low contrast negs with pronounced base+fog density. Can't judge from 1 roll, but so far I prefer tri-x, although APX400 has a look that will be perfect for a specific project on my list.

KenD
Click to expand...

Print the negs before you judge them. Yes, APX 400 negs in rodinal look flat and have high base fog, but they print beautifully.

chicago3.jpg


amy-pruitt3.jpg


lwr-huntington3.jpg


All shot on 35mm APX 400 exposed at EI 320 and developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 10 minutes at 68 degrees.
 
234657-R3-00-0-1.jpg


234657-R4-01-1_1-1.jpg


These are 35mm APX400 @ I.E. 250 stand developed in Rodinal 1:100 for 1 hour w/2 minutes of agitation at the start and 30 seconds at the half hour mark.
 
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Chriscrawfordphoto said:
Gary, those have beautiful tonality and detail.
Click to expand...

Thank you. They were taken with a 35/2.5 C Color Skopar Classic on a Bessa R2.

Edited to add: The Skopar Classic has a reputation for being contrasty & I took those at Midday with that in mind to see if the stand developing would tone down the contrast. It seemed to help some but I may try a 1:125 dilution next time.
 
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Gary, may I ask you what is in your opinion the advantage of stand development (Rodinal, also para-amino phenol) with a 35mm negative?
 
Fotohuis said:
Gary, may I ask you what is in your opinion the advantage of stand development (Rodinal, also para-amino phenol) with a 35mm negative?
Click to expand...

I've only done it the one time and based on that limited experience I'd say that the primary advantage for me (so far) is convenience. No clock watching to agitate every minute....just two minutes at the beginning and a few inversions at 30 minutes. Others get good results without the midpoint agitation. There's plenty of time to mix chemicals, clean up, etc. The reason that I tried it was for the compensating effect on the highlights. The results were encouraging in that regard and calls for further experimentation.
 
Fotohuis said:
OK, because there is NO advantage in 35mm photography on this type of development.
Rodinal needs slow agitation and preferable a temperature just under 20 degrees C. for the best fine grained results.

About the boring and long development:
http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/TAS_Flyer_D.pdf

Best regards,

Robert
Click to expand...

Robert,
That's a strong statement, If you already "knew" the answer then why did you ask? Tryin' to trick me?;) The compensating effect, and the forgiving nature of stand developing along with the convenience of developing different film speeds together in the same tank are advantages. If I was concerned about grain size I wouldn't be using APX400 or Rodinal.
 
Hi Gary,

I am not trying to 'trick' anybody but I thought maybe I missed something... (well almost impossible after over 40 years film development) :cool:

Indeed convenience and I can only say: Yes, Rodinal + APX400 is not a fine grained combination but can be beautiful, well look at your pictures yourself :)
 
I would use the HC-110... I guess I'm just always happy with the D76-like behavior for 35mm. Rodinal is nice for 6x9 and 4x5".
 
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