What is the best developer of rollei retro 80s&400s?

[retinax]

How do you meter? The ei 200 and 100 don't seem necessary, you could even go to 25... think that with even more exposure, you could get the highlights better under control, as the film shoulders quite early on - they'd come closer to the shadows. And of course a little less development could help with the highlights.

 

[Nokton48]

I think I did go to EI 25, there are four brackets for most of the negs.

Sunny f11 metering in full sun and Zone VI 1 degree spot meter.
This was my first test and I do prefer the denser negatives.
I do not think that this film has all that long a straight line.

These are straight #2 graded RC prints, I wanted to see how they would record.
Reprinting these with split grade filtering would also prolly help the highlights somewhat.

 

[HHPhoto]

Supergrain is a classic AM74 type of developer which is highly compensating

That is not the case anymore. Supergrain was such a developer type many years ago, when it was produced by the same company which produced AM 74. But that company left the market long ago!
Supergrain has now a completely different formula and is produced by a very different company. Maco - as always - have not informed their customers about these significant changes.

Cheers, Jan

 

[HHPhoto]

I do not think that this film has all that long a straight line.

That is correct. This Aviphot Pan 200 has a very strong s-shaped curve with a very short straight part in the middle. That is good in aerial photography, but bad for our normal photography on the ground.
For a better, more straight curve the film need 1-2 (3) stops more exposure (dependant on the developer), shorter development times, and the right developer: Not a compensating developer, but a developer which gives a straight curve (like Adox HR-Dev, Tetenal Ultrafin T-Plus or Ilford DD-X).

Cheers, Jan

 

[45govt]

Hello Peter
I have only tried the 80S so far and I used Rollei Supergrain, I shot the film in my IIIg. @80iso
I developed per the Mass Dev chart and found it very nice but the highlights were a little blown so I will adjust the agitation

I have a roll of the 400 in the Hasselblad and I haven't decided which developer I am going to use yet.


Attached are a couple from the 80S roll.
Thanks
Don

 

[Kai-san]

I prefer to use Xtol for the 80S with the dilutions and timing in the Massive Dev Chart. But I have to warn you to never use the settings in that chart for Xtol and 400S. If you do you will get negatives that are nearly blank, you can hardly see a trace of any picture. So for the 400S I resort to Rodinal which gives OK results.


Nikon F3 / Nikkor 85mm f2.0 Ai / Rollei Retro 80S exposed at 100 ISO in Xtol 1+1 for 8min 20C

 

[Beemermark]

With ISO 25, do you expose handheld or do you mount the cam on a tripod? ISO 25 sounds so slow to me.

Every time I read a comment like this I have to chuckle. All those fantastic slides I have that I shot on Kodachrome 25.

Lets see, Sunny day no clouds - f8 @1/125, Shadows, open up two stops f4 @ 1/125.

I agree, not the film for nightclubs.

 

[retinax]

Every time I read a comment like this I have to chuckle. All those fantastic slides I have that I shot on Kodachrome 25.

Lets see, Sunny day no clouds - f8 @1/125, Shadows, open up two stops f4 @ 1/125.

I agree, not the film for nightclubs.

Still quite limiting, no? I often encounter shadows of tall buildings that require opening up 5 or 6 stops from exposure in the sun. In the forest it's often even darker. Not to speak of the times one wants to photograph closer to sunset, or when the weather isn't sunny.

 

[Nokton48]

In all these photos, the highlights fairly blaze. Toning them down is the goal.

For me the biggest advantage of 400s is that is available in type II perforated 70mm so I can run it in my Hasselblads. Works fine but has a definate different look to it, not unattractive. Very short straight line. I bought a 70mm roll of Aviphot 70mm B&W and color (at least a decade ago) from an aerial mapping company in Florida that was set up direct with Agfa. Then 70mm 400s came along. Last time I checked with the dealer in Germany they had hundreds of rolls in stock. This film is a tremendous bargain at 85 Euros for a hundred feet. That's about $3.00 for a 120 length roll. Shoot 220 lengths as well.

There are more 400s test negs here:

https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161383&highlight=70mm+fun&page=22

Currently Used 70mm Films by Nokton48, on Flickr

Shooting 70mm is great fun, you forget to look at the film counter. Almost like digital (not!) 🙂

 

[Nokton48]

I think I will investigate diluted Rodinal, I have plenty around. The 70mm Kinderman tank requires half a gallon of solution to fill it, and Supergrain is expensive and has died on me once it is opened.

Anybody out there mixing their own developers, and what do you like to use?

400s Flikr User Group here:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2760100@N24/pool/with/49761604731/

 

[Nokton48]

That is not the case anymore. Supergrain was such a developer type many years ago, when it was produced by the same company which produced AM 74. But that company left the market long ago!
Supergrain has now a completely different formula and is produced by a very different company. Maco - as always - have not informed their customers about these significant changes.

Cheers, Jan

Hi Jan,

I could not find much on AM74 whilst data mining. Thanks for clarifying this.

 

[Fotohuis]

http://www.fotohuisrovo.nl/documentatie/75_JAAR_AMALOCO_FOTOCHEMIE.pdf

They stopped in 2008, now 12 years ago.

 

[Nokton48]

Thank you Fotohuis. What developers would you recommend with the 400s (Aviphot)? I am thinking Rodinal next but what else? 🙂

Be well and be safe.

-Dan

 

[Fotohuis]

R09/Rodinal 1+100 is possible. However I am using Film Low Gamma FLG from Udo Raffay. It is a low contrast developer also sold under Rollei Low Contrast RLC however the biggest disadvantage is the short life span. Dilution 1+4 till 1+6. In this way the original made Agfa Gevaert Aviphot 200 film contrast you can keep under control. I am using the same developer for Ortho film. You can order it (FLG) in Hamburg directly (Suvatlar, assistant of U. Raffay) or via Moersch or at Maco (Rollei version) all in Germany.

 

[Nokton48]

Thanks Fotohuis 🙂

In the USA Freestyle sells the Rollei LC:

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/422225-Rollei-RLC-Low-Contrast-Film-Developer-Concentrate-250-ml

Rodinal 1:100 does seem promising, I have seen good results with that combo.

I also have Ilford DDX in house and perhaps I should do a clip test with some of that.

 

[Pentode]

I have not used the Retro 400s but I use Retro 80s and I’ve been very happy with my results at EI 80 and EI 40 using Rodinal 1+50.

 

[J enea]

for me, I got the best results from 2 developers. Beutler and pyro-m. beutler if I need a speed boost and Pyro-m for larger contrast scenes. its like 90% pyro and 10% beutler.



for beutler I get 200 out of the faster film and a true 80 from the RR80. with pyro, I use 125 and 40. some of my best prints come from 6x7 RR80 and pyro in Yosemite. when using a IR or red filter, pyro really helps the highlights from blooming.


john

 

[Alpsman]

Since Promicrol is no longer available here, I switched to TetenaL Ultrafin.
RR80S @ 80: dilution 1+20, 11 Minutes
RR400S @ 200, dilution 1+4, 6 Minutes.
When Tetenal was no longer available or was difficult to obtain, I switched to Ilford Ilfosol 3.
RR80S @ 80, dilution 1+9, 5 minutes
RR400S @ 200, dilution 1+14, 10.5 Minutes.

Exposure metering focuses more on the shadows.
The negatives scan well.