Efke R25 120 + Xtol 1:3 + Rodinal 1:100

[venchka]

Thanks to a trade with RFF member enochroot awhile back, I had 17 rolls of 120 Efke R25 film. I finally got around to testing the first roll last weekend.

Deciding to be totally adventurous, I tried multiple firsts with the same roll:
1. First roll of 120 developing for me since forever. Early 70s to be exact.
2. First roll of any kind of Efke film.
3. First time to try the Xtol with a shot of Rodinal cocktail I've been reading about here and APUG and The Unblinking Eye.

I used the following recipe:
1. Pentax 6x7 and 150mm lens.
2. Box speed for the film. ASA (ISO if you must) 25.
3. Gossen Luna-Pro meter.
4. Afternoon daylight, about 5pm, in Houston, TX. Clear sky.
5. Metered an open shadow area. Closed two stops.
6. Fired away. Half the roll for a film speed test and the other half to see what the film would do with fairly average scenes.
7. Loaded the film into a Beseler brand Paterson clone reel and tank.
8. Mixed the developer: 175 ml Xtol + 525 ml water + 7 ml Rodinal. 707ml Total. Stirred not shaken. 700ml covers the film reel by at least 1/2 inch.
9. 2 minute plain water pre-soak.
10. Developer in. 9 minutes. 68°F. Continupus, brisk, but not vigorous, agitation for 30 seconds. Mostly twirling the stick that rotates the reel in the tank. Bumping the bottom to free air bubbles. 5 seconds of twirling at each odd minute - 7,5,3, & 1. One gentle inversion at 4 minutes.
11. Dump developer.
12. 9 minutes up. Pour in plain water stop. Twirl the stick for a minute. Dump.
13. Fix.
14. Wash.
15. Photo-Flo rinse.
16. Hang to dry.
17. Come back in 24 hours to look at the negatives.

I like these negatives! Lots of detail in the shadows. Lots of detail in the highlights. No grain. Really really nice.

Now the bad news: Efke film curls like a snake. How do I tame that?

Changes: Reduce the agitation to a few twirls evey 3 minutes. Eliminate the inversion halfway through. The purpose: To see if I can gain a bit more detail in the highlights. If that doesn't do enough, I'll try 8 or maybe 7 minutes developing time. However, 9 minutes works very well. Reducing the development may not help at all.

I made a scan on my clunky scanner to verify all of the above. I hope all of this long windedness helps.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Great to hear another person trying Xtol and Rodinal together! My experience with the cocktail has generally given me full box speed with the various films Ive tried.

As for the film curl, how are you drying the negatives? Ive found humidity to play a role in how much a film curls. Im lucky enough to be able to shut the bathroom door while the film dries to trap in as much humidity as possible.

 

[venchka]

Thanks. I did hang the film in the bathroom. I'll leave the door closed next time.

When I have photos beyond a "test roll" nature I will certainly share.

I also have a goodly stash of 120 Tmax 100 and 35mm Delta 100 & Pan F. I will try the Xtol-Rodinal mix on those as well.

Oh, and did I mention SHARP too????????????????

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

If you like sharp then you'll definitely like delta 100 in that combo, tack sharp!