Adox Rodinal, First time, went great.

[mshchem]

I remember back in the 1970's, friends getting out a syringe to measure some wacky developer not ordained by the folks in Rochester. I used Microdol-X, used Kodak's Darkroom Dataguide (improperly), my Dad bought the little qt. size cans.

I switched to HC-110, before I graduated from high school, replenished, loved it. Switched to XTOL 25 years back, fell in love
I use XTOL stock with a Jobo.

Today I started a project I've been wanting to try for sometime. I bought a brick of Ilford FP4 Plus in 35mm and 120, 3 500 mL bottles of Adox Rodinal. Old school conventional film and a ancient developer (125+ years? ).

Took my F5 and my ancient 50 1.4 put on a Green X1 filter for the clouds and foliage, burned a roll.

Developed for 9 minutes @ 20C. Developed by hand in a baby Jobo 1510 tank. First 60 seconds constant gentle rotate and invert, then 1 inversion every 30 seconds.

The negatives are still hanging but look brilliant. I used 11mL in 260 mL of water. I was shocked at how easy and how potent Rodinal is. I am a retired chemist, so I have 10mL graduates and nice syringes with blunt tip needles. I need to make a couple prints. I think this is going to be really fun. I'm going to take a little break from TMY 2 and XTOL for a bit.

More to follow. SO EASY!

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I used 11mL in 260 mL of water

I've found Rodinal will work with 5ml concentrate in 250ml water per film for Jobo use. I'm doing the full process rotational rather than with inversion.

 

[pentaxuser]

So currently it isn't really a Jobo as in a Jobo rotary processor but simply a Jobo tank which acts like any other tank using the inversion process or are you looking for the views of those who have tried rotary processing with Rodinal with a view to seeing if rotary processing will be as successful as you have found inversion to be?

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I seem to recall a member here a few years ago, possibly Sanders McNew, was very successful using Rodinal in a Jobo processor. I'm not sure where the idea came from that Rodinal is not suitable for rotary processing.

 

[Lachlan Young]

Rodinal works just fine in a Jobo - I think people got themselves in trouble because of the usual set of errors - not enough developer/ attempting to use too deep a dilution, poor temperature/ time control - and expecting a higher shadow speed than Rodinal delivers. Rodinal's development rate does seem somewhat more sensitive to amount of agitation (easy to adjust development time if needed) - but doesn't have compensating behaviour, no matter how fervently people wish - what people think is 'compensation' is almost invariably simply development to a lower contrast index than they realised they actually needed.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

not enough developer/ attempting to use too deep a dilution

This is an important point, I try and be generous with solution quantities and Jobo work. 4 rolls per 1000ml (or equivalent) is fine with me.

 

[mshchem]

So currently it isn't really a Jobo as in a Jobo rotary processor but simply a Jobo tank which acts like any other tank using the inversion process or are you looking for the views of those who have tried rotary processing with Rodinal with a view to seeing if rotary processing will be as successful as you have found inversion to be?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Exactly, according to the limited information I have found you need a minimum of 5mL per film. I'm not looking to save on developer, I am just looking for an "official" method. I'm a little worried about the excessive agitation effecting the results. I need to make a proof sheet check results. I can shoot a couple test rolls and experiment. Adox Rodinal is so easy to use, I was shocked to be honest. Voted best 19th century developer!

 

[mshchem]

This is an important point, I try and be generous with solution quantities and Jobo work. 4 rolls per 1000ml (or equivalent) is fine with me.

This is exactly the info I'm after. I tend to use bigger tanks to allow for more solution volume.
Thanks

 

[Tom Kershaw]

This is exactly the info I'm after. I tend to use bigger tanks to allow for more solution volume.
Thanks

I would be slightly cautious of excess ambition in exposure index when using Rodinal, suspect FP4+ would work fine between 50 and 100 EI. Tetenal Ultrafin gives good results with FP4+ as well, however one sees very little discussion of that developer online. Paranol-S is the Tetenal equivalent to Rodinal.

 

[Pentode]

As a chemist, this won't be any big deal for you but pay close attention to dilution. Rodinal is very sensitive to dilution and behaves quite differently at 1+50 than it does at 1+25. For consistency's sake I've found I have to remember to measure accurately and not get careless.

Rodinal's an excellent developer. I don't think it will ever replace my go-to D-76 1:1 but it sure looks great with some films and for certain applications!

 

[mshchem]

I'm having fun. Something I've never tried. Measuring isn't a problem, could be for folks without access to the proper tools. Most things you buy for cooking are nearly useless. I have a Nalgene 10mL graduate.

 

[Craig75]

Fast film vs slow film is always good fun in rodinal

 

[Martin Rickards]

I use Foma's R09 diluted 1.50 for 15 minutes at 20ºC for FP4+ with no complaints.