Adox HR-50 developed in Caffenol LC+C looks like London fog?

[John Wiegerink]

You should have used Caffenol CL and not LC+C as this variant is for microfilms. Adox HR-50 is a modified Agfa Gevaert Aviphot 80.
Staining can be easily removed with Kbr as seen here :

My stain is heavier than that with Caffenol LC+C and while I got some decent prints I got much better with Rodinal 1+25 10min @ 22C very gentle agitation Mr. Hartung's recipe. I'm going to run another short test today and might try Caffenol CL I'm back down state for an appointment, but will be back to the cottage tomorrow where I have Xtol (XT-3) and some FX-39II to try on HR-50. So far Rodinal is the winner for easy printing, but it seems that my EI 25 negatives print the best at Grade 2 with an Ilford multi-grade head with no dodging or burning.

 

[koraks]

Not a true staining developer?

Not as far as I know, no. Just overall stain.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I'm stuck down state for a couple of days so Rodinal and caffenol is all I have. I just ran a partial roll through my Contax G1 and developed it in Rodinal and the negatives look great. I think I'm done messing with Caffenol for now and will stick with Rodinal.
I do have one question and to me it's a big question. I've looked everywhere to purchase another bulk roll of HR-50 and it's not in stock anywhere. Am I beating a dead horse? I'll stop experimenting with developer altogether if if HR-50 is going the way of the Dodo bird. Anybody heard about HR-50's future one way or the other?

 

[loccdor]

I do have one question and to me it's a big question. I've looked everywhere to purchase another bulk roll of HR-50 and it's not in stock anywhere. Am I beating a dead horse? I'll stop experimenting with developer altogether if if HR-50 is going the way of the Dodo bird. Anybody heard about HR-50's future one way or the other?

Adox Scala 50 is the same film and it's currently in stock for $7.50 per 36 exposure roll at both Freestyle and B&H. I stocked up on about 50 rolls of it when it was $6. Rodinal is fine developer for it, doesn't look too grainy like with other films. If you only want bulk rolls, I'm not sure.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Adox Scala 50 is the same film and it's currently in stock for $7.50 per 36 exposure roll at both Freestyle and B&H. I stocked up on about 50 rolls of it when it was $6. Rodinal is fine developer for it, doesn't look too grainy like with other films. If you only want bulk rolls, I'm not sure.

Yup, I had read it was the same, but never compared the two. Fotoimpex has 36 exp rolls in stock, but shows bulk rolls "out of stock". Adox still has all the information and data for HR-50 on their website. I'm curious to see if they do another running of bulk HR-50 rolls. B&H Photo shows HR-50 36 exp rolls "in stock" for $9.99 a roll. I'm starting to get the hang of HR-50 developed in Rodinal and really like the results. I have about a half a bulk roll left so I'm good for a little while. Beside, I shoot medium format most of the time anyway so 35mm doesn't see much action from me.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I'm starting to get the hang of HR-50 developed in Rodinal and really like the results.

John, are you also using dilution 1:25 and semi-stand ike Rudiger Hartung? It's an unusual choice for Rodinal semi-stand development but seems to work better.

 

[John Wiegerink]

John, are you also using dilution 1:25 and semi-stand ike Rudiger Hartung? It's an unusual choice for Rodinal semi-stand development but seems to work better.

Yes, that's the one I'm using and I like it so far. I sure had my doubts about it working as well as it does. It taught me a lesson about Rodinal and the importance of certain agitation regimes. Very easy to process HR-50 that way and it works. 10 minutes is a lot less than full stand. I'm not a big Rodinal user, but it certainly will always be on the shelf in my darkroom.
I'm adding this little tidbit in an edit to this post. That is with this Rodinal 1+25 developed negatives I get the best results at an EI 25 and no more than EI 32. The ISO 50 box speed negatives are printable, but not as easy as EI 25 negatives for sure. That said, this is with MY measuring of shadow detail I like and MY vision of the scene. Your vision probably isn't the same as mine and that's OK if your ISO setting isn't the same either.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

John, maybe the film gives box speed only when developed in Adox HR-DEV just like Adox CMS 20ii which gives box speed only with Adotech developer.

Interestingly, the datasheet for Adox-HR 50 says "Not recomended!" for Rodinal which is a little surprising given the good results people have been getting with it.

 

[John Wiegerink]

John, maybe the film gives box speed only when developed in Adox HR-DEV just like Adox CMS 20ii which gives box speed only with Adotech developer.

Interestingly, the datasheet for Adox-HR 50 says "Not recomended!" for Rodinal which is a little surprising given the good results people have been getting with it.

Yes, I read the same thing just before I tried Rodinal developer. That's why I had my doubts, but I had seen Rudiger's pictures on Flicr and they looked like what I wanted. In Rudiger's description on Flickr he seems to rate it at box speed with Rodinal 1+25. Of course we all meter different and use different tools.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Would be interesting to know why Adox says Rodinal is not recommended for HR-50. Not sure I have seen anything official from Adox on the subject.

 

[koraks]

Would be interesting to know why Adox says Rodinal is not recommended for HR-50. Not sure I have seen anything official from Adox on the subject.

Maybe next time @ADOX Fotoimpex can comment when/if they read this!

 

[John Wiegerink]

Adox is probably making the "not recommended" thing about Rodinal and HR-50 because they possibly tried it with "normal" agitation. Adox has been pretty good about chiming in lately.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

they possibly tried it with "normal" agitation.

Looking at the information in the datesheet, it does seem that they used intermittent agitation for developing HR-50 with Rodinal (and other developers like DDX and FX39). Dilution and time are missing in the datesheet though the gamma is mentioned. Maybe the development time is too short for 1:25 dilution and intermittent agitation given that Hartung's semistand takes only 10 minutes.

 

[250swb]

I think 'not recommended' isn't that Rodinal wont develop HR-50 and get a decent result, but that HR-50 is a modified copy film marketed as a fine grain full toned film and I don't automatically associate that with using Rodinal. The two developers I think suite HR-50 very well are Rollei Supergrain and Adox FX-39, both of which are compensating developers (very much so in the case of Supergrain) and ideal for an inherently higher contrast fine grain film.

Besides Scala 50 the same film is also marketed as Leica Monopan, but you'll pay through the nose for the name on the box.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I think 'not recommended' isn't that Rodinal wont develop HR-50 and get a decent result, but that HR-50 is a modified copy film marketed as a fine grain full toned film and I don't automatically associate that with using Rodinal. The two developers I think suite HR-50 very well are Rollei Supergrain and Adox FX-39, both of which are compensating developers (very much so in the case of Supergrain) and ideal for an inherently higher contrast fine grain film.

But how do you know that the results with Rodinal aren't as good as those with the developers you mentioned? I mean, have you seen any comparative results?

 

[John Wiegerink]

250swb,
There might be a lot of truth in what you say, but looking at Hartung's results and my first try with Rodinal 1+25, I'd have to say that Rodinal does a pretty darn good job. I just got to my cottage and I have my scanner here and a new bottle of FX-39II. I have my camera loaded with a 36 exp roll of HR-50 and when (if) the sun shines today I will run the roll and see what we get. That said, I'm pretty happy and very surprised Rodinal 1+25 did as well as it did, but I do like the results rated at EI 25 the best.

 

[loccdor]

I recently tried 510-pyro with a roll of HR-50. Haven't scanned it yet, but I can already tell the results have higher contrast compared with Hartung's semi-stand Rodinal recipe.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I recently tried 510-pyro with a roll of HR-50. Haven't scanned it yet, but I can already tell the results have higher contrast compared with Hartung's semi-stand Rodinal recipe.

View attachment 420734

Those negatives do look pretty "snappy". I've read where some folks use 510-pyro with HR-50. Looks like you used a Rolleiflex 35mm square format camera.

 

[loccdor]

Looks like you used a Rolleiflex 35mm square format camera.

Olympus Pen FT - 3x4 ratio, not quite square but looks like it at the angle this picture was taken.

 

[John Wiegerink]

Olympus Pen FT - 3x4 ratio, not quite square but looks like it at the angle this picture was taken.

A lovely little camera for sure and with great lenses to boot. Maybe that's why the negatives look so "snappy". All kidding aside, I didn'think 510-pyro was a good candidate for stand or semi-stand development. Maybe it can be made to work with HR-50 better than I thought?

 

[loccdor]

I didn'think 510-pyro was a good candidate for stand or semi-stand development.

I don't think so either. This was a normal agitation development, just testing if I can get a recipe I like better than the Rodinal one, also that unique recipe requires me to develop HR-50 separately from other films, instead of having one I could mix and match films in the same batch. Oh well, the testing continues...

 

[John Wiegerink]

I don't think so either. This was a normal agitation development, just testing if I can get a recipe I like better than the Rodinal one, also that unique recipe requires me to develop HR-50 separately from other films, instead of having one I could mix and match films in the same batch. Oh well, the testing continues...

 

[John Wiegerink]

Just checked the weather forecast and it looks to be rainy and cloudy until Friday. No more testing until then.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

I recently tried 510-pyro with a roll of HR-50. Haven't scanned it yet, but I can already tell the results have higher contrast compared with Hartung's semi-stand Rodinal recipe.

Interestingly, Hartung himself is a big advocate of 510-Pyro. I don't know if he used it with HR-50.

 

[MattKing]

Just checked the weather forecast and it looks to be rainy and cloudy until Friday. No more testing until then.

Great light though for a contrasty film .