Rodinal lovers read this...

Oh, for crying out loud.

Rodinal is a well-known formula. The patent ran out decades ago. Lots of companies make it. In fact, there were several formulations - so you just have to pick the 'Rodinal' that matches the decade you liked the best. The various formulae for different versions of Rodinal are published all over the net - and the raw chemicals are easily available as well.

Of all the things that Agfa made that are not replaceable, Rodinal ain't one of them.

David b, I realize you're just reporting this, so my ire is not directed at you, believe me. But I've read umpty ump threads on "Rodinal Saved!" and "Rodinal Lost!" and "Rodinal Gave Birth to An Amazing Bigfoot Child!" over the past weeks that I'm about to throw up. Who gives a flip? Rodinal, as a dev agent, is very available - just with a couple of different names.

So what's the big deal?

Chicken Little, indeed.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Solinar said:
Rodinal from Agfa is Ghandi unless the purchaser of the photo processing end of Agfa Photo restarts production.

Why does it have to be from Agfa? Something special about German water? The chemicals are well available elsewhere, as is the recipe. I believe I'll have another Marlon.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Calbe R09 would work just as well, but the panic has set in and someone on eBay knew to stock up on the brand with the red rhombus. I saw the same steal of a deal after APX 25 was discontinued.
 
Solinar said:
Calbe R09 would work just as well, but the panic has set in and someone on eBay knew to stock up on the brand with the red rhombus. I saw the same steal of a deal after APX 25 was discontinued.

The difference is that there isn't any clone APX 25 out there. Similar, maybe, but no one running the same process on the same machinery to make the same film. Chemistry, though - that's a direct copy for crying out loud.

Sombody smack these bozos, they're making me dizzy with all this running about.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Well, are all the substitutes/clones really the same? There have been discussions about that over on APUG, and quite frankly unless I really wanted to immerse myself in them, I'd just as soon stock up on "the real thing" and be done with it. I just received 8x 4 oz. bottles from Freestyle at what seems to be a decent price.

Also over on APUG there is a thread about Rollei 25 as an APX 25 replacement/substitute. But I agree, the loss of APX 25 is greater than that of Rodinal.

Earl
 
bmattock said:
Oh, for crying out loud. <Snip> Chicken Little, indeed. Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks

I'll echo Bill; fer cryin' out LOUD! Anyone willing to pay that kind of money for Rodinal shouldn't be allowed to play with sharp objects. Maybe there's a full moon out tonight or something...... I dunno, but it's sheer lunacy to lose all sense of proportion like that.

JandB Photo sell R09 very reasonably and by the time my 500ml bottle is used up I expect other brands to have joined it on the shelf.

Walker
 
Trius said:
Well, are all the substitutes/clones really the same? There have been discussions about that over on APUG, and quite frankly unless I really wanted to immerse myself in them, I'd just as soon stock up on "the real thing" and be done with it. I just received 8x 4 oz. bottles from Freestyle at what seems to be a decent price.

Also over on APUG there is a thread about Rollei 25 as an APX 25 replacement/substitute. But I agree, the loss of APX 25 is greater than that of Rodinal.

Earl

Earl,

If the formula used is correct, then yes, they're really the same. Some say that modern-day Rodinal is NOT the same stuff that was published long ago and is now being made elsewhere - however the MSDS that Agfa published does NOT indicate that, and it would be a violation of US federal law to import it here with a false/misleading MSDS.

Is it 'exactly' the same? No, it does not come with an Agfa logo on the bottle.

One can 'stock up' on Rodinal, but to what end? How much will you use in your lifetime? Can you stock that much?

Frankly, I can report that this brouhaha has gotten me interested in taking a more active hand in my chemistry - I may compound my own. I've purchased about half-a-dozen old old books on eBoy with lots of formulae printed in them. I am currently sorting them out with an eye towards making my own. This ain't rocket science here - more like a cake recipe

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
ray_g said:
IIRC, the formula's in "The Darkroom Cookbook."

Yes, Stephen Anchell's work. However, the formulae are also available in various 'Photography of Chemistry' type books dating from the early 1900's up to the 1940's, when photographers stopped having to understand even the first thing about a benzene ring. I enjoy the hard work of trying to wrap my mind around basic chemical undstanding. But once you have the formula, that's just making soup on the stove, is all.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Bill: OK, 'cept for the label, eh? 😉

I'm not sure how much I can/should stock up or use. At the dilutions I commonly use, combined with the shelf life of the stock solution, what I have in house now should keep me going for quite some time. (And there's no guarantee of my shelf life anyway!)

The only photo chemical I'm inclined to mix up myself is Amidol for print processing. I have no aversion to mixing my own soups (I minored in chemistry and have mixed other photo chemicals in the past), it's just that I'd rather take the more "relaxed" approach. I.e., I'm lazy. If it came down to having to mix my own, I'd do it, of course.

I look forward to your results in mixology.

Earl
 
Interesting, Bill. Are the chemicals readily avaiable, in reasonably small quantities?
 
From various reading I've done, there are some differences between Rodinal and Rodinal-like forumulae that are based on an older version of Rodinal. Also, from what I've read, the differences are so minor that it's academic.

APX25 is a loss. There is evidently some thought being given at Ilford about introducing a new Delta 25 in the near future. That could be interesting.

Gene
 
Bill: between the "nude" thread and this one, I'm bustin out laughing tonight. Please, have mercy, any more horse sense and I'll need a hernia truss.

Folks: for those who are gun-shy about mixing their own chems: The Photographer's Formulary has ready-made versions of so many developers, you'd lose your mind before you could try, let alone master, them all: http://www.photoformulary.com.

FWIW, they also sell the componants. Anyone with a spare set of measuring spoons can mix their own Rodinol, or D-76, or Beer's or D-73 or XTOL etc. etc. It's the disappearance of film that should wake you in a cold sweat, not these brand-name developers.

Ben Marks
 
hehe..... $11.50 CDN locally - and they've got a stockpile of it at my last check.

Looks like I'll be dropping in tomorrow and purchasing some for resale... supply and demand and all of that "free market economy" stuff 😀

Capitalistically yours,
Dave

(p.s. I'm joshing... really.. hehehehehe...)
 
ray_g said:
Interesting, Bill. Are the chemicals readily avaiable, in reasonably small quantities?

Yep!

http://www.photoformulary.com/

http://www.artcraftchemicals.com/

Even B&H sells bulk raw chemicals from Clayton, Edwal, and Kodak. Yes, Kodak sells raw chemicals as well.

I'm planning to do some research first, rather than my usual, which is just jumping in willy-nilly. I hope to come up with something fun. Gotta be fun.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
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