Old HC-110, Rodinal

Old HC-110, Rodinal

  • Yes, use the HC-110

    Votes: 13 26.5%

  • Yes, use the Rodinal

    Votes: 14 28.6%

  • Yes, use both randomly

    Votes: 17 34.7%

  • No, use the D-76

    Votes: 1 2.0%

  • No, put all the film in a pile and set it on fire

    Votes: 4 8.2%
  • Total voters
    49
I was developing 1990 Kodak 5231 which I shot in 2010 for a while and complaining how this film deteriorated. Turns out my developer was gone bad. With new batch the same film turned out just fine. Costed me some images I wish I did not lose. It's not worth it in my opinion.
 
HC-110

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BE AWARE! I ruined five films with aged Rodinal because I trusted this Internet wisdom everybody is repeating. So I found out the hard way that Rodinal (like al other developers) can go bad. If it fails, like in my case, you end up with almost blank negatives.

Since then I use fresh developer and when the Rodinal is dark brown I do a test. Hey, developer is cheap, why waste precious time and energy on 3 Dollars worth of old developer? Alas, amateurs...
 
Roger Vadim said:
BE AWARE! I ruined five films with aged Rodinal because I trusted this Internet wisdom everybody is repeating. So I found out the hard way that Rodinal (like al other developers) can go bad. If it fails, like in my case, you end up with almost blank negatives.

Since then I use fresh developer and when the Rodinal is dark brown I do a test. Hey, developer is cheap, why waste precious time and energy on 3 Dollars worth of old developer? Alas, amateurs...
Click to expand...

Firstly is English your native tongue? Perhaps not. Go look up the definition of "amateur" because it's not necessarily as much of a pejorative as you might think—it can depend on context. Secondly, muffing five rolls of black and white because your developer was bad is a rather amateur thing to do. You'll have to work out the context I am using the term in, for yourself.
 
rodinal in a glass bottle that used to contain Viradon toner is good for 10 years. I stupidly discarded all the rubber stopper bottles where I could access Ordinal with hypodermic needle.

My test was 1998 to 2008 , Ordinal was fresh and decanted to glass immediately.
Tests were done yearly and more often at the beginning.

HC110 needs to be original gold color.

Why waste time do tests with expired material?? Makes no sense.
 
Ronald M said:
Why waste time do tests with expired material?? Makes no sense.
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For the HC-110 test, it makes perfect sense.
  • When it's a Saturday, and it's your only window
  • When you can't get any other developer for days because there are no local places to buy it
  • When you can run a single reel test and it works
  • When it's low-value test film
  • When it's shot on a lot of TMY that is in the "paper imprint" danger range
  • When you have to make a call on whether the cameras/backs work for purposes of keeping or returning them
  • When you were comped the film in the first place
  • When the vacuum seal is still on the plastic bottle of HC-110
It's not as if this was 13 rolls of film from some unrepeatable vacation. And by the way, I got better results out of expired HC-110 than I have gotten from the last three labs I used.

Dante
 
Dante_Stella said:
So is it true that the current HC-110 behaves differently?
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That is what I'm finding with my new bottle of HC110, I'm going to verify with a couple of my mates with unexpired bottles from different batches, alongside my old trusty bottle which expired 8 years ago.

I'll report back with the results, but if anyone has a lead on old HC110, hit me up as I'm going to start my stash of an ever-increasingly rare developer.
 
I am a long time D76 user but an unopened 7 year old bottle of Rodinal is as good as a fresh new factory filled bottle of Rodinal.

Both are great developers.
 
I have three bottles of Rodinal left from 2006. Even the opened one, which has turned brown, works just as well as the day I opened it two years ago. This stuff lasts forever and ever, amen.
 
After all the work to get an image on film, I say no.

Rodinal lasts 10 years according to my tests,, 1998 to 2008. They a slight loss starts.

It was in a glass bottle and plastic may be different.
 
Dante,


I never used HC-110


The Rodinal will be fine still. Having said that, I would develop one film first. Just to get used again . . .
 
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