Developers... Rodinal... and chemical questions...

[DRabbit]

Hey All,

I've been using Diafine for my developing so far, but I was thinking of giving Rodinal a try (it was one of the original "easy" developers suggested to me back when you all convinced me I could develop myself!)

I love the Diafine for it's easy, but I don't like that all films seem to have to be pushed to higher ASAs for their sweet spot. I'd like to use Tri-X 400 at 400.

What do I need to know about using Rodinal? From what I've read you don't pre-mix it like you do with Diafine... is that right?


Another question about chemicals...

Of course I love my film but still shoot a lot of digital, so A LOT of time can go by between rolls of film. I'm wondering how long my chemicals will last if I'm only developing every so often. A year? 2?

I know that Rodak Rapid Fixer is only going to give me about 15-20 cycles before it needs to replace, but I might a year before that happens!

How long do chemicals typically last in their respective jugs mixed or not?

Thanks all! Hope to be developing a roll this weekend!

 

[Schlapp]

So easy.
either use standard agitation [1:25. 1:50] - but very gently, partial stand [ie 1:100] or stand [1:100-200/300].
Rodinal is great because it will last a lifetime - even when already open

 

[Marsopa]

Rodinal is easy to use, you prepare de solution just before the development, usually 1 part of Rodinal in either 25 or 50 water parts... I tend to use syringes to measure Rodinal volume and a jar for water, as Rodinal volume is much smaller than the water one you only need to worry about water temperature, I use to have i.e. 1 liter or less of warm water amd use ice or cold bags to reach 20ºC.

Rodinal is highly alcaline, avoid skin contact and above all the possibility of eye contact!!

The comercial bottle once opened can last for a very long time mprovided you close it tightly

 

[Mablo]

In my view Rodinal is divine stuff - but I don't particularly like to use it with Tri-X because I always get accentuated grain. If Tri-X is your film of choice I'd try Kodak HC-110 which is just as easy to use as Rodinal (see: http://www.jasonbrunner.com/hc110.html ) but gives more pleasing results.

 

[shadowfox]

I use Rodinal with Tri-X, especially good combination for 120 format or bigger.

The differences in grain size depends on the agitation.

When I don't want golf-ball-sized grains, I turned the tank slowly 3 times every four minutes or so in a 12 min. development with 1+50 dilution. That's it, just enough to prevent uneven development.

This is 35mm, btw. The grain here in the scan is more visible than in a print.

 

[BSCG]

Rodinal is beautiful developer and i agree with Mablo very accentuated grain with Tri-X. X-Tol is great for Tri-X for a very smooth development. I would advise with Rodinal the 1:50 dilution for a longer development time, this gives better contrast and tone especially with Foma and ilford films. One bottle lasts for ever especially at 1:50 dilution, and for the price its a bargin

 

[venchka]

Keep fixer in a FULL and TIGHTLY stoppered AIR TIGHT container. Glass is best. Some plastics are porous to air. 1 gallon of Kodak Rapid fixer will treat 100 36 exp. rolls of film in 6 months. That's what Kodak says. I've kept fixer 8-9 months and it was still fine. Fixer is easy to check before beginning to develop. Keep scraps of exposed film from rolls you develop. Drop a piece of film in some fixer. If it clears in under a minute you're good to go.

I keep my fixer in 2 half gallon jugs and alternate between them when I process film.

Rodinal is the infrequent developer's friend. Always ready to use. Lasts forever.

 

[Trius]

It's been stated, but I want to reinforce: Reduced agitation with Rodinal for Tri-X and other faster films is the key. It will not give you the smaller grain of something like XTol, D-76, etc. ... those are developers with sulfite that have the effect of "shaving" the grain. But you lose grain sharpness and acutance with silver solvent developers, so it's a trade-off of sorts.

For Rodinal @ 1:100 I use 19 minutes (maybe 20 if I feel it need a touch more contrast) and agitate only for the first minute. After that, I let it stand.

For 1:50 I do the same, but of course the time is shorter.

Also, I generally normally rate my Tri-X @ 250, which gives me the greater shadow detail that I like. YMMV.

BTW ... I've found that with the 1:100 dilution nearly all films process well at ~19 minutes. Again, test for your own meter, metering method, water characteristics, etc.

 

[dufffader]

I know that Rodak Rapid Fixer is only going to give me about 15-20 cycles before it needs to replace, but I might a year before that happens!

I use small tanks that processes 2 reels at a time. So I have 650ml bottles of fixers and stopbath that are recycled.

I use Ilford Rapid Fixer, and from all these years of processing, I discard the fixer solution after 10 rolls of 135 film goes through it. I dont keep fixer for more than a month. I find that this gives me the best balance of recyclability and performance. Generally better to be safe with the fixer as nearly-exhausted fixers causes plenty of loss time in refixing.

Stopbath is easier, recycle it till you see the colour change from piss-yellow 😉 to something else (blue tint if I remember well), but that's once a few months at least.

 

[venchka]

Tap water is more than adequate for stopping development.

Freestyle sells 1 gallon bottles of concentrated fixer. It's cheap enough to use one shot if you really want to.

 

[maddoc]

Rodinal is nice but I prefer HC-110 for Tri-X. HC-110 is also easy to use as a one shot developer, the syrup lasts forever (stored in the fridge) and the results are less dependent on the kind of agitation. I have also developed a lot of Tri-X in D-76 and XTOL but don't like to deal with powder developer any more and especially with XTOL, the film gets a "plastic" look.

 

[DRabbit]

Thanks for the info everyone, especially on the Rodinal and different developers. I purchased some Rodinal today, so I'll try with the next roll of film.

As for the fixer... I had mixed up a gallon of it and it sits in a dark cabinet in a dark brown gallon (plastic) container. I'm marking it with a slash each time I use it. How long can I keep it like this before discarding and mixing a new batch?

And how to discard?

 

[venchka]

It will be time to retire it when it takes longer than 1 minute to clear a strip of exposed film. When you load 35mm film save the leader section. Use those scraps to test fixer. It's easy.

 

[Anton Caro]

For sure the fixer lasts around a year... this is the maximum I have tried.
I am using paRodinal 1+50 for Rollei Retro 400, 20 centigrades, 20 min.
Now I will try it with the Neopan 400. Both rollfilms.

I will also try 1+100 for Rollei 400, shot as 200, 20 min...

 

[DRabbit]

Well I'm developing my first roll in Rodinal tonight (nothing like developing film when snowed in)... I'm trying the stand-developing (but my OCD wants me to agitate! LOL)... and waiting... will post results hopefully later tonight after they are dry and I can scan some!

 

[charjohncarter]

Rodinal is a speed losing developer, so the 'sweet spot' for me is below 400. In Fact for me it is 200-250.

 

[DRabbit]

I shot the whole roll at 200... haven't scanned yet, but they seemed to develop fine... anxious to get them scanned... hopefully in an hour or so!

 

[venchka]

This is cool. Real time results. Standing by. I'll check after the football game.

 

[Turtle]

IMHO you are barking up the wrong tree. If you are used to Diafine why not try a boring, standard developer capable for very good all round results? Xtol, for example? Keeps very well in 5 x 1L glass bottles (easily a year), is dead easy to make up, produces fine grain and good acutance when diluted to 1+2 or 1+2 and fine grain and fair acutance at 1+1. You can even add small amounts of rodinal to it to give it more bite.

Rodinal is very grainy with TriX and while very nice for a certain look, it is an 'extreme look' IMO, though in 120 it is more normal looking. Put this way, I get far finer grain from Foma 100 in Xtol (35mm) than TriX 120 in Rodinal and so while the look is interesting, it defeats any format advantage. 35mm Foma 100 in Xtol and Rodinal is looks about the same at 20x16 as 120 TriX and rodinal. To that end I would rather get more shots per roll, use a smaller camera etc. Just my view.

 

[charjohncarter]

IMHO you are barking up the wrong tree. If you are used to Diafine why not try a boring, standard developer capable for very good all round results? Xtol, for example? Keeps very well in 5 x 1L glass bottles (easily a year), is dead easy to make up, produces fine grain and good acutance when diluted to 1+2 or 1+2 and fine grain and fair acutance at 1+1. You can even add small amounts of rodinal to it to give it more bite.

Rodinal is very grainy with TriX and while very nice for a certain look, it is an 'extreme look' IMO, though in 120 it is more normal looking. Put this way, I get far finer grain from Foma 100 in Xtol (35mm) than TriX 120 in Rodinal and so while the look is interesting, it defeats any format advantage. 35mm Foma 100 in Xtol and Rodinal is looks about the same at 20x16 as 120 TriX and rodinal. To that end I would rather get more shots per roll, use a smaller camera etc. Just my view.

I may not go this far, but for me my worst film with Rodinal is TriX. And I use Rodinal a lot, and like it but just not with Trix. But as everyone says with all different things, formulas, combinations, developers, it is your choice that matters.