Adonal - same keeping characteristics as Rodinal?

hoffy · Nov 16, 2012

Howdy,

I bought a bottle of Adonal a few months ago, which I finally opened a few weekends ago. I have noticed that it is quite dark.

Now, everyone has pretty much said that Rodinal used to last for ever as a concentrate, even after being opened. Should I expect a similar life span for Adonal (I notice that the literature suggests 'at least 6 months....)

Cheers

Ian Grant · Nov 16, 2012

How can it be any different when it is Rodinal ?

Unfortunately the Rodinal trade name was stolen by John of J&C a few years ago who tried to pass off Calbe R09 as genuine Rodinal in packaging almost identical to Agfa's, hence the confusion.

Ian

hoffy · Nov 16, 2012

Oky Doky! I knew it was theoretically the same - I never knew that it was THAT MUCH the same!

Cheers

(So its a given, that the gear will have a pretty good shelf life?)

mono · Nov 16, 2012

They say:

ADOX ADONAL 500 ml (based on the last original AGFA Rodinal recipe of 2005)

And then there is:

(ADOX) APH 09 (based on the old formula of 1950)

Both are Rodinal. Confused?

Роберт · Nov 16, 2012

APH09 is based on the Calbe R09 formulae while Adonal is based on the Agfa Rodinal formulae now sold under R09 one shot.

Thanks to J&C and Lupus (who bought the Agfa Photo trade name) all these brand names is a bit messy now.

georg16nik · Nov 16, 2012

mono said:
They say:

ADOX ADONAL 500 ml (based on the last original AGFA Rodinal recipe of 2005)

And then there is:

(ADOX) APH 09 (based on the old formula of 1950)

Both are Rodinal. Confused?

The old formula gives slight edge (to my eye) and I think keeps longer as concentrate.
You can't go wrong with any of them and most people say the results are identical.

john_s · Nov 16, 2012

Even Agfa Rodinal changed several times during its long history. The last one Agfa actually made had less p-aminophenol (a rather cheap chemical) and, to compensate, more hydroxide (even cheaper). I doubt that its storage life matched the legendary "real" Rodinal>

brianmquinn · Nov 16, 2012

Also keep in mind that it will last longer in a glass bottle. Today it is all packed in plastic. A plastic bottle will let carbon dioxide in and it will hurt the NaOH. The developing chemicals in all developers are damaged by oxygen. A full glass bottle will can last decades. In plastic I would guess that it would have noticeable changes in much less time. It should still last you years however.

Gerald C Koch · Nov 16, 2012

It may be a matter of the quality on the bottle. I bought a bottle of Classic f 09 that quickly turned black because it was shipped in a polyethylene bottle.

piu58 · Nov 19, 2012

Some years ago I compared Rodinal (original form Agfa) with R09 from Calbe (pre war recipe, standard dilution 1+40). Film was Kodak TMY. The results were nearly identical, only very slight difference in the negative density.

It doesn’t matter which you use form this family.

Роберт · Nov 19, 2012

I also did the same test several years ago. Same conclusion.

Adonal - same keeping characteristics as Rodinal?

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