Film and Chemical Suggestions

[gbealnz]

Help an old fart out please.
Started work in 1970 in a processing lab, and have processed all my own B&W for years.
Of course this new fangled digital got in the way, and family life too, and I haven't done anything for years.
I need a few recommendations for film and developers please. 35mm only at this stage, I'm having a Leica-Attack, and want to shoot a film M next to the M9.
Last time I used film it was APX100 or 400, and Rodinal. I loved the frugalness of Rodinal as well. I see it can be had again, under an Adox name, but not here in NZ, so I'd have to freight some, if that is possible.
What films work OK with Rodinal and if there is an alternative, please don't hold back, say so.
If I import the chemicals, I might get the film locally (assuming what you suggest is available locally) and that way I can be playing while the shipment posts.
Gary
New Zealand

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Kodak Tmax 100, Fuji Acros 100, Ilford Pan-F and FP-4 all look incredibly good in Rodinal. Kodak Tri-X does too, but it has a somewhat gritty look in Rodinal but with gorgeous tonality. That one you'll have to try yourself to see if you like it, but the others I mentioned look great to everyone.

 

[JohnTF]

I see Foma still makes R09-- I believe an older version of Rodinal, -- do not know if they are sold down your way.

Czech's have great beer, might be worth the trip?

R09 formula is probably published, -- I am keeping chemistry, scales, and graduates just in case.

Regards, John

ps- I see B&H carry it, if that helps?

 

[hausen]

Am also a Kiwi. Wouldn't look to buy film locally. I buy all mine from B&H in NYC. If you keep order plus shipping under NZ$350 there is no GST. So I buy about 40-50 rolls at a time 3 or 4 times a year and using UPS service US$50 is on my desk in 3 days. Just keep order under $350 and you are good. Would love to know if you can import Rodinal as well and second all Chris's choices above.

 

[lynnb]

Might be an idea to check if Rodinal, being liquid, might be difficult and expensive to import - are you sure it isn't available locally? If so you could always go with one of the packet powder developers like D76 - it still gives very nice results with Tri-X.

I've found Rodinal 1:50 with HP5+ very grainy on 35mm, so I use XTOL and D76 for ISO400 films in this film size. In 120 size roll film, the grain is not so noticeable and I'm happy with the results using Rodinal.

 

[mob81]

I don't know if it helps, I bought rodinal from a german website macodirect. no one ship it to Saudi and even contacted Adox without luck until someone reffered me to macodirect (I bought Compard R09 which is the old Rodinal formula IIRC). Still will try it very soon.

Hope it helps

 

[L Collins]

Pan-F is great in Rodinal.

If you like grain, Tri-X or HP5 both give you that gritty, war photographer look but without the high contrast.

 

[jpa66]

I would also add Fomapan 200 to the list. It really looks good in Rodinal, but just shoot it at ei 125.

 

[presspass]

Fomapan 200 also works wonderfully with DIY developers like Beutler. As for commercial chemistry, Xtol is a powder, easy to mix, long-lasting, and seems to work with just about everything. The only downside is the quantity - the pack makes five liters. BTW, I don't think B&H ships chemistry - check their website.

 

[JohnTF]

I believe there was a change in the postal regulations, and the larger volumes of Rodinal, or similar developers, had extra fees. The smaller bottles remained OK, but have not purchased much by post in a while.

What ever Foma is calling their 200 ISO this moment, it is a very interesting film, back a bit when I had energy for such things, I shot some gray scales, it seemed to record close to one additional step-- and I thought it looked very good.

I think Roger included it in one of the better of the 20th century films.

I used D76, basically all my life, excellent stuff, but XTOL, seemed to me to do everything D76 did for me, and better.

I did need to find a 5 L bottle to mix it-- and of course, Saran Wrap under the cap, or glass stoppers. Kodak chemistry for their RA4 labs is sold in these size bottles, so if you can find a lab, they might give you a bottle --B&H used to sell the bottles as well, hi density plastic, -- the weak point always seems to be the cap seal, -- so the Saran Wrap under the cap.

I liked the look of Rodinal with APX 400 for my 6x9 negatives.

XTOL for 35mm frames.

Regards, John

 

[gbealnz]

Thanks all, very much appreciated. Great to get feedback from folk who use the stuff.
Can anyone tell me what the "new" name for Rodinal is, for example, I am having trouble finding it on the MacoDirect site. Is it Compard 09?
Gary

 

[mob81]

Thanks all, very much appreciated. Great to get feedback from folk who use the stuff.
Can anyone tell me what the "new" name for Rodinal is, for example, I am having trouble finding it on the MacoDirect site. Is it Compard 09?
Gary

Compard r09 one shot......they have a description and rodinal times there too.

 

[sepiareverb]

I like Adox Silvermax an awful lot in Rodinal. Pricey, but really lovely tonality and grain that reminds me of Panatomic-X. If you're not shooting tons I'd suggest a peek at it.

 

[JohnTF]

Thanks all, very much appreciated. Great to get feedback from folk who use the stuff.
Can anyone tell me what the "new" name for Rodinal is, for example, I am having trouble finding it on the MacoDirect site. Is it Compard 09?
Gary

R09 is at least a cousin-- in the Foma version, the dilution and processing times recommended are a bit different, but it should well suit your needs.

The Foma product is well sealed and packed-- am sure a few of us "fossils" can recall the Rodinal that had a rubber stopper and I think the only way to get it out was a large hypodermic needle?

My friend Jan from Frankfurt sent a file to RFF with a history of many of the developers-- he made a significant study-- and I would defer to him -- but I do recall discussions about the publication and patent releases by the former Soviet block countries, so any thing Agfa that was on their side of the lines was distrubuted to the masses.

In the concentrate, the pH is high, so I think the folks in the post office got a bit nervous shipping the large bottles, large being a pint or more?

When it was on the store shelves, it was not a problem, as it was delivered common carrier.

By the time I started visiting Prague, they had Agfa on the shelf, and of course, the Czech Foma brands as well, at prices so low I cannot recall them, perhaps $1 and change for a small bottle.

I think they are making chemistry for others to rebrand, I can tell you, their chemistry is reliable.

Regards, John

 

[Noll]

There is very little in the 200 and under category that home-brewed Caffenol CM can't handle. Only ingredient that might be hard to find is washing soda. Otherwise instant coffee and vitamin c can be had anywhere, (and there are recipes out there that don't use washing soda too, but might suffer a bit in the quality department)

 

[maddoc]

Rodinal or R09 are marked as "corrosive" and "harmful", therefore airmail is no option (I talked to Lufthansa staff at check-in time about this issue, transportation on board of any airplane is prohibited). If you find somebody sending that stuff by sea or ground then no problem.

 

[Fotohuis]

Rodinal = R09 one shot = Fomadon R09 = Adonal. At the moment all the same.

Shipped by plane is a problem due to the fact it is corrosive (Sodiumhydroxide).

Fomapan Creative 200 is great in Rodinal 1+50 or Xtol 1+1. Resp. E.I. 125 - 160.

Best regards,

Robert
( Dutch Foma distributor)

 

[Kkiuru]

Rodinal or R09 are marked as "corrosive" and "harmful", therefore airmail is no option (I talked to Lufthansa staff at check-in time about this issue, transportation on board of any airplane is prohibited). If you find somebody sending that stuff by sea or ground then no problem.

I work as a supervisor in a transportarion company in europe. This is false true!

We ship even cancer medicines that are radioactive through airmail. You just need to pack your **** right and follow DGR rules.

http://www.iata.org/publications/dgr/Pages/index.aspx

 

[JohnTF]

I work as a supervisor in a transportarion company in europe. This is false true!

We ship even cancer medicines that are radioactive through airmail. You just need to pack your **** right and follow DGR rules.

http://www.iata.org/publications/dgr/Pages/index.aspx

US does not seem to care about the small bottles, certainly would absorb in the packing, but they began to get sticky with the larger ones. I never measured the pH, but it never seemed to be so caustic that it burned on contact with skin.

I have had some pretty hot stuff shipped, like metallic sodium, lithium, and potassium, Flynn scientific had heavy bottles for the oil, and then packed them in kitty litter in paint cans, then more normal heavy cartons.

A lot of stuff, correctly, or incorrectly seems to get folks worked up, but the key is to ship it correctly. I never noticed any warning labels on a Rodinal bottle, but maybe I was not looking.

One of my colleagues and I made several tapes of : basically experiments we used to do in classrooms, but no longer-- last time the police arrived, we were tossing kilos of sodium in to a mine runoff pond-- the noise scared the neighbor's horses.

The video should be available from Flynn, for the curious.


I always was amused at Kodak's warning: "Caution, contains monomethylparaaminophenyl sulfate" as I recall, really, they simply needed to state you should not breathe the dust.

I think there is sufficient literature on photo chemistry out there. "Over Exposure?"

Sorry if I mixed up the Kodak specifics, it is from memory, I have salted away the basics to mix my own chemistry if I can get enough energy to re open the wet darkroom for B&W-- for RA4 I have a source locally , for now, a local lab mixes up a bit extra when I need it. A good scale is less than $100 new.



Regards, John

 

[gsgary]

Foma 400 is very nice in Rodinal