Lucky SHD400. Which developer?

R

RML

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Just bought 10 rolls of Lucky SHD400 for $16 + $7 p&p. $23 for 10 rolls. Not bad. That's about 1,85 euro per roll.

RFF member Leafy was kind enough to comment that the suggested developer is either Lucky or D76. Thanks, Leafy! :)

But has anyone tried to dev this film in Rodinal?
Does anyone know of a (cheap/affordable) source for Lucky or D76 dev'er in Amsterdam or Holland?
 
Almost two euros per roll, that's not cheap for Lucky!

In Rodinal it's too grainy in my opinion, especially at ISO 400 and above (perhaps OK at 200 ISO). I use ID-11 nowadays and it works fine. Never seen Lucky developer around.
 
JOnas, it does include shipping. But if you know of a cheaper source, please tell me! :)
 
Well, there's a guy on Ebay.be called "press2000" that has it for sale sometimes. I got it at at half your price including shipping (admittedly in a larger quantity - 50 rolls).
 
Thanks, Jonas. If I like this film, I'll keep that name in mind.

Now, how about Lucky in Rodinal?
 
Are you looking for development times or subjective impressions? If you want times:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.html

They have a recommended time of 14 minutes in Rodinal 1:50. I'd love to know how this comes out as I really like grainy film.

I would start off there and then adjust as necessary. As it's an inherintly grainy film from what I understand, Rodinal might be a good way to bring out it's character. There are ways to lessen grain with Rodinal (sodium something) that might help you if it's too grainy or you could increase the dilution.
 
Diafine sounds like fun, yes, but where to get it in Holland? Or by mail, somewhere close-by in Europe?
 
Most of the pictures I've seen developed in Diafine tend to have a very low contrast, middle grey tonality. People seem to like for it's ease of use and unfussiness about time and it' ability to increase film speed but it seems to come at the loss of "pop". Granted, I've only seen scans here on the web but nothing I've seen has ever tempted me to try it.

If you've got a few rolls and you've got some Rodinal, give it a go. Not that it matters but it seems to work OK for folks like Selgado and Ralph Gibson. As Lucky is reputed to be very similiar to old Tri-X, I bet you'd pulll some very classic looking photos from it.
 
From the Massive Dev Chart:

SHD400 in Rodinal 1+50 for iso400: 14-16mins at 20C.

Once I've shot some, I'll try with Rodinal.
 
RML
bracket if you are going to develop in Rodinal

If this behaves likes most 400 films, exposing it as 200 and developing in Rodinal 1+50 for 12-13 minutes will give you lnger tonality and finer grain
 
titrisol said:
RML
bracket if you are going to develop in Rodinal

If this behaves likes most 400 films, exposing it as 200 and developing in Rodinal 1+50 for 12-13 minutes will give you lnger tonality and finer grain
Click to expand...

That's useful info.
I was always a bit disappointed with my dev'ing of Efke KB100 in Rodinal at the recommended time.
The negs looked fine but scanning never seemed to give me fine grain I was expecting.
Probably a scanning problem anyway but still.

BTW, I sent you an email about the Diafine.


You guys are great!
I'm learning lots.
I guess all of you want me to come back to the B&W fold instead of wandering deliriously in the surreal world of digital rangefinders. :D
 
RML said:
Diafine sounds like fun, yes, but where to get it in Holland? Or by mail, somewhere close-by in Europe?
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Remy,

The easiest and cheapest way to get Diafine is to mail order it through Huron Camera. They use the regular old Postal Service and it goes through without a hitch. People tell me that there is no import duty, tax or other onerous levy.

I think from what others have posted it takes about 7 days from Huron to you.

Damn! I just went looking for Huron Camera and found that have either sold out completly or changed their names.

They are doing business as http://thefotogeeks.com/ now.

They still offer Diafine though: http://gallery.bcentral.com/GID2025592DD265281-Darkroom-Supplies.aspx

Same appearance to the order page as the old Huron Camera too.

Tom
 
Hi Remy,
I'd like to buy some Lucky rolls but I got no idea about its quality. So, lurking on RFF, I read you bought it and now I'd like to ask you if you develop your rolls, what's your idea about that film, and if you have some sample to show.
Let me now if you can,
thanks a lot.
Bye
Nico
 
nico said:
Hi Remy,
I'd like to buy some Lucky rolls but I got no idea about its quality. So, lurking on RFF, I read you bought it and now I'd like to ask you if you develop your rolls, what's your idea about that film, and if you have some sample to show.
Let me now if you can,
Click to expand...

Nico, I'll post results as soon as I have developed some film. So far, I have just finished 1 roll, still have to get some D-76, and haven't started developing yet. Could be some time before I'm ready. Maybe next weekend or so. I'll keep y'all posted. :)
 
T_om said:
These old-style emulsions should do very well in Diafine.

Tom
Click to expand...

Hi Tom

Lucky pan emulsions aren't exactly in the old-style category :) I'd say that they are somewhere in between the classic emulsions of the 50s and the last of the pre-Tgrain emulsions. They develop faster than the other Chinese-made emulsions like Era or Xiamen panchromatic films (these could fall in the old-style emulsion category).

The ISO 100 emulsion is very thin and quite sharp. The only old-style trait I found with it is its greater tendency for halation- highlights at certain situations will really glow. It also seems to have a bit more red sensitivity. Skin tones (Asian), even through a #1 yellow filter tend to pale and assume a bit of glow.


RML:

D76 (and its equivalents) works best with Lucky emulsions. You get full emulsion speed, and "tamer" grain with it. For greater sharpness, try developing at 1+3 dilution. No emulsion speed loss, with some increase in perceptive sharpness.I've never really tried the ISO 400 version, but I used the ISO 100 Lucky pan a lot when it was available here. It cost about US$0,50 two years ago. :)

Jay
 
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