Rodinal

[moretto]

Hi there!
So far I've been working with Efke films and efke devs, so standard times and standard dillution. Than I found Ilfosol S and Ilford films, Ilfosol can be used 1+9 and 1+19, frankly, I see no difference in the results.
Finally I found Rodinal..it's on the way..so as I see from dev charts it can be used 1+25, 1+50 and 1+100!! Off course, with different timing. What's the gain if I use it 1+100 and process for half-an-hour+- or I use 1+25 for a few minutes?
To be honest, I would like to use 1+100, because I had to beg on my knees for 1/2 litre of it..it's allmost impossible to find it in Croatia. :bang:

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Rodinal gives different gradation at different dilutions. With most films, the higher dilutions like 1+100 gives lower contrast in the lighter tones and are good for high contrast scenes. The 1+25 dilution gives higher contrast in the brighter tones and is good for fog and other very low contrast scenes. I usually use it at 1+50 for most things, that's a good general purpose dilution for Rodinal. I have not tried Rodinal for Efke film yet. I use a lot of the Efke 100 and have been using PMK, but i have been thinking of trying Rodinal.

I use rodinal a lot for Ilford Pan-F, which has beautiful gradation in Rodinal 1+50. I also like Rodinal with Tmax 100 and Plus-X and it gives nice tonality with Tri-X, though it is also grainy. Rodinal enhances sharpness but is grainy. Even slow films like Pan-F (ISO 50) are a lot grainier with Rodinal than with a regular developer like D76. But I think the grain is worth it for the high sharpness and beautiful gradation that Rodinal gives.

 

[moretto]

Thank You Chris..
I don't have so much choice, as I can find only Efke and Ilford.Neverseen PMK, heard about D76 which is something like efke FR14(also discontinued). Efke produces only FR16 now, and the time for KB100 film is about 4 minutes.I find it very agressive,and the result is way too contrasty, graphic like.. I have tried to dilute more, even 1+30 (the factory data is 1+19) but no improvement.
Lower contrast an perhaps better tonal range is what I was hoping for with Rodinal...
Thanks again.

 

[Joao]

To be honest, I would like to use 1+100, because I had to beg on my knees for 1/2 litre of it..it's allmost impossible to find it in Croatia. :bang:

You can try the home-made paRodinal (Sodium hydroxide, Sodium sulphite, paracetamol and water). Inexpensive, easy to brew, lasts forever, great results.
Regards
Joao

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Thank You Chris..
I don't have so much choice, as I can find only Efke and Ilford.Neverseen PMK, heard about D76 which is something like efke FR14(also discontinued). Efke produces only FR16 now, and the time for KB100 film is about 4 minutes.I find it very agressive,and the result is way too contrasty, graphic like.. I have tried to dilute more, even 1+30 (the factory data is 1+19) but no improvement.
Lower contrast an perhaps better tonal range is what I was hoping for with Rodinal...
Thanks again.

You'll get lower contrast and good tones with Rodinal. I'm surprised no one sells D-76 there, its made by Kodak and is the world's most popular developer. Its a good all around developer that works well with almost all films. Could you order some Rodinal or D-76 from Austria or Italy? If Ilford films are sold in Croatia, you might ask if the stores have Ilford ID-11 developer...it is identical to Kodak D-76.

 

[moretto]

Since digital took over, it is really hard to find even bw films, not to mention developers. I guess it depends on interest of the customers.
See, You can easy get efke films, which are made in Croatia. In Italy it is very hard to find, and in Germany, only in Berlin, and you have to order and wait a few days.
Kodak is imported in Croatia, no problem for digital cameras and colour films, but Kodak BW, no way. Same with Fuji and Agfa.
Shipping from abroad? Don't get me started.Customs and police are so dedicated to the job that they would probably spend half of the chemicals for lab testing purposes. 😉)

 

[titrisol]

Rodinal impossiblein Coratia?
but you can get R09 from fotokemika which is almost the same, just dilutions ratios change
Rodinal R09
1+25 1+20
1+50 1+40
1+100 1+80