Adox HR-50 bulk arrived......which developer?

John Wiegerink

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My backordered bulk roll of HR-50 arrived from Freestyle, but Adox special developer for HR-50 in on backorder. I'm wondering if I can treat this film pretty much like Panf+ when it comes to developers. I like Panf+ in Perceptol 1+3 or Rodinal highly dilute. I only shoot Panf+ in 120 so I'm not sure those two developer would work well with HR-50 in 35mm. I do have those two developers on hand along with Adox XT-3 replenished and Pyrocat HDC. Anyone have much experience with those developers and HR-50. I can also mix up my own POTA or pretty much anything else since I have the chemicals. I just want a good place to start with this film and will go from there.
 

Sirius Glass

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I have been using XTOL stock and replenished for almost 20 years because it provides fine grain and great tonality.

 
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John Wiegerink

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koraks said:
@Sirius Glass Adox HR50 is kind of a particular emulsion. I don't think the general advice for regular B&W film applies to this; I think it's more something along the lines of Technical Pan.
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Yes, that's my thinking/guessing also. Don't get me wrong, I love Xtol or now XT-3 to pieces, but it's not a do all - cure all for every film. koraks just reminded me that I have a box of Technidol foil packet developer, but would rather not use any since I could never find anymore if I liked it. I just watched Andy O's video on HR-50, which is why I tried it in the first place.
 

koraks

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Honestly, I couldn't come up with a better suggestion than POTA or Pyrocat - both of which you already mentioned. Since it's a bulk roll, you could easily load a few short rolls and see how it goes.
 
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John Wiegerink

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koraks said:
Honestly, I couldn't come up with a better suggestion than POTA or Pyrocat - both of which you already mentioned. Since it's a bulk roll, you could easily load a few short rolls and see how it goes.
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Yes, having a bulk roll gives me a lot of wiggle room. I might load up 4 or 5 cassettes with 10 or 12 exp. and go at it. I do think I'll mixup some POTA or a similar low contrast developer to try also. I gotta start somewhere I guess.
 
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John Wiegerink

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Paul,
Yes, and from what I've read and also have seen, it's a very good dev eloper for films like HR-50 and even PanF+. I was just trying to not buy any new developer if I didn't have to.
 

Alan Johnson

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loccdor

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I got a recipe from a Flickr contact that works great. Rodinal 1+25 at 22C, 10 minutes semi-stand. 30 seconds agitation when you pour the developer in, and a very gentle turn at 5 minutes.

I tried it with both infrared and unfiltered shots, cloudy days and sunny days. They all worked well and there isn't too much grain. The below is with a 720 filter.



And here is subdued light with no filter.

 
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John Wiegerink

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Alan,
Yes, I noticed that Adox recommended FX-39II for HR-50 and it rather puzzled me since it's not really what I'd call a low contrast developer. I have a partial bottle, but it's a year old and I doubt it's any good. It was gassed so I might want to test it on a leader to know for sure.
 
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John Wiegerink

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I'm a pretty big fan of PanF+ in Rodinal 1+100 so Rodinal diluted might just end up being the magic bullet, so to speak. Well, it's off to load the bulk film loader and cassettes. I'll let you know what I find out after I do a little testing.
 

Donald Qualls

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I'm inclined to suggest either Rodinal 1:100 with reduced agitation (every 3rd minute) and extended development (40% longer than "normal"), or a Caffenol derivative -- perhaps regular Caffenol C at half strength. I've used both of these on microfilms and the old CMS 20 with good results (Caffenol LC+C was the best I've tried on microfilm-derived stocks). I'd strongly suggest loading a short strip and shooting it under controlled conditions before you commit either film or development for images that matter...
 

loccdor

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Good luck. Scala 50 / HR-50 is what I use when I want to get near-medium-format results from a 35mm camera, and the fact that it can do infrared is icing on the cake. Pan F+ is great too, but must be developed quickly so not as suitable for long excursions.

Here is the Flickr contact I got the Rodinal recipe from, he has done several experiments at different dilutions, agitations, temperatures, and measured with a densitometer.

Adox HR-50 @ISO 50 dev. in Rodinal 1+25

Explore this photo album by Ruediger Hartung on Flickr!
www.flickr.com

Adox HR-50 @ ISO 50 dev. in Rodinal 1+25

Explore this photo album by Ruediger Hartung on Flickr!
www.flickr.com
 
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John Wiegerink

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Those shots are very nice. I almost thin k the 1+25 shots look better than the 1+100.
 

loccdor

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John Wiegerink said:
Those shots are very nice. I almost thin k the 1+25 shots look better than the 1+100.
Click to expand...

Yes. I used to be a 1+100 guy with Rodinal all the way but then I made the same observation. It's the first I've seen high concentration with low agitation. I don't know specifically why it works, but the pictures say it all!
 

Sanug

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I develop HR-50 with Adox XT-3, 1+3, 16 Min. It has still quite high contrast.



Praktica MTL 5, Meyer Orestor 2.8/100mm
Silver gelatine print
 
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loccdor

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relistan said:
I shot HR-50 and developed in my two bath developers and was very happy with the results.
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Great results! Nice smooth tones.
 

blee1996

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Henning Serger mentioned that FX-39 II can be a good companion with HR-50, as long as you practice "finesse".

Adox HR-50 First Time User

Other than the IR capabilities, what do you all think about HR-50 vs good old Ilford Pan F+? I'm about to get a bulk roll, and am debating which to get. I have been using Pan F+ for a while, and get consistently good results with Adox FX-39 II (1+9) or Clayton F76. I only tried HR-50 once...
www.photrio.com
 

250swb

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FX-39 is a brilliant developer with HR-50, but take note of the films datasheet, use a very gentle 'swish' technique for agitating it and although fixing technique isn't mentioned I do the same as would with CMS-20 and cut the fixing time right down after a test on the leader. In fact if you've used CMS-20 and got the hang of it you may like HR-50 even more and it's great to have the option on a boring day to stick a deep red filter on and use a mild IR effect to liven the scene. I don't particularly like it with a full IR filter though. I rate it at box speed and use standard times with FX-39.
 
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John Wiegerink

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relistan said:
Thank you! I found that it worked great in a divided developer.

This was another shot from the roll in the PC version:

If you look at the seats in the larger frame, you can see that they actually have all the detail in them.
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Karl,
Yes, I remember those shots and they do look like what I'm after as far as the scenes tonal range. I have three 12exp rolls ready to go and we just had a good layer of new snow and it's now full sunshine. The perfect test for this film. I'm off to burn some HR-50.
 
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