Agfa Copex 25 and Rodinal, development help.

Rhodes · Sep 30, 2009

Last monday I discovered an old kodak cassete film with agfa copex 25 (in a small note with the number 9) loaded from bulk and forgotten possibly for a decade or so (or more)!
Today I found out another one!
Yesterday, I used rodinal 1:100 one hour stand to develop the first one. Should I change the method? Decrease time or/and diluition? Use another developer (not a good option for since I only have rodinal, ifosol 3 and a small quantitie of t-max)?

The resaults of using rodinal 1:100 one hour stand method:

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foto-r3 · Oct 1, 2009

Considering the film is possibly 10 years old as you say, then the results should be considered as satisfactory if not downright miraculous. However, with the modern purpose-designed developers availabe (e.g., Argenti Nanodol), I should think much better results are obtainable (i.e., better tonal scale) at much higher exposure indexes and at much more reasonable dev. times. If you choose to stick to standard chemistry, highly diluted Rodinal or "R09 STUDIO" (Studional) are options for standard-type results.

George Collier · Oct 1, 2009

Welcome to APUG! You don't say whether these are scans of negs or prints, and if prints, what the contrast of the paper/filter. They appear a bit contrasty to me, by normal standards (depending on your own preference, they may be fine). If they are contrasty to you, you might reduce the time or dilution. Agitation is also critical with Rodinal in terms of contrast. You don't say how much if any at the beginning.
Second to foto's comments, they look great for 10 year old film.

Rhodes · Oct 1, 2009

George thanks. Yes, I tend to forget to put several information’s that are necessary.
I scan from the negatives, my scanner is not to very good (hp scanjet 3570c). I gently agitated 2 times in the beginning! They are not very contrasty for me, but since the highlights are blow, as one said to me, I want to know if I can do something about it. Learn more about development this kinds of films (talking more about ISO 25 films, than old film)!
I used rodinal 1:100 because I only found information about this diluition with this type of film, but no times!

foto-r3 · Oct 1, 2009

Microfilm in particular and fine-grain film in general has a higher contrast.

These are contrasty, yes. It looks like they were taken on a sunny day.

In these shots you show you have blown highlights and little shadow detail --microfilm will do this more so than a regular panchromatic film--, having used a very diluted solution and low agitation, which suggests to me that diluting more, developing longer and agitating less won't change much. Shooting microfilm for pictorial results and developing with a standard developer...It is quite a challenge to achieve good pictorial quality this way. A better route would be to choose a purpose-designed developer, or else opt for a more suitable combination such as Rollei PAN25 + Rollei Low Speed developer, to get a full greyscale gamut.

Your concern is how to improve the results. How did you meter these scenes? This is probably the place to start.

CuS · Oct 1, 2009

try this

Do Rodinal 1:200 for 60min stand (agitate once gently as half-way point).

i've done some copex this method - here's some examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/colusite/3430001479/

still pretty trasty

Rhodes · Oct 1, 2009

I see! Well if one can not improve more with this kind of films, since they are very contrasty because their primary function is to be use for coping from other negatives and/or used in lab photos, one can get glad with the resaults if they are good (for the shooter)!
I used my yashica electro 35 gts, because I wanted a camera with meter, since I was my first time with a low ISO and since the cassette was rusty (sorry for any yashica electro-35 fans), I didn't want to use my R3. And my other SLR has a color film!
The day was sunny, but when I left home, the weather changed to a bit cloudy/"light overcast". I use f/5.6 and f/4. The second photo was f/4, I remember since I took two, one with each f-stop and liked more the one with f/4!

olehjalmar · Oct 1, 2009

Rhodes said:
I see! Well if one can not improve more with this kind of films, since they are very contrasty because their primary function is to be use for coping from other negatives and/or used in lab photos, one can get glad with the resaults if they are good (for the shooter)!
I used my yashica electro 35 gts, because I wanted a camera with meter, since I was my first time with a low ISO and since the cassette was rusty (sorry for any yashica electro-35 fans), I didn't want to use my R3. And my other SLR has a color film!
The day was sunny, but when I left home, the weather changed to a bit cloudy/"light overcast". I use f/5.6 and f/4. The second photo was f/4, I remember since I took two, one with each f-stop and liked more the one with f/4!

This is CMS20 in a Stoeckler type two bath developer with sulfite reduced to 40g/l. : http://www.flickr.com/photos/30033863@N08/3973224502/
Althoug it was not a high contrast scene, it shows that you can get decent tonality even with microfilms.

Btw., in my trials with two bath develpers for this kind of film, I also tried formulations with less activity in the first bath to get more compensation, but I got severe streaking, most likely due to bromide. Any suggestions for how to avoid streaking? It does not seem to depend on the amount of agitation in this case, my guess is that it comes when I pour in the second bath and the development starts very rapidly. I seem to remember that something like a very viscous second bath being used, but that was in a roller-based system for processing high contrast films, and it is not likely to work in a tank.

mgb74 · Oct 1, 2009

Here is a formula I used for Copex (rated at ISO 50) some time ago:

Mix a Sodium Sulfite solution of 2 oz Sodium Sulfite to 1 liter of water
Mix 2.5mm of HC-110 (concentrate, not stock solution) to 200ml of Sodium Sulfite solution
Develop for 6 min at 68 degrees F with agitation every 30 seconds.

Still best to avoid high contrast scenes with this film/developer.

Agfa Copex 25 and Rodinal, development help.

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