Advice for 1st Attempt at Developing with Rodinal

martinsmith99 · Oct 17, 2009

I've just got into developing my own films and have been using Ilfosol 3 which has been ok. With all the talk of Rodinal, I've just got some and I'm hoping to use it on a roll of 35mm FP4 which I've been shooting at 125iso.

I'm finding lots of conflicting advice on dilution and times. Any chance of someone suggesting a starting point of times, dilution and agitation for my 1st try?

Thanks

Anon Ymous · Oct 17, 2009

Looking at it's datasheet you'll see (page 3) that Ilford suggests 9 minutes with Rodinal diluted 1+25, or 15 minutes when diluted 1+50, all at 20 deg C. Anything else is anybody's personal preference. I'd use these times and adjust as needed. Always have in mind that these are just starting points, not gospel.

pgomena · Oct 17, 2009

Use the APUG search function on this section of the forum. There are about 1,000 posts on Rodinal. The biggest point of all will be to go gentle on the agitation or your highlights will block up.

Peter Gomena

Anon Ymous · Oct 17, 2009

pgomena said:
...The biggest point of all will be to go gentle on the agitation or your highlights will block up.

Peter Gomena

Well said!

Shawn Dougherty · Oct 17, 2009

Yes, gentle and less agitation than you'r probably used to is maybe the one thing most (and even then not all) people agree upon.

I use a minimal agitation technique with highly dilute Rodinal and have made the best looking prints of my life. Others use it differently and get excellent results as well... When a developer has been in production as long as Rodinal there are bound to be a vast number of techniques floating around. Experimentation will be your best learning tool. Good luck! Shawn

thebdt · Oct 17, 2009

I never vary my agitation—thirty seconds of inversions, and three brisk inversions every 30 seconds. I've found that Rodinal 1+50 is more forgiving of agitation issues than Rodinal 1+25. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you might even try semi-stand at 1+100.

Rodinal is a great all-purpose developer, with very honest grain. If you like the "old school" feel, you'll love it. I know I do.

dancqu · Oct 17, 2009

Rodinal

martinsmith99 said:
I'm finding lots of conflicting advice on dilution and times. Thanks

Dilution-agitation-time-temperature and film, all intertwined.
I don't think the advice you are finding conflicts but merely
reflects the multitude of combinations possible.

For a roll of 35mm the usual minimum chemistry
suggested runs 2.5 to 3.5 milliliters. Add that to
whatever solution volume needed. Results will
depend upon the several variables
listed above. Dan

jim appleyard · Oct 17, 2009

The first thing you should do is to dev a test roll or two or three...

Take shots of your car, the dog, something that doesn't really matter and then soup in Rodinal at the time and dilution of your choice. Then you can decide if it was right or not. Make any changes on your next test roll(s).

Then you you can soup you important stuff.

Good read:
http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Rodinal/rodinal.html

timk · Oct 18, 2009

Rodinal is sensitive to dilution and agitation. A higher dilution gives you less contrast and less grain. 1+25 gives you high contrast + lots of grain. I don't recommend it at this dilution. It looks quite reasonable at 1+50 or 1+100. The issue at 1+100 is it takes 20-30 minutes to develop which is a bit of a pain and it will give you lower contrast (good if taken under high contrast conditions).

It will give you more grain than D-76 just be aware that it's not a fine grain developer.

Do a few test rolls on your favourite film to get a feel for how it behaves at different dilutions and with negatives shot under different conditions.

neoro · Jan 27, 2010

Hi,

I used Rodinal with the following formula for Tmax 400 film shot on MF 6x6
Not too sure on the results for 35mm

1+167 => 3ml rodinal 500ml Water @ 29C - the Tap water in singapore is 29C out of the tap
15min dev
20 sec initial agitation
10 sec of light inversions every 1 min

works pretty well for me (space is rather small, having not to cool down the water, saved me a bunch on my workflow )

Here sample picture

1)

2)

3)

stradibarrius · Jan 27, 2010

WOW those are very nice I like #2 the best. The buoy had nice detail in the shadows.

neoro · Jan 27, 2010

thanks

Advice for 1st Attempt at Developing with Rodinal

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