Favorite films in Rodinal?

Stephanie Brim said:
I'm new to Rodinal. Never used it. I know I'll be using lots of Tri-X, but is there anything else that I should look into using with Rodinal?

Make your case well as I know this is purely a matter of opinion...I just want opinions other than my own. 😛
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Thin emulsion, slow to medium speed films seem to thrive in Rodinal.

Fast films as a rule are not meant to be developed in Rodinal- the grain issue
is the main reason. Rodinal is an 'honest' developer without high amounts of cannibalistic sulfites which smooth grain and diminish apparent resolution.

Grain isn't really an issue now, so TriX should mate nicely with Rodinal.

Rodinal, unlike super additive developers (metol/hydroquinone types) like D76
promote impression of greater sharpness, especially at high dilution rates.

Jay
 
Comes down to taste, I like doing Tri-x in rodinal, but then again other don't like the results. You should ask yourself what it is exactly you want.

Personally I find HC110 the more versatile developer, more middle of the roadish.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
I'll eventually be doing the big push to 12,800.
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I would echo what others have said about Rodinal and pushing ... Rodinal isn't designed or really suited to push processing.
In fact most high speed films (and many slow ones) actually lose speed in Rodinal (at least if optimal grain structure and sharpness are desired).
Rodinal was developed when 50 and 64 were considered high speed and 100 was WAY out there.
Rodinal is essentially a pull developer and still an excellent one after all these years.
Virtually any other developer is better for pushing than Rodinal.

Peter
 
peterc said:
I would echo what others have said about Rodinal and pushing ... Rodinal isn't designed or really suited to push processing.
In fact most high speed films (and many slow ones) actually lose speed in Rodinal (at least if optimal grain structure and sharpness are desired).
Rodinal was developed when 50 and 64 were considered high speed and 100 was WAY out there.
Rodinal is essentially a pull developer and still an excellent one after all these years.
Virtually any other developer is better for pushing than Rodinal.
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I second Peter's comments.

Vincent
 
Someone else did it with great results. I'm not quite going to do it with the same conditions. I'm also going to do a stand development technique...it'll give me a development time around two hours. It should develop the shadows well and develop highlights only as needed...or so people say. There have been numerous examples of people who have done good work with film pushed in Rodinal.
 
I agree with Stephanie; seeing is believing. I wouldn't have believed it, but Merciful's results mercifully changed my perspective. Afterall, Rodinal is cheap, film is pretty cheap, and it's worth some experimentation. Heck, with stand development you don't even have to remember to agitate.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
There have been numerous examples of people who have done good work with film pushed in Rodinal.
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Yes, I've seen this. However, my point is that there are better ways to get the same result. It's an interesting experiment, but Rodinal's strength is slow speed.
I look at it the same way I would hauling semi-trailers with a Honda Civic ... it can be done, it's fun to do it once, but...
If you really need 12,500, Delta 3200 for 13 1/2 minutes in D76 or ID11 will get you there with reasonable quality.

Peter
 
I have used Rodinal for years and years and with all types of film. My favorite combination at the moment is with Fuji Neopan 400. I use it at the regular dilution- 1:25. Before I started shooting a lot of the Neopan, I used it with Tri X mostly. But I have used it with TMax 400, the Delta films and various other films, even Tmax 3200. That delivers some eye popping grain. From what I understand Salgado, in the past, has mainly used TriX with Rodinal but also with TMax 3200. Check out some of his stuff and the grain is amazing. He may have even pushed the 3200. I have no idea what combination he is using now on his new project. I do know that he is not using his Leicas for the new project but has gone to medium format. There are many well known photographers that use Rodinal with a combination of different films because of it's unusual characteristics. Salgado and also Ralph Gibson come to mind immediately, but there are many, many more.
 
The best result I've seen is Neopan Acros 100 rated a bit lower like ISO 80 or so. I read that it really suits Agfa APX 100 too, but haven't seen the results.

 
I've just started to use Arista EDU Ultra (Fomapan 100) in 120. I shoot it at an EI of 100 and soup it in HotRod at 1+50 for 10 mins.

This stuff is scary good, and to my taste is better than either FP4+ or APX 100.

Just my $0.02

Kent
 
Great pics Ray! Max I have read in several places now that Fomapan 100 is a really excellent film. I think Freestyle is selling Arista.EDU Ultra for ~$17/100ft. roll so if you use bulk rolls that's a good source.

 
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