Rodinal 1+50 uneven development help

[Steveh]

I tried my first roll of Acros (120) last night, exposed at ISO 80, processed in Rodinal 1+50 for 13 minutes at 20C.

Generally the negs came iout very well, I'm delighted with the tonality, sharpness etc. and I want to persevere with the combination, but a couple of the frames with large areas of sky show classic signs of uneven development/bromide drag - the normal streaky vertical lighter/darker areas across the areas of even tone.

I used my usual agitation routine that works fine for me with other films in DD-X - continuous for the first 30 seconds and then 10 seconds every minute - but I usually use the "twizzle stick" to turn the reel back and forth and don't put the lid on and invert the tank. Is that likely to be the problem? Should I be doing agitation by inversion to move the dev around more? Would agitation for 5 secs every 30 seconds work better? Some help /tips from all the Rodinal gurus on here would be much appreciated.

Also, I'm assuming there's less risk of uneven development if you use Rodinal at 1+ 25 - is that right? Are there any differences in the look I'll get with Acros at a lower dilution? I prefer shorter development times so this would be quite an attractive option.

Thanks!

 

[ohoyer]

I also use Rodinal 1+50 on my films, mainly Agfa APX100/Rollei Retro 100. In my Paterson tank I use 500ml overall, because

a) I aquired used lab mixing precision equipment allowing me to measure 500ml precisely (so I use a pipette for measuring the developer concentrate and fill up to 500ml)
b) the tank requires aroung 270ml for one reel of 135 film, but with Rodinal and its tendency for oxidation you are on the safe side, also allowing for full 10ml of concentrate in the stuff.

Agitation is first 60 sec continuous, then 3 inversions at the beginning of each minute, 13 mins total.
No problems.

But: With Adox CHS (Efke) I have seen some traces of possible bromide drops around the perforation, but none on the film itself.

 

[NickTrop]

Some suggest pre-soaking film for more even development. A similar thread here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rodinal/discuss/72157624069591404/

 

[ohoyer]

Pre-Soaking depends on the film- in some cases you can have also problems caused by pre-soaking, because the developer has to get through the water in the wet emulsion to do his work- prolongs the developing time. One of the few that really required pre-soak was the Rollei R3, bus most actual films do not require it. At least you should test it into your procedure for each film, so that you use it constantly.

For pre-soak, normally the manufacturer gives recommendations.

 

[Peter S]

Only one way to find whether the twiddle stick is the culprit. Next development do it with the lid on and gentle inversions. If you look the tonality you get with 1+50 I would not look for the solution in 1+25 if I were you. Shorter development times make it easier to screw up the development, with longer development times 30 accidental seconds more or less have less impact on the result.

You are actually already there, you liked most of what you saw, you just need to figure out how to avoid the streaking. Be gentle with the agitation when inverting, Rodinal needs TLC. You almost got there with the most gentle agitaion possible (the twiddlingstick) so don't overdo it with the inversions. Patience and perseverance; you are already at 3rd base .

 

[Landshark]

120 seems much more sensitive to over agitation than 35. I've just begun using Acros 120 & my 35 agitation style gives me very uneven negatives in some areas.
Gentler seems to be better though.

 

[NickTrop]

Sometimes with film development - at least in my experience, you do the same thing you always do... your routine, and every once in a while a roll gets muffed up and you don't know why or what you did different. Gremlins.

 

[Steveh]

Sometimes with film development - at least in my experience, you do the same thing you always do... your routine, and every once in a while a roll gets muffed up and you don't know why or what you did different. Gremlins.

That sounds like life to me Nick, not just film developing 😛

Thanks for all the input so far - I'd like to try to get by without pre-soaking so I'll try to re-vamp my agitation first with some gentle inversions and see where it gets me.

Can anyone explain how the look of Rodinal at 1:25 differs from 1:50? Does it?

 

[jan normandale]

BW film development is "voodoo".

 

[semilog]

Inversion.

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I've seen clear evidence of uneven processing, especially on the borders, when I use the "twizzle stick" for agitation during fixing rather than the inversion method. So I'd suspect the agitation you used.
I also use Rodinal 1+50 on 120 film in Paterson tanks and have no development related problems by using the "Ilford" inversion pattern. Twizzle and bump for 30 secs, then four inversions within 10 secs every minute. Same for the fixing stage - I use 5 minutes, not 2 as labelled. I also use 500 ml of solution for 120.

 

[xwhatsit]

I'm a complete beginner, just doing `normal' development with Microphen and ID11, but could somebody tell me why I would want to consider trying stand dev? It looks like a massive pain in the ar*e!

 

[Leigh Youdale]

I'm a complete beginner, just doing `normal' development with Microphen and ID11, but could somebody tell me why I would want to consider trying stand dev? It looks like a massive pain in the ar*e!

Two reasons appear on RFF threads frequently.

Some people are absolute cheapskates and will do anything to reduce the cost per frame including using out-of-date film, buying lowest priced film and using highly diluted developer.

The other reason is that a lot of people like the image quality that long, slow, dilute development gives them.

If you want to, experiment. Do one film as 'standard' and another (preferably taken in similar conditions) dilute and see which you like best. I've never been tempted.