Rodinal with Xtol

[naruto]

Ash - In my experience, I haven't found the high Xtol dilution to be particularly worthwhile. It seems to increase contrast at the expense of mid-tones. If you want a more Rodinal look, just use Rodinal .

If you want more grain, just increase agitation. Let us know if you have a different experience.

I have found that increased agitation leads to more grain. The agitation method plays some role in "perceived contrast" as well I suppose. I know I am getting into dangerous territory here. But, this has been mostly from experience. I tend to keep the contrast close-to-flat on my negatives, hence very light agitation. I once messed up a roll of film TriX in Rodinal, and it was from my kid sister's wedding. :bang: Luckily, I did get usable 8x10 prints which she was happy with.

Mike: Robert's method may differ, but I DON'T agitate with Rodinal. I think it gives better (tighter, more even) grain, though I admit I don't have empirical evidence to support that. I agitate an initial 30 seconds, then let the film luxuriate in its bath.

Agitation and wet time are the enemies of well-formed grain.

Agitation with Rodinal = like a caress. you get smooth even grain.

I VERY MUCH like the 'LOOK' of your photos here/ Naruto- Ash

Thanks Helen.

 

[charjohncarter]

OK OT, but has anyone done Rodinal and mixed it with HC-110. Rodinal is supposed to be all about midtones, and HC-110 is supposed to be all about highlights and shadows. ??????????????????????

 

[Uncle Fester]

Mike,

As far as the dilution goes, that is the ratio that I use. As far as agitation, my method is not that far off from Earl's (Trius). With Tri-X rated at 250 iso, I will develop for 8.25 min., agitating for 15 sec. initially, then 3 gentle inversions @ 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6 min. That's about 30 sec. of total agitation.

Everyone agitates differently and has different desires regarding grain, contrast, tonality, etc. I suggest starting with a simple methodology and keep experimenting until you find something that suits you. Let us know how it goes.

Robert,

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll give it a try using your methods and see where it goes from there. Are you optimizing your negatives for scanning, or are you printing in the darkroom. My intent is to print my negs using a condenser enlarger, and I think that your routine is a s good a starting point as any, so I'm off to the darkroom this weekend. Thanks again for your help,
Mike

 

[Turtle]

I use Xtol 1+3 and then add rodinal to that solution on 1:100 basis. Get results with a significant rodinal influence, but with less of a crystaline appearance. Great combo with TriX for crunch and gritty look but without throwing too much detail out the window. I like it.

 

[Turtle]

Maybe Xtol and rodinal should not work as it does but it does. You do get results somewhere in the middle. It is easy to play with, just a rodinal in a 1:100 ratio to your solution of 1+x Xtol and dev for a touch less/or same as Xtol 1+2 times. Hey presto, negs that have a bit of both. They look quite good for quite a few things. So far, I like it best with TriX for gritty but not insane grain and Delta 100 for subtle extra bite, btu where you don't want to get harsh grain in sky tones. I used it for some rusty bullet riddled railings up against the sky and I could to have asked for more. Xtol alone would have been too soft for the ideal print and Rodinal too harsh IMO. As for cost, neither dev is expensive!

 

[imush]

I tried this again with Neopan 1600 exposed at 800. The film was expired by a year or so, and I think it caused a bit of fog (unexposed film a shade darker than usual), but otherwise I like the result.

Xtol 1:4 + Rodinal 1:100, 9 min.

and some more here.

 

[bwcolor]

Any New Revelations Regarding This Topic??

Any New Revelations Regarding This Topic??

Thought it worth asking after months gone by.

 

[Turtle]

Thought it worth asking after months gone by.

At a personal level I have found that I now rarely develop D100 or Foma 100 in anything else now. Depending on the subject and format I either do D100 in Xtol 1+2 + 1:100 or with 1+200. The latter gives a very subtle addition to the bite but it is there. Foma 100, simply because this is where I started experimenting, I do at 1+3 + 1:100 and the results are lovely.

After a bit of thought and messing about in the darkroom I have decided that I don't find the tonality of Rodinal alone ideal under most circumstances. There is something about it that even when the print goes down fine and the image is right, there is a coldness/hardness to the look of the print.... even on warmtone papers! It must be a tonal scale thing, but mixing the devs seems to alleviate this and give more conventional tonality, which I prefer. The rodinal can help inject some of the rodinal highlight sparkle into prints but without sacrificing too much by way of juicy mid tones, which I find Rodinal weak on. In 120 I find these mixed devs even more important as D100 in 120 is so fine grained in Xtol alone that it can almost go looking digital.

 

[Trius]

Works (1:1/1:00) with TMY-2, as well.

 

[bwcolor]

Tried Xtol 1+1, Rodinal 1:100, Neopan 400, 8.5min at 68 deg. I should say the roll was without meter.. so with metering time might adjust a bit. Promising.. thanks

 

[imush]

A few years later... No more Neopan 1600, but there is still Tri-X


Tri-X 400 @400, Xtol 1:4 + Rodinal 1:100, 10.5 min
CV 21:4

 

[lovely_sausages]

Hi all, I realise this thread is fairly old now, but I'm hoping to draw on the experience of the posters. I want to try this xtol 1:1 rodinol 1:100 soup with HP5+ rated at 320-400, but I'm having trouble finding a recipe anywhere. From what I've gleaned from Roberts tri-x method he has increased the normal dev time for tri-x@ 250 in xtol 1:1 by 30 seconds (for his xtol/rodinol mix). Now hp5+ in xtol 1:1 (not the rodinol mix, just normal 1:1 dilution) @320 needs 12 minutes from my experience. Should I increase time by a minute or so here too if souping in the mix? Anyone tried this with HP5+? Is it standard to give extra time when adding rodinol to xtol?