Any Ilfotec-HC users near Boston, MA, USA?

[McDiesel]

I followed Lachlan's advice and increased the concentration of Ilfotec HC to 1+31. And yes indeed, the grain has gotten smoother, here's a few 5000px scans of HP5+ in Ilfotec HC 1+31

• Leaves.
• Backyard
• Plant

They were all host wide-open @F/1.4 on Voigtlander Nokon Classic II 35mm f/1.4

But the biggest surprise was Rodinal. I have avoided this developer since the beginning, but I love how small and uniform its grain is. Actually, without knowing what the Internet had to say about Rodinal, I would have described it as "fine-grain developer" for HP5, look:

• Gnome
• Blur
• Plant

This is HP5+ in Rodinal 1+50. Look how tight the grain is, none of those little "worms" that often show up in scans. Gorgeous!

There are benefits of being stuck at home for a weekend I am definitely introducing these "old tech" moody developers in addition to my usual Xtol routine.

 

[Lachlan Young]

But the biggest surprise was Rodinal. I have avoided this developer since the beginning, but I love how small and uniform its grain is. Actually, without knowing what the Internet had to say about Rodinal, I would have described it as "fine-grain developer" for HP5

Most of the 'problems' with Rodinal derive from people not appreciating that it's not necessarily going to deliver the highest shadow speed - and then underexposing &/ or trying to push the film hard - and then scanning it on machinery with poor MTF/ excessive sharpening. Work with rather than against it & it delivers perfectly competent & creatively useful results.

Compared to D-76, Rodinal tends not to be sharper at low frequencies (low solvency and high pH both play a role in this), has slightly more apparent granularity - and the low/ no solvency also tends to impact on highlight density control with many emulsions.